The build-up to whatever cheesy name they’ve got for the made-for-TV showdown between the LSU Tigers and Oregon Ducks on Sept. 3 at Cowboys Stadium took another major turn tonight, with a report surfacing that Baton Rouge authorities plan to arrest Bayou Bengals quarterback Jordan Jefferson Monday on battery charges.
(By the way, if it means more great non-conference match-ups like this one, I’ll take whatever milquetoast monikers like “Pigskin Party” or “Kickoff Classic” the ad wizards want to slap on them.)
Baton Rouge authorities declined to deny the report from SportsNOLA.com when contacted by the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Earlier in the day prior to the SportsNOLA.com article’s release, LSU coach Les Miles was his typically silver-tongued self when commenting on reports that Jefferson was possibly one of the LSU players alleged to have been involved in an altercation at a local bar early Friday morning: “Whatever legal proceedings that are ongoing we will cooperate with and see how that all figures.”
You’d think the participants in this game are engaged in some strange re-enactment of “Top That” with the way the off-the-field storylines are mounting up on both sides. Star Oregon cornerback Cliff Harris is already slated to miss the game after being suspended for a litany of moving violations. The Ducks have also faced questions all summer about their involvement with purported “street agent” Will Lyles.
The Mad Hatter has made a career out of being unpredictably unpredictable. If the report holds true, Miles’ punishment for Jefferson is just as likely to be 39 Our Fathers and a fine of 10,000 Schrute Bucks as it is to be any type of “suspension.”
Even so, this certainly raises the possibility that all those LSU fans clamoring for Zach Mettenberger under center could get their wish sooner than anticipated.
