LSU's Flynn to face tough Miami defense in first start

ATLANTA (AP) The Peach Bowl has its first matchup of top 10 teams with No. 9 Miami and No. 10 Louisiana State, but those are not the only gaudy rankings on display in the Georgia Dome Friday night.<br> <br> Awaiting LSU quarterback Matt Flynn as he makes his first start, filling in for the injured JaMarcus Russell, will be Miami&#39;s typically stiff defense. The Hurricanes lead the nation in pass defense. They rank second in scoring defense, allowing only 11.9 points per game, and third in total defense.<br> <br> Miami (9-2), which beat Florida 27-10 in last year&#39;s Peach Bowl, can be expected to pressure Flynn early in attempts to force mistakes from the sophomore from Tyler, Texas.<br> <br> ``I do believe that we can force him into some mistakes, but we still have to prepare the same for the scheme that they&#39;re going to run,&#39;&#39; said Miami cornerback Kelly Jennings. ``... He&#39;s a young quarterback, maybe we can do some things to get him rattled or whatever.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Flynn has appeared in 24 games as a backup but has thrown only 36 passes.<br> <br> ``What I&#39;m going to be trying to do is put my team in the best situation to win and not try to make every play myself,&#39;&#39; Flynn said.<br> <br> LSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher says Flynn is ready for his first start.<br> <br> ``I&#39;m very excited for Matt,&#39;&#39; Fisher said. ``He&#39;s worked very hard in practice and his knowledge of what we do is tremendous. He and JaMarcus came at the same time; the thing JaMarcus has on him now is just game experience. And I think Matt&#39;s ready for this challenge.<br> <br> ``Now, unfortunately we&#39;re playing one heck of a football team to open up your first game. I don&#39;t think that&#39;s very easy. But he&#39;s a competitor. Matt&#39;s a heck of a competitor and I think he looks at it as a huge challenge. And he likes challenges.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Miami defensive coordinator Randy Shannon says he&#39;s not expecting LSU to make dramatic changes with the new quarterback.<br> <br> ``You can&#39;t change what you do because you miss one player in the game,&#39;&#39; Shannon said. ``The guy&#39;s taken reps in practice all year long. They have things that he can do and he&#39;s been there, so they&#39;re going to run their scheme. They may have little wrinkles here and there that we&#39;ll have the adjust to in the first quarter, and then get the rhythm of what they&#39;re doing.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> LSU (10-2) will be making its second straight appearance in the Georgia Dome following a 34-14 loss to Georgia in the Dec. 3 Southeastern Conference championship game. The loss dropped the Tigers from No. 3 in the Top 25, a spot held by Miami before a 14-10 loss to Georgia Tech on Nov. 19.<br> <br> The key to Georgia Tech&#39;s success against Miami was relentless defensive pressure. The Yellow Jackets sacked Miami quarterback Kyle Wright seven times.<br> <br> LSU has the defensive talent to produce similar results against Miami. LSU, led by defensive tackles Kyle Williams and Claude Wroten, is No. 5 in total defense and No. 8 in scoring defense.<br> <br> ``LSU obviously has a great defense,&#39;&#39; said Miami offensive coordinator Dan Werner. ``Their D-line is as good or better than anybody we&#39;ve seen so far this year. They&#39;ve got a blitzing scheme that will cause a lot of problems.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The result could be a low-scoring game.<br> <br> ``It&#39;s got to be an NFL-type mentality,&#39;&#39; said Miami coach Larry Coker. ``This is probably not a 9 yards to the right, touchdown to the left, type game. I hope it is from our standpoint, but we&#39;ve got to have positive plays and don&#39;t turn the ball over and realize sometimes a punt is not the worst thing that can happen.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Miami&#39;s offense is less than full strength as starting receiver Ryan Moore was suspended for the game by Coker. Lack of depth at the position may be all the reason Coker needs to give versatile threat Devin Hester, a starting cornerback and dangerous return specialist, more time at receiver.<br> <br> ``Santa delivered a huge package under the tree and we may expand his package a little bit,&#39;&#39; Coker said when asked about the possibility of an expanded role for Hester.<br> <br> Wright says Hester, who also has lined up at running back, can affect a game ``without even doing anything.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> ``When he lines up in the backfield, you hear the defense changing the play,&#39;&#39; Wright said. ``He just moved from the defensive side of the ball so they don&#39;t want to get beat by him and have him show them up. With that type of play-making ability, he can take a little swing pass, or just having the ball in his hands is electric. It&#39;s exciting and I&#39;m really looking forward to getting the ball in his hands.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Each team had to adjust its bowl aspirations after falling out of the national championship picture, but both sides say the top-10 Peach pairing has motivated the players.<br> <br> ``LSU is an outstanding team,&#39;&#39; Coker said. ``I know when we told our players who our opponent was, there was a lot of excitement there.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Added LSU&#39;s Fisher: ``The thing about this game I think that helps us so much ... is you&#39;re playing Miami. And the name of Miami, playing a top-quality opponent that&#39;s very well respected across the country, and being able to go out and compete against them I think is motivation for your kids because you know Miami&#39;s coming to play.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)