Five people, including a beloved Louisiana sports reporter, died Saturday after their plane crashed in Lafayette. Matt Doyle has the story.
Cut 1 (30) “I’m Matt Doyle”
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2019 was a memorable year for Louisiana. Kevin Barnhart takes a look back.
Cut 2 (52) “…I’m Kevin Barnhart”
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LSU looks unstoppable after devastating Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl, but two weeks from in the Championship they face a Clemson team that hasn’t lost since 2017…
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A twin engine plane crashed in Lafayette Saturday, killing five on their way to see the Tigers in the Peach Bowl.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Dr. Jennifer Rodi says the plane climbed to 900 feet, before descending below 700, the local minimum safe altitude, for reasons unknown…
Cut 4 (11) “trees”
The plane then skidded into a post-office parking lot, striking a vehicle, causing additional non-fatal injuries.
No emergency distress call was put out before the plane began to descend, and no contact was had with ground flight crew. NTSB Vice President Chairman Bruce Landsberg says the craft also had no onboard flight data recorder, making the investigation more difficult…
Cut 5 (11) “…records”
The plane was a PA31-T Cheyenne, built in 1980.
Lafayette Mayor-President Joel Robideaux says the community wants to get to the bottom of what happened, but first, the focus must be on the victim’s families…
Cut 6 (07) “…period”
Among those killed was Louisiana sports reporter Carly McCord, daughter-in-law to LSU offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger.
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Despite a dominant 42-10 win over Carolina Sunday, the Saints will not get a week off and instead host the 6th seed Vikings this weekend.
New Orleans needed a win and a loss by either the Packers or 49ers to get a week off and the two seed. Coach Sean Payton says it was out of their hands, but the team certainly held up it’s end of the bargain.
Cut 7 (08) “…edge.”
Drew Brees tossed three touchdowns and 253 yards while running back Alvin Kamara continued his late-season resurgence with two TDs.
The Saints could have used the rest, but the good news is they get at least one dome game before having to hit the road to face the 49ers in the divisional round. Payton says they aren’t sweating it.
Cut 8 (09) “home game.”
San Fran’s 48-46 victory in the dome earlier this year is the reason why the Saints lost home-field advantage.
The Saints have strung together three strong halves in a row heading into the playoffs, and Payton says they’re riding some strong momentum heading into the offseason.
Cut 9 (08) “…football.”
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2019 was a year full of memorable moments. The Louisiana sports world was left with a bad taste in its mouth when the Saints lost the opportunity to go to the Super Bowl because of poor officiating in the NFC Championship game. But the year is ending well, as the Saints are NFC South champs, LSU has a perfect regular season, and Joe Burrow brought the Heisman Trophy back to LSU for the first time in 60 years.
Cut 10 (14) “…(applause).”
Governor Edwards won reelection after defeating GOP challenger Eddie Rispone in a runoff by a margin of 2%. In his victory speech, Edwards outlined his plans for what to expect in the next four years.
Cut 11 (10) “…the minimum wage.”
Governor Edwards also secured the first teacher pay raise in a decade. And he eulogized Louisiana’s first female Governor, Kathleen Blanco, who died in August at the age of 76. Blanco was at the helm of the state through hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Cut 12 (13) “…a brighter future.”
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After a historic dismantling of Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl LSU heads home to take on Clemson two weeks from now in the Superdome for the National Championship Game.
LSU ran up 49 points in the first half against the Sooners in their 63-28 win. Tiger Rag Editor Ron Higgins says considering the competition, it was the greatest single-game performance by any LSU team, ever.
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The Tigers did it all with little help from 1st Team All Sec running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who was limited by a hamstring injury.
If they want to raise the trophy on January 13th, the Tigers will have to be the first team to beat the Tigers since 2017. Higgins says LSU will be favored, which is likely to just fire up Dabo Swinney’s team even more…
Cut 14 (09) “disrespected”
They’ll also have to hand Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence his first ever collegiate loss.
LSU features the current number one offense, but Clemson is right behind at number three, and Higgins says they have a very similar style of play.
Cut 15 (09) “the ball”