LAGNIAPPE

Week 9 - LSU vs. Alabama

LSU v. Tulane recap

I did not get a chance to watch the Tulane game, so I’ll throw out a few tidbits and move on.

  • Charles Scott had the first 100+ yard rushing game of the year for the Tigers with 112 yards
  • The LSU offense had season highs for points (42), total offense (455) and rushing offense (267)
  • LSU shutout an opponent for the first time since the 2007 season
  • The Tigers limited Tulane to just 26 rushing yards and 216 total yards

LSU v. Alabama preview

So here we are. In what should be the big game of the week, #9 LSU will be playing #3 Alabama. There is much less media surrounding the game this year, as the whole Saban, ex-LSU coach storyline, is getting old. But there is still a lot riding on this game! If Alabama wins the game, they assure themselves of at least a share of the SEC West division crown. If LSU wins, the Tigers are in the driver’s seat for the SEC West and the trip to the SEC Championship game.

There are a lot of questions running around this week, as LSU’s offensive resurgence in the last two games and the continued impressive defensive play have taken away a lot of the questions surrounding the Tigers. Meanwhile, Alabama has looked amazing, but has seen some lackluster performances in their last two games. Tennessee should have won the game two weeks ago, but for two blocked field goals, So Bama, after attaining the AP #1 position two weeks ago, have now dropped to #3.

One thing in Bama’s favor is that they just had their off week, so they’ve had two full weeks to focus on LSU. Another advantage is the game is in Tuscaloosa. But ultimately, it comes down to the players, and both teams have some amazing talent. How will the offensive line fare against Terrence Cody, the manbearpig monster (half man, half bear, half pig for those of you who aren’t South Park fans), who blocked the two field goals against Tennessee. How will Julio Jones match up with Patrick Peterson? What about Brandon LaFell and Terrance Tolliver versus Javier Arenas? And how will Mark Ingram, a newly touted Heisman candidate, run against the LSU defense? All to be answered on CBS, at 3:30 P.M. EST this Saturday.

Lagniappe

Les Miles just passed Nick Saban as the 3rd winningest coach at LSU by winning his 49th game. Saban left LSU after five years with 48 wins. Looking forward, Bernie Moore had 83 wins and Charlie Mac is way out in front with 137 victories.

LSU vs. Auburn Preview

The offense saw a lot of positive changes. Jordan Jefferson threw and completed more passes for more yardage than he has in his career, setting all three career highs. Russell Shepherd scored a touchdown on a long run and Reuben Randle made a great catch. Brandon LaFell and Terrence Tolliver combined to catch 15 passes. It’s good to see an offense with so much potential NFL prospects throwing downfield much more often. And to put the frosting on the cake, LSU scored on their first possession of both halves.

The defense played outstanding, holding the prolific Auburn offense to a season low 193 yards, with only 42 in the first half. LSU also recorded four sacks, which is another positive change. Even the score of the game was deceptive, as LSU held Auburn out of the end zone until the last seconds of the game.

LSU v. Tulane preview.

I hate to say it, but the Green Wave may be in for some trouble this week. I would think that normally LSU would play their starters in the first half and play a lot of second string and subs in the second half. Where the defense may follow that plan, I think LSU will want to build on last week’s offensive performance before the Bama game next weekend. It is likely that LSU will leave the bulk of the first team offense in for most of the game to get more reps. To make matters worse, Tulane has not played well most of the season and is 2-5. This could get ugly.

While LSU and Tulane have a long history of playing each other, the two teams mutually agreed earlier this fall to cancel the rest of the 10 year contract that was signed back in 2005. I don’t know if it was LSU losing money by not getting 100% of the gate revenue for a non-conference game, or if LSU is looking to add more BCS opponents, but LSU has only one more game with Tulane at a date still to be determined. I’m guessing LSU will not be seeing the Green Wave for a couple years.

The game will be televised on TigerVision, so ESPN GamePlan will be required to watch the game. Kick-off will be at 8:00 P.M. EDT.

Lagniappe

LSU’s defense has definitely improved over last year. In 2008, when LSU played the trio of Georgia, Florida, and Auburn, they score a total of 124 points (Georgia 52, Florida 51, Auburn 21). In 2009, the same three teams combined for only 36 points (Georgia 13, Florida 13, Auburn 10). I think our single defensive coordinator as well as the past experience of our single defensive coordinator has made a huge difference.

LSU v. Florida recap

The defense looked good, holding Florida to just over 320 yards and only 13 points. And that was with Tebow playing. I was a bit surprised that Tebow played every snap of the game, and he got hit a few times as well without any issues. I will say that the Florida TD was a sham, with their receiver having successfully grabbed a jersey to pull our guy off balance, however, their 2 field goals still would have won the game.

Which brings up my main issue: I’m a proponent of the “Defense wins Championships” group of thought (See: 2003, 2007), but the offense still needs to be able to score something to be able to win. I’m not looking for 40 points a game, but unless something has changed recently, we still have to score more points than the other team to win the game. If the defense is really good, you only need 14-21 points a game to win most of your games. Let’s hope that the Florida defense was just really that good and the LSU offense will be productive the rest of the year.

LSU v. Auburn preview

The big match-up of the week will be the Auburn offense vs the LSU defense. Auburn has been putting up some huge offensive numbers, averaging over 460 yards per game, although they did hit some speed bumps the last two weeks. The LSU D will have to hold them down long enough for our offense to actually score some points.

Supposedly, the offense has been practicing more downfield passing this last week, and hopefully our wide receivers will get a chance to really stretch out the defense and make some great plays. It seems a shame that in the Florida game, LSU had only one play that gained 20+ yards.

If LSU wants any hope of winning the SEC West, they must win this game and get some momentum going before playing Alabama November 7th. Unless something changes before then, it will be the 2nd time this year that LSU will play the #1 team in the country, as Bama jumped Florida to take over the top spot in the AP poll.

Lagniappe

This will be the third team LSU has played this year with a new head coach. Both Washington and Mississippi State have first year head coaches, and Gene Chizik is also brand spankin’ new over in the Plains

Week 6 - LSU vs. Florida

Will he play or won’t he play??? But before we get to the $64,000 question...

LSU v. Georgia recap

Initial reaction - We beat a ranked team!!! LSU is continuing to improve!

It may not have been pretty, but LSU found a way to win the game. And it was on the road between the hedges against a ranked Georgia team. Let’s keep that improvement trend going!

The first half of the game was total LSU domination. The defense played their best half of football so far this year, holding Georgia to 18 plays, one 1st down, and 49 yards of offense. Meanwhile, our offense was churning up the field, gaining over 200 yards. The only problem was that with 3 or 4 trips into the red zone, LSU came out of it with 2 field goals for only a 6-0 half time lead. LSU should have had a couple of touchdowns and could have ended the half up as much as 28-0 if we could have finished those drives off. So we can move the ball with ease up until we hit the red zone, but then we have issues scoring that TD.

While our offense sputtered in the 3rd quarter, I did like seeing them rise to the occasion and score the necessary points to win the game in the 4th quarter. And seeing Charles Scott break through for the long TD run was good as well. Our running game has been suspect, and that gives confidence to the offensive line.

Congrats also go out to Coach Miles. With the win against Georgia, he has now beaten all other 11 SEC football teams.

LSU v. Florida preview

Now onto the $64,000 question, or perhaps the $64,000,000 question since this is Tim Tebow, the super, all-everything, He-Man - Master of the College Football Universe, we’re talking about here. Will Tebow play or not? Is he healthy enough to play? Even if he is healthy enough to play, will he be the same Tim Tebow? These are the questions that countless talking heads have been debating all week long and will continue to do so until game time on Saturday.

The good news is that even if Tebow plays, as this is his first game back, I don’t see him running a lot of options or butting heads with the defense like he has in the past. Florida can’t afford to have Tebow suffer another concussion and be out for an extended period of time, and Tebow can’t afford to suffer a potentially career debilitating injury that could cost him the millions that he’ll get paid in the NFL.

But the Florida offense is not my main concern right now. The defense, if it plays like it did against Georgia, will hold Florida to a reasonable number of points. I’m worried about LSU being able to score! The Florida defense is the best statistically in the SEC right now, and possibly the best in the country, so it won’t be easy moving the ball. And for an LSU team that is only scoring a TD 45% of the time we get inside the opponent’s 20 yard line, it’s an even bigger challenge.

But that’s why they play the games, so we’ll see what happens on a Saturday Night in Death Valley!

Lagniappe

This will be the highest combined ranking of two teams to play in Tiger Stadium since LSU (#1) played Ole Miss (#3) back in 1959. LSU is currently #4 and Florida is, of course, the #1 team in the country.

Week 5 - LSU vs. Georgia

LSU v. MSU recap

Well, that was just terrible. Short of losing the game, which almost happened, it couldn’t have gotten much worse. I had MSU down as a guaranteed win pre-season, I guess that shows how good my prognostication capabilities really are.

I don’t know what Tigers the different poll voters are watching, but it sure isn’t the same ones I’ve seen. For LSU to be ranked #4 in the country seems pretty ludicrous as they still haven’t shown the capability to put together a complete game. I would think that a Top 5 team has a chance to compete for the national title. Again, this is just me, but after watching LSU play four games, I would not characterize the current team as being a BCS title game contender.

The offense looked bad again. Passing downfield was much better, but our running game was absolutely terrible/non-existent. I know the stats look worse than reality due to the mishandled punt, the safety, and a couple of sacks, but when the leading rusher has 26 yards and it’s not even one of your main running backs, there is a problem.

The defense played fairly well, although we’re still getting gashed by the opposing teams’ running back. I will say that the goal line stand, especially Chad Jones’ performance during those four downs, was very impressive. My only issue with the goal line stand was that LSU never should have needed it to win the ball game. The goal line stand against UL-L probably gave the guys confidence to hold MSU this game. Hopefully, if LSU needs it later on, we’ll be that much better prepared for another stand.

Patrick Peterson’s interception return for a TD was a nice thing to see. And Chad Jones’ weaving, weebling, wobbling, but he didn’t fall down 93 yard punt return was a welcome sight as well. What I really wanted to see was the offense scoring multiple TD’s on sustained drives!

LSU v. Georgia preview

This is where the rubber meets the road. While I don’t think Georgia is as good as they’ve been in recent years, this will be the toughest game LSU has played so far this year. Georgia is ranked at #14/#18 in the two polls. Georgia has been scoring plenty of points this year, but also allowing plenty of points to be scored against them.

I really have no idea what is going to happen on Saturday. If LSU plays well, we can definitely win the game. However, if the same team that played MSU shows up, it could get ugly. I say if the opposing team is stacking the box, daring us to throw the ball, then throw the ball. Take what the other team is giving you. I know we want a stronger running game, but it’s not worth losing a game over that. Les had stated we could have passed for 350+ yards during the MSU game. Well then, let’s light it up.

Lagniappe

Georgia is the only team that Les Miles has not beaten in the SEC. Let’s work on taking care of that Saturday!

LSU v. UL-L recap

Did Jarrett Lee just throw a touchdown pass?!? To his own team??!!?!??! GEAUX TIGERS!!! For those of you who weren’t at Providence Rd Sundries last weekend, you missed out. I think our biggest cheer was when Jarrett threw the TD pass. And it was pretty loud, as we had 50+ people watching the game. Deanna Wallace took some photos that Bryan sent a link to, so go check them out. We’ve taken over the right side of the restaurant, and the food and environment is SO much better than Champions. Come and join us and get in on the fun!

But back to business: LSU played a respectable game against UL-L and won 31-3. The offense is continuing to improve, but still has work to do. There’s not a lot of consistency yet, and the offensive line, well, is fairly offensive. LSU still cannot get consistent blocking, especially between the tackles, when we’re running the ball! There’s work to be done there.

Jordan Jefferson had a case of the stares, as he telegraphed who he was throwing to for most of the game. There were several times when UL-L got a jump on the ball by watching Jordan, and almost intercepted some passes. He can’t continue to do that as we get into the meat of the SEC schedule.

Russell Shepard played some more, but in this game, every time he played, he ran the ball. The ULL defense keyed on this and he never did gain many yards.

Josh Jasper is looking really good as the new place kicker for LSU. So far this season, he’s 5 for 5, with a long of 52 yards. (Knock on wood! We don’t need a jinx, here. See SI Jinx: South Carolina 16 – Ole Miss 10. I thought Ole Miss was overated anyway…)

The defense is still improving. As much as I didn’t like seeing UL-L move the ball on us with some solid drives, I loved our goal line stand! I’m happier with the fact that the defense gained confidence by doing it. I’m sure a goal line stand against a better team (like Georgia on October 3rd) will not be as easy, but it’s still impressive to stuff anyone four times inside the 3 yard line.

I think my biggest worry is the defensive line, although Rahim Alem is definitely a stud. We just need a bit more out of some of the other guys. There were many times where UL-L was blowing the entire defensive line 2 or 3 yards off the line of scrimmage. Not something you want to see.

LSU v. MSU preview

This will be Jordan Jefferson’s first time in Starkville. And his first experience with the cowbells. I hate cowbells. I feel like the Grinch (from the original Chuck Jones animated short, not the lame-o Jim Carrey movie – but that is another whole essay) when he’s complaining about the Bulldogs in Starkville “They’ll rush for their cowbells, and then, all the noise, oh the noise, noise, noise, noise!!!” Maybe the real reason I hate the cowbells is my shoes are too tight… I sure hope my heart isn’t two sizes too small!

But back to MSU. As long as LSU continues to play reasonably well, this game should be another win. I’d like to see both the offensive and defensive lines play better, and I’d still like to see more downfield passes. Brandon LaFell and Terrance Tolliver both have the speed to really burn the MSU secondary.

One other thing to note: After Washington beat USC last weekend, that makes our win over Washington look that much more impressive. I’m still not sure if we’re worthy of #7 in the country, but I don’t care where we’re ranked as long as those W’s keep coming.

Georgia update

The SEC has announced the LSU v Georgia game will be shown nationally by CBS at 3:30 P.M. EDT.

Lagniappe

I couldn’t find much significant to hit on this week, so here’s a different tidbit: For a long time, the Huey P. Long Fieldhouse had the countries’ longest pool at 53 meters. Huey Long had it built an extra 3 meters long, just so it would make the record books. The pool and fieldhouse are in a state of disrepair, but there is a group dedicated to preserving the facility. Go to www.savehpl.org for more information.

 

 

LSU v. Washington recap

Ugly, ugly, ugly! Oh, and uglier!

The Tigers got the W they needed against what looks to be a vastly improved Washington team from last year. Of course it doesn’t hurt if your new head coach is the former USC offensive coordinator. LSU based a lot of their game plan off of previous USC film, but truly didn’t know how Washington was going to play.

The offense didn’t see much action, with only 48 total snaps. Most of that was fairly plain vanilla stuff, with a lot of runs between the tackles. Jordan Jefferson played fine, but more importantly, didn’t make mistakes. Terrance Tolliver looked great during the game.

The defense saw a lot of action, and most of that was not very impressive. Washington ended up with 478 yards for the game, which is terrible. The best thing that can be said about the defense is that they played much better in the second half. My biggest complaint besides the total yardage allowed is that LSU never forced Washington into any three and outs. The Washington offense had too many 3rd downs converted and too many big plays. Hopefully these are just some minor issues getting worked out due to our new defensive coordinator.

LSU v. Vandy preview

Let’s hope there is a huge improvement from Game 1 to Game 2 for the Tigers, because they may need it. Vandy is returning the bulk of its’ team from last year that was the first to win a bowl game for the Commodores in 30+ years. This team will not be a push over like many Vandy teams have been in the past.

I’d like to see a little more variety on offense, including some longer passes, which help stretch out the secondary. Get Trindon or Russell Shepard the ball, and see what they can do. I’d also like to see some running plays besides Charles Scott up the middle or Jefferson/Williams on the option. On defense, I’d like to see some pressure on the QB and no giving up big plays!

2009 schedule at a glance

Since I didn’t put together an update before the season started, here’s a quick look at the rest of the 2009 schedule and how I see things panning out.

Games LSU will win (unranked & terrible teams) - ULL, MSU, Tulane, La Tech.

Games LSU should win (unranked teams) - Vandy, Auburn, Arkansas

Games LSU may win (ranked teams) - Georgia, Florida, Bama, Ole Miss

With one win under the belt, if LSU wins the games I’ve marked as will or should win, that would get the Tigers to 8 wins before we even factor in the four big games for the year. Last year, LSU lost to two unranked teams, and it’s those losses that really hurt.

Lagniappe

Vanderbilt won five games last year as the underdog, including four of their first five games.