Live Blogging the West Virginia @ LSU Game: 20-14

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.

Can the Saints slow down the high-flying Falcons?

The New Orleans Saints are 2-0 and have won both games in dramatic fashion. Against the Vikings, the Saints struck early then went to a smashmouth running game to seal the victory, 14-10.
A week later, they traveled to Candlestick Park to face an aggressive 49er team and capitalized on four turnovers and the leg of kicker Garrett Hartley to escape with a 25-22 win.
It doesn't get any easier. This week, they host the Atlanta Falcons coming off a high-flying 41-7 win against the Arizona Cardinals.
The Saints will need more than 17 points to beat this team. Two offensive touchdowns a game won't cut it.
Will the Saints win? Especially without Reggie Bush, who broke his leg Monday night?
I don't know. What I do know is that with bruising running back Michael Turner coming to town, the Falcons will have faced three of the best running backs in the NFL in as many weeks.
In week one, Adrian Peterson ran around the Saints for 87 yards on 19 carries, a 4.6 yard-per-carry average.
In week two, Frank Gore plowed through them for 112 yards on 20 carries.
Now in week three, here comes Turner and a resurgent Jason Snelling.
How much can a defense take?

Saints edge Niners 25-22

Everybody was waiting to see if the Saints would drop 35 or 40 on the San Francisco 49ers a week after they lost by 25 points to a new coach.
People were waiting for Drew Brees to throw for 400 yards, and for Reggie Bush to run a punt back for a touchdown.
They'll have to wait a little longer.
The Saints used the sturdy leg of kicker Garrett Hartley to escape Candlestick Park with a 25-22 victory on Monday night.
The Saints defense caused three turnovers, none bigger than when Courtney Roby recovered a muffed punt in the 4th quarter deep in 49er territory.
Bush left the game with a knee injury after getting piled on after briefly fumbling a fair catch. Brees was as cool as ice, but still a little off as several of his throws were high.
San Fran's Frank Gore gored the Saints defense for 100 yards rushing and quarterback Alex Smith looked like Fran Tarkenton, running around Saints defensive linemen for first downs.
Still, in the end, the Saints were able to move the ball methodically down the field after the 49ers tied it with a Vernon Davis two-point conversion.
Who Dat talking about beating dem Saints? Is it Atlanta?

LSU cruises by Mississippi State but trouble brews

LSU clobbered Mississippi State on Saturday in Death Valley 29-7, but looks are deceiving.

The Tigers' average starting field position was their 48-yard-line, meaning LSU would not pile up tons of yards but they gave up 152 yards on the ground.

True, the Bulldogs quarterback Chris Relf is a scrambler with shifty legs but it wasn't necessarily his ability to break tackles that led to MSU outgaining the Tigers in overall yardage. No, Mississippi State's O line created such gaping holes, the likes of which I haven't seen this season opposite the Tigers.

 MSU backup quarterback Tyler Russell moved the ball decently against the Tigers -- when he wasn't throwing directly to them. LSU had five interceptions but should have had at least 40 points, but a stout MSU made an accounting of themselves. Stevan Ridley continues to have a strong season, finishing the game with just shy of 80 yards rushing and one touchdown.

Jordan Jefferson is basically in timeout since he threw a bad interception in the end zone against Vanderbilt. Les Miles and Gary Crowton have told him to just run the dang ball, and check down to his third receiver. He's done that and in doing so he's become a game manager, which is safer but not as dynamic.

LSU also continues to leave points on the board, this time at least 14 points due to several reasons and misques.

Can they beat the Auburns and Tennessees and Floridas with this kind of smashmouth run game and a ferocious defense? No, but they can compete. 

LSU has yet to hit on all cylinders offensively in a game since the days of JaMarcus Russell. And that's a Saban recruit.

box score

Will LSU be able to run on Mississippi State?

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.

5 reasons LSU barely beat Miss. State last year

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.

Saints beat Vikes in opener, 14 -9

The New Orleans Saints shook the rust off last Thursday in the 2010 season opener for the NFL. The Vikings had revenge on their minds after a horrendous NFC championship game that lifted the Saints to the Super Bowl and then on to victory.
As Week 1 came to a close around the NFL, the New Orleans victory was big because the Falcons and Carolina lost, giving the Saints an early 1-game lead. The Bucs also won their opener.
While the score was only 14-9, the Saints were pleased to get the win, as the city basically shut down and kids got out of school early for a Saints parade and banner unfolding.
Ah, the big easy.

LSU runs over Vandy, 27-3

Les Miles needed this one.
No, not necessarily the win, but the hard-running, rugged style that the win was executed.
LSU piled up almost 400 yards of offense on the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville. It was a road win. It wasn't pretty. But it was emphatic.
Last week it was Patrick Peterson, this week it was running back Stevan Ridley who put an exclamation point on his night with a dazzling 65-yard touchdown run. Ridley's 144 yards on the ground helped LSU outgain Vandy 392 to 130.

Jordan Jefferson, regressing in front of the nation for the second straight game, was effectively pulled from the game after an ill-advised, underthrown pass in the endzone early in the third quarter.  After that drive he played two more series, all handoffs, and both ended in touchdown runs. The only pass attempted the rest of the way was a zinged completion by second-stringer Jarrett Lee, who helped his case just by throwing it with confidence.


Box Score

After the game, Les Miles was asked about Jordan's effectiveness. He didn't punt. "We're going to continue to evaluate our quarterback position, and frankly we're going to expect more out of the position," Miles said. "I think both those guys can give it to us. I think Jefferson definitely can, and we're going to encourage Lee because he's a guy who's going to have to win games for us as we go forward."
Translation: Jordan Jefferson has one more shot.
That shot will come against Mississipi State next week.

LSU trips up UNC, 30 -24 in season opener

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.


Box score

Alabama 24 - LSU 15 (sigh)

LSU got beat up by Alabama on Saturday, plain and simple. There were no theatrics, no strange plays. Don't blame the officiating, don't even blame the coaching.
The better team won. Period.
Nick Saban has Alabama looking every bit as good as the 2003 national championship Tigers. If you remember, they would knock quarterbacks out of the game, and would totally shut you down for long periods of the game.
In the 4th quarter, LSU had 9 yards.
Super sophomore eJordan Jefferson was knocked out of the gam; so was senior running back Charles Scott, rwho's season is ove.
It was just alot of hard, hard hitting, and most of it was by boys in Maroon jerseys.
Don't get me wrong. LSU's defense accounted for itself. It just couldn't stop Mark Ingram when it needed too; and Julio Jones, quiet for most of the night, caught LSU with a second-string safety guarding him. Toast.
LSU is still a good team, but like a purple and gold-encrusted blueberry pie in the oven for a mere 30 minutes, it just aint ready yet.

FLORIDA IS V.B. (Very Beatable)

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.

Did LSU explode against Auburn, 31-10? No way

Saturday night's LSU-Auburn game brought the Tigernation to its feet -- those in purple rose in elation; those in orange and navy got up to leave.
LSU's 31-3,10 win,(okay, you know that last Auburn TD was bogus) was, to some, a long awaited eruption of offensive might, a groundswell of pent-up demand.
Going away, LSU scored 31 points.
They have yet to score more than 32 in a game this season.
What explosion?
Sure, Jordan Jefferson got loose. The super soph finally threw to his elite receivers. As a result Jefferson got most of the praise, accounting for over 310 yards (242 yards through the air on 21 of 31 passes and two touchdowns, no picks) deservedly so, but it was Russell Shepard that stole the spotlight. Shepard's 69-yard run ignited the crowd and left no doubts on who would win the game.
But honestly speaking, LSU's offense bogged down for short periods Saturday. If Auburn would have gotten any semblance of an offensive flow, then I think LSU would have been exposed as usual.
LSU needs to show consistency if they want to be considered an elite program this year. As a team though, they are coming together nicely.
Enough can't be said about LSU's defense. They are really starting to look scary, 2 weeks after holding Florida to 13 points.
Auburn only gained 193 yards total offense, and truthfully they had about 120 until their second-string quarterback (who should be starting, btw) came in and just started flinging it.
Auburn coach Gene Chizik reaffirmed his support for senior signal caller Chris Todd this week as the Tigers get set to play a stout Ole Miss team.
“Yeah, he’s the quarterback, but when it’s third-and-7 and he’s got five guys in his lap, that’s not [on] Chris Todd,” Chizik said.
So, is it on you, Chizik? Huh? Huh? Huh?
LSU has a cakewalk up next, but then prepares to face Alabama, No. 1 in some polls.
The question, then is can the Tigers run the table?