Well, the Fighting Tigers 2010 campaign has come to a glorious end.
The Tigers beat Texas A&M on Monday to claim an 11-2 mark in Les Miles' fifth year. Texas A&M's Coryell Judie returned the opening kickoff 69 yards to the LSU 31-yard line and scored first, then again to stake a 10-0 lead on the Tigers. Jordan Jefferson's deep ball to Terrence Toliver closed the gap to three points, but it was the LSU running game bearing the brunt of the lifting. LSU had 187 yards at the half. By the first possession of the second half, Jefferson and Toliver had hooked up for three touchdowns.
The University of Louisiana-Monroe had to know this was coming sooner or later: The Fighting Tigers of LSU finally scored some points, easily notching its 9th win of the season in a 51-0 victory.
LSU, who still has faint chances of a BCS at-large berth, did most of the damage with defense and on the ground.
ULM quarterback Kolton Browning, a Texas native, said before the game he was insulted how LSU's fans were openly wearing their colors in the week leading up to the game.
"Seeing people that wear LSU stuff around campus kind of makes me mad, personally," Browning said. "Honestly? LSU stuff? Why can't you root for ULM? I'm here to play for us and that's all I'm worried about."
He had plenty to worry about.
LSU only amassed 251 yards but had a defensive scores, and a plethora of touchdown runs from short distances. Jordan Jefferson, shaky as usual had less than 60 yards. We'll take it.
When Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee aren't confused, they're pretty good.
Case in point, Jefferson's 75-yard slant to receiver Rueben Randle.
Another case in point: Lee's 47-yard lob to Randle on a 3rd down play late in the game.
Maybe the Tigers should call a timeout before every play, then they'd have confident quarterbacks under center.
Whatever you call it, LSU's 24-21 win against the defending national champs Alabama Crimson Tide was a major statement and huge win.
It meant that the Nebuchadnezzar-like (grass-eating) Les Miles doesn't have to take a back seat to any coach in the SEC.
It meant that Nick Saban can be outcoached.
It meant that LSU should be a top 5 team, schedule-wise.
But all that is for another day.
Now, LSU sits just a game behind undefeated Auburn Tigers, who need to lose to Georgia next week then Alabama for LSU to get a shot.
A two-headed quarterback: Say what you want about Jarrett Lee, and this blog has said plenty, but he can actually move the ball. A sweet 47-yard bomb in the fourth quarter got LSU near the goal line with a chance to take the lead before the last-second theatrics. Jordan Jefferson's mobility, really his 89-yard juant on the first play from scrimmage, had to make the Vols at least think twice about him every time he snapped the ball. The only thing is, LSU, as well, had to think twice about it everytime he had the ball.
LSU's front four: Drake Nevis and the boys up front absolutely carried the Bayou Bengals Saturday evening. If not for a goal line stand, a turnover on downs and numerous blitzes on third down, Tennessee quarterback Matt Simms carves the secondary up like a turkey. LSU's line held its own going largely without starting defensive end Sam Montgomery who suffered a chop block early in the 1st quarter. Also, starting end Ken Adams was out. So, given that LSU's D-line was at 50%, they did excellent.
Referees: Let's be honest. Jordan Jefferson and a befuddled coaching staff all had to stare in horror as the final seconds clicked off the clock on Saturday. The game was over, and Tennessee players joyously celebrated. But a referee -- one referee-- the one that was supposed to make sure each team had only 11 men on the field, courageously, miraculously said the unsayable "Hold up. This game aint over." As a result, I'd like to buy the man a drink, if somebody could get me his name. Matter fact, I've got him -- and his immediate family -- at Chimes next time he's down that way, if he wants. LSU lucked out. Plain and simple.
First off, congrats to the West Virginia Mountaineers. They have some special talents on both sides of the ball, starting with Divine.
LSU will win this one, but not in a going away fashion.
Some things are painfully evident. Les Miles and Gary Crowton still don't know how to coach Jefferson. Also, Jefferson just isn't progressing. Sorry, he just isn't. Other quarterbacks with his experience behind pocket are calling audibles, checking out of bad plays, confusing defenses. Not J.J.
The Tigers won, but barely. Not in a confident mode or dramatic fashion. They'll win this one as they've won against all the teams last year, and North Carolina this year: By the skin of their teeth. Yeah, but we can't be mad: We're 4-0, BABY (Top 10, here we come!)
Ridley up the middle on first and second down, and a modest pass short of the first down for Lee. LSU must punt.
Wow, Jarrett Lee has entered the game for Jefferson, who can't throw it in the ocean.
LSU's defense forces the punt with 8 minutes left in the game.
LSU's defense stuffs Divine one play after he turned a 3-yard loss into a 12-yard gain. #Dangerous
Nice run, Jefferson. LSU won't have enough for the first down despite getting first and goal at the 10 yard line. Jasper kicks the field goal. LSU 20 - WV 14.
LSU has turned to the ground, just like it did last game against Vanderbiilt. The passing game is terrible.
Nice pass in the flat from Jefferson to Randle. First down at the Mountaineers' 40 yard line.
Jefferson under center, the give is to Ridley who rips up the middle for 16 big ones.
Tests were negative for West Virginia's Divine (big toe), but will he be back?
Wait, Jefferson walks back out there on the field for the Tigers' possession. The crowd is booing. Again.
Jefferson looks scared, even on the sideline. The crowd is antsy about him going back in, and, well, how do you like that? Jarrett Lee, LSU's former starting QB, has put on his helmet and is warming up. The crowd is going crazy.
West Virginia gets a good run then a great throw. The Mountaineers are running well this drive, and mixing it up with the pass as well. Smith avoids a sack, pass complete to Jock Sanders for 13 yards = TOUCHDOWN MOUNTAINEERS. LSU 17 - WV 14
Jefferson looks lost, he scrambles for little gain on first down. On second down he throws it too high for Randle. Jefferson throws it ... INTERCEPTED by West Virginia. (crowd starts to boo Jefferson).
West Virginia looks determined this time, whoa, Geno Smith throws it complete to Stedman Bailey for 5 yards = TOUCHDOWN, Mountaineers.
3 AND OUT: A run for no gain. Jefferson overthrows an easy pass, then the receiver drops one.
LSU is trying to apply pressure, and it's working. West Virginia must punt.
Noel Divine, West Virginia's best runner, has evidently tweaked his leg, actually his toe. He is being taken out of the game.
Jefferson has entered one of his stagnant phases. His balls are low or ... INTERCEPTED.
Patrick Peterson grabs the kickoff out of the air, the 50, the 45, the 40, the 35 .... See ya! #Touchdown LSU.
LSU's Josh Jasper comes out to kick a field goal. GOOD. LSU 10- WV -0.
Thanks to Jefferson's quick feet LSU will keep the chains moving.
LSU's Jordan Jefferson looks shaky early. Hopefully he can calm down.
This didn't take long. TOUCHDOWN Ridley scores from one yard out. LSU 7 - WV -0
Wow, Steven Ridley looks good early. He just gashed West Virginia for about seven yards up the middle.
LSU opens up the game looking to answer some critics amid the Tiger Stadium faithful.
Last year in Starkville, LSU suffered mightily trying to ground up yards on the ground. LSU only managed 31 yards on 30 attempts, and Russell Shepard had 26 yards himself.
Jordan Jefferson had one of his best games throwing the long ball that day, hooking up with senior receiver Brandon Lafell for two touchdowns.
But it was the defense that saved the Tigers, ending the game with a goal line stand in the closing seconds.
This year, State, with a stout defensive line, is primed to turn the tables on the Tigers.
Will this be the game Jarrett Lee plays significantly? The offense has stalled under Jefferson, with the offensive coordinator effectively playing keep away last week at Vandy (one pass play after the first possession in the second half).
One thing is certain: The Tigers will need points.
"Defensively, they give up about 12 points a game and are a team that is really sticky against the run, " Miles said in an interview earlier this week.
The Fighting Tigers opened the season with a dramatic nail-biter at the Chik-Fil-A Classic in Atlanta Saturday night.
LSU was up 30 - 10 over the North Carolina Tar Heels with 10 minutes left in the game, and had to hang on to win, 30-24.
The game should have been a blow-out.
Instead, it was almost a blow-up.
If not for the unsteady hands of a UNC tight end. Les Miles could be on a jet somewhere out of town. But the Football Gods are cruel.
No, we'll have to see the full gamut of Miles' coaching style, likely in a game with much more at stake.
UNC was a depleted team at kickoff, thanks to the suspensions of 13 players for various reasons. But does that qualify as a win with an asterik? No, because we all know if LSU had lost this game there would not be an asterik by the loss, just an exclamation point.
UNC fumbled on two of its first three offensive plays, but LSU didn't want anything easy. A 7-0 lead was soon matched at 7-7. But thanks to superb runner Russell Shepard, LSU again put 7 more on the board. In the second quarter is when things got goofy. UNC kicked off to Patrick Peterson and he scored a touchdown. Later, they punted to Peterson and he scored a touchdown. And the route was on. Only problem? It was just half time. LSU 30, UNC 20.
In the third quarter, LSU tried to run the ball and had to endure a wide array of mishaps by "much improved" Jordan Jefferson. In the meanwhile, UNC stopped punting to Peterson and their defense woke up.
In the 4th quarter, T.J. Yates flung a 97 yard pass to Jheranie Boyd, the longest play in Carolina history. The awesomeness of it all woke up the Tar Heels offensive because on the very next possession, Yates threw a 14-yard touchdown. And that great special teams advantage LSU had? UNC went for and got an onside kick. But it would take one more indignity -- a fumble (a second) by LSU's running back Ridley -- before LSU could escape out of town. Overall, it was a very uneven performance and Miles is fortunate to such a "sloppy" game, as he called it.
Starting the season, we heard alot about how the Florida Gators were returning all their starters, and how they were only losing Percy Harvin, and how Superman would lead the way to another Hiesman and championship. And, truth be told, the mighty undefeated Gators are still in the thick of things, meaning the BCS. But something happened two weeks ago, that has sparked a belief that the Gators might not make it to Pasadena this year to defend their title. After a defensive slugfest with LSU , a who-had-the-ball-last-wins battle royale with Arkansas , and a messy mistake-o-rama with Mississippi State , the mighty, mighty Gators look V.B.: Very beatable. The zebras, I'm afraid, can only do so much. Tim Tebow is human after all, after throwing 2 picks returned for touchdowns Saturday. LSU proved that the Gators couldn't throw the ball with ease. Arkansas proved that the defense was suspectible to the long ball. Ole Miss proved that pressure can bust a pipe. What will the Georgia Bulldogs prove this Saturday? You heard it here first: There's no way the Gators go undefeated through the SEC and make it out of the championship game.
LSU beat the Vanderbilt Commodores 23 - 9 Saturday night in Tiger Stadium amid a rainy, slushy field. The offense, which looked poised to break out last week against Washington, barely could contain itself with energy on Saturday. Well, kinda. In any event, the defense needed this one much more than the offense, and they pulled it off. LSU's defenders kept Vandy's dangerous but young runners Zac Stacy and Larry Smith contained for most of the game, save for one gutsy Commodores drive in the 2nd quarter. LSU's Kieland Williams scored twice to allow the Tigers to escape with the win, but for the second week in a row, it was not overly impressive. Not with Florida putting up 56 points on Troy (Tebow had 5 TDs). Will the LSU offense snap out of it this week as UL-Lafayette comes to town? We hope so, because Georgia looks kinda dangerous.
What a stinker, wha - wow. We'll take it. That's what Saturday night in Tiger Stadium felt like after a 40-31 LSU win over Troy. “That certainly was not the recipe for victory we prescribed, but victory is sweet, and I promise you our football team is enjoying it at this moment,” LSU coach Les Miles said after LSU had completed the biggest comeback in school history, coming back from a 31-3 deficit in the third quarter. Quarterback Jarrett Lee had his seventh interception returned for a touchdown in the second quarter to make it 24-3 and send a swarm of LSU fans to the exits. “I’ve never been part of a comeback that big. That shows you a lot about our team. We played hard and fought back. Not one time in our minds did we think we were going to lose this game.” Lee completed 11-of-14 passes in the fourth quarter for 138 yards and a touchdown. The comeback started at halftime. “We go into halftime and we tell that defense that you have to come out and play like you finished the first half, and in fact, you’re our chance to win this game,” Miles said. “You guys play like that for the remainder of this game while we get it fixed on offense.” Troy's coach, well on his way throughout the 3rd quarter to his biggest win at the school and the program's biggest, said momentum turned suddenly. “We weren’t able to close the book on it and get the last nail in there,” Troy coach Larry Blakeney said. “(LSU) got some things done and some big plays in the passing game really hurt us more than anything as far as getting momentum back.
Sat, Sep 5 vs McNeese State (CANCELLED)
Yesterday @ Mississippi State W 21 - 19 Final
Sat, Sep 19 vs Auburn W 45 - 21
Sat, Sep 26 @ Syracuse
Sat, Oct 3 vs Eastern Michigan
Sat, Oct 10 @ South Carolina
Sat, Oct 17 vs Florida
Sat, Oct 24 vs Western Kentucky
Sat, Nov 7 @ Alabama
Sat, Nov 14 vs Arkansas
Sat, Nov 21 @ Ole Miss
Sat, Nov 28 vs Texas A&M
