Victory Is Mine

CFR's Rankings are up, btw

Agreed on Va Tech at 2.

Interesting thing about Texas being potentially left out of the BCS title game picture. I think that would be FANTASTIC. If the BCS managed to piss off a fan base as large as UT's, maybe FINALLY there would be enough momentum to scrap this damn thing and really push for a playoff system in 2127 or whenever the contract ends. And to all the UT fans who are worried about this scenario, I really only have two things to say: 1) You aren't first to this pity party, just ask Auburn; and 2) What goes around (last year's Rose Bowl invite) comes around (you get screwed this year). Just call yourselves national champs if you're undefeated. I'm sure most of the 20 million people in the state of Texas won't argue with that anyway.

One note: I am still puzzled that he continues to be so damn negative towards one-loss LSU and so damn forgiving of three-loss ASU. Yep, we played like crap at Tempe. But we won. And we played like crap at Tennessee and gave that one away. Sam Keller looked awful in the 2nd half against USC in a game ASU had a very real chance of winning after leading 21-3 at the half. Then vs Oregon, they just flopped. Anyone considering them for the Top 10 may as well have Michigan up there as well; right now it's all about "potential," and that doesn't win ballgames.

But here's why I think anyone who actually watched LSU's game agaist Vandy shouldn't be too quick to write us off: We moved the ball damn well all game, from start to finish. We didn't exactly struggle to accomplish our game plans on offense or defense. The first half was plagued by two things which must be corrected ASAP: 1) penalties; 2) turnovers. No good team should have those flaws and LSU shouldn't get any credit until they get over those. But if I may take one minute to 'splain: one of the turnovers (Russell's INT) was a fluke pass deflection at the 5 that landed in the arms of a Vandy defender. The fumbles, though inexcusable, were just plain bad breaks. Don't get me wrong - these NEED to be corrected - but given that the defense was playing so damn well against an offensive scheme that had worked pretty damn effectively to that point in the season, I was patient enough to know that the offense would put up the points eventually, and they did. Including a defensive TD, it was 25 unanswered in the 3rd and 4th quarters to seal the deal. Credit them for remaining patient that it would all come together eventually and not pressing towards the end of the ballgame. The Commodores were playing their butts off, and were just around the ball whenever we put it on the ground. They wound up with it when it happened. Credit to them for staying in it for so long against a massively more talented squad.

Now, the timeout episode in the Tennessee game having given Les a clear credibility gap in my (and everyone else's) mind, I just think that we need to be a bit more patient and give the coaching staff some time to work out the kinks. As in, three more days. If we come out and turn it over and commit stupid penalties against Florida this Saturday, it will be one pissed off Tiger Nation all over again. If we lose, at least do it without the sloppiness. The way UF has been playing, though, if we hold up our end of the bargain there should be no reason we don't win this game going away. Bo Pelini has engineered a complete 180 in the minds of Tiger fans in the past two weeks with his defense's performance against perennial cellar dwellers Mississippi State and Vandy; but if the world is going to give Va Tech credit for pasting Duke and Ohio, then it had damn well better give LSU credit for the same sort of wins in conference play (and Vandy is much better than any of the above). If Bo can pull it off against a team that the nation will really use as a measuring stick in the Florida Gators, you bet your ass the Tigers are firmly back in the national title hunt as real contenders.

posted by Publius @ 8:23 PM