Updated: Dec. 3, 2005, 11:02 PM ET LSU's championship hopes lost in wave of injuries and penalties Associated Press College Football News Wire ATLANTA -- LSU coach Les Miles spent Thursday night in Dallas, joining other school officials in discussions with the Cotton Bowl even as his team was preparing to try to win a spot in the Sugar Bowl. The Sugar Bowl hopes -- as well as Louisiana State's thoughts of a national championship or Southeastern Conference title -- ended with Saturday night's 34-14 loss to Georgia in the SEC championship game. There had been much speculation that the loser of Saturday night's game would land in the Dec. 30 Peach Bowl, also at Atlanta's Georgia Dome. Another option is the Cotton Bowl, which is believed to be favoring Alabama but could reconsider and pick LSU. Miles said he was not planning to lose by making the trip to Dallas with LSU athletic director Skip Bertman. "It had nothing to do with the game plan and it had nothing do with expectations of the football game," Miles said. "We certainly came in expecting to win." Added Miles: "Thursday night is my night off. I know those (Cotton Bowl) people. ... I felt rather than get to bed early I might accompany him." Miles said he lobbied early for a Cotton Bowl bid to protect his 21 seniors in case the Tigers lost the SEC championship game and spot in the Sugar Bowl. "I had 21 seniors who deserve a great bowl experience," Miles said. The SEC championship game loss to Georgia already appeared certain when quarterback JeMarcus Russell left the field late in the third quarter with an injured left shoulder. The Bulldogs led 24-7, a shocking score for LSU, considering it had spent its season playing close game after close game. LSU also lost receiver Early Doucet with an ankle injury in the second quarter. Miles said it was too early to know the severity of Russell's injury. "I don't know to what extent it will keep him out," Miles said. "It's certainly something we are concerned about." Five of the Tigers' wins in a 10-1 regular season came by no more than four points, including two in overtime. LSU's only loss, to Tennessee, also came in overtime, giving it the most OT games in college football this season. Since the 30-27 loss to Tennessee on Sept. 26, LSU won nine straight games, moving up in the polls as the SEC's best hope for a spot in the national championship game. The national championship hopes ended with lopsided wins by Southern Cal and Texas on Saturday. The bigger surprise was LSU's inability to stay within range of the Bulldogs, who had late-season losses to Florida and Auburn -- teams the Tigers beat in October. "I think it's something we're all very disappointed in," defensive tackle Kyle Williams said. "It doesn't seem like we had our best effort out there, and it's something we expected to give." The frustrations began to show in the second half as the penalty count grew against the Tigers. On consecutive third-quarter plays, free safety LaRon Landry was called for a 15-yard late-hit penalty and a facemask infraction. The penalties help set up Georgia's Brandon Coutu for a field goal and a 24-7 lead. LSU was called for nine penalties for 78 yards. Georgia drew only two penalties for 15 yards. LSU clinched the SEC West when it closed its regular season by holding Arkansas -- the conference's top running team -- to 35 yards rushing, 200 yards below the Razorbacks' average. The Tigers may have been caught off guard by Georgia's determination to run at the LSU defense, which ranked fifth in the nation against the run and second in total yards allowed. Georgia had 42 carries for 138 yards, leaving Georgia quarterback D.J. Shockley with a light passing day. Shockley completed only three passes in the first half, but two were for touchdowns that put the Tigers behind 14-0. "I think we allowed them to run the ball a little more than we wanted to," Williams said. "But that's not what killed us. Penalties and big plays killed us." LSU, meanwhile, struggled to establish any offensive momentum even before losing Russell. Leading rusher Joseph Addai, recovering from an ankle injury, did not start and did not have a carry until only about five minutes were left in the first half. Shyrone Carey, listed as LSU's third-string running back behind Addai and 2003 SEC championship game star Justin Vincent, had the majority of the carries. But through three quarters, LSU had only 23 yards rushing on 26 carries, with no runs 10 yards or more. LSU was left with Matt Flynn at quarterback in the fourth quarter, and his second pass was intercepted by Ti
