My girlfriend went to U of H, so we're sitting on the couch right now watching the Cougs play Texas Tech. And I know everyone is going on and on about LSU's ranking, but let's put it in perspective: Houston is #17. The Cougars are a fun team, but nowhere near as good as LSU. My point is not that UH sucks, it's that unless you're a Bama, Florida, or Texas fan, you're probably not entirely happy with your team right now.
I do want to get into the Miles/Crowton issue later this week, but I want to focus on the State game for the weekend before moving on to place this in context. I know there are a lot of grumblings over this team and how we're going to lose every game or whatever, but it's time for perspective.
LSU is 4-0. LSU is 2-0 in the SEC. LSU has won two road games. It's not figure skating, how you look doesn't matter. Wins matter. You think Ole Miss or Cal wouldn't trade places with us? The point is not that LSU is 4-0 so therefore there are no problems. Because there are problems with this team. The point is that this team has won four games and if you're too worried about the other games, perhaps you forgot to take a moment to enjoy these wins. If you're immediate reaction to this game is "Georgia is gonna kill us", you have robbed yourself of a day's worth of enjoyment. We won. Worry about to UGa tomorrow. You only get one day to celebrate a win, but that works both ways: remember to celebrate the win. Relentless negativity can wait a day.
Ten years ago, this program was coming off a 4-7 season. LSU was 2-1 and had just lost to Auburn 41-7. At home. Little did we know, LSU would only win one game for the rest of the season. Wins are precious. Celebrate them. Don't take them for granted, or the football gods might punish us with Curly Hallman again.
OK, thoughts on the game...
-- After my rant on negativity, let's go negative. The offensive line flat out sucks right now. There's no nice way to say it. They suck. They know they suck. We'll do the Behind the Numbers in a day or two, but here's the quick preview: 30 yards on 31 rushes while Scott and Williams combined to go 15 for 35. Ouch.
-- The special teams gave away 11 points. OK, Jones scored on a punt return, but we're still -4 with the return. Everyone was going on about the missed PAT, but how about missing a 19 yard FG? How do you miss a 19 yard FG?
-- Alex Russian is on the team for one reason, and that is to be the deep snapper. Honestly, that's probably a waste of a scholarship even if he is a decent long snapper, but Russian has been perhaps the worst player in an LSU uniform this season. When Miles said "we've alleviated that problem", I got the feeling someone should look into transferring.
-- After the TD to open the half, LSU's offense went into the tank. LSU only had three 1st downs from that point on. The defense wore down as the half went on, but that was due to an offense that simply didn't show up for the second half.
-- There's a lot of negatives to take from this game, but that goalline stand was simply epic. Give the defense credit. With their backs against the wall, the defense, in particular Chad Jones, responded. Bemoaning that we needed a goalline stand misses the point: we GOT the stand when we needed it. A great job by the defense when it mattered most.
-- Patrick Peterson is an absolute stud.