LSU v. Mississippi State (9.27.08)

Upset-Palooza
The best TV night ever was Thursday – season premiers of “The Office” and “Grey’s Anatomy” topped off with watching USC go down - doesn’t get much better. But, geez, what a crazy weekend for college football it turned out to be. As I stayed up past my bedtime cheering on OSU on Thursday, I never could have imagined both Florida and Georgia would both lose at home on Saturday. None of them looked like top 10 teams, much less the top 3 or 4. The Game Day crew certainly didn’t see it coming as they oozed and drooled love all over UGA and UF. No one is safe.

Fly Over
Holy cow, this was freakin’ awesome. For those of you who weren’t there, as the National Anthem drew to a close, a murmur grew in the south end zone. Being in the north end zone, I had no idea what was going on. The fans in the south could see the four fighter jets approaching the stadium, but they shocked the heck out of me. As we sang the last lines of the Anthem these four jets soared over my head and as they approached midfield the sound if the jets finally hit the stadium. The roar was unbelievable! I still get goosebumps thinking about it.

Gold Game
I have to admit that I did not wear gold to the “Gold Game.” I have very valid reasons: 1. I do not look good in gold; 2. I’m cheap and not buying a t-shirt to wear once a year; 3. I’ve worn purple for 99% of the games (including those I’ve watched on TV) since I was in college; 4. Did I mention I do not look good in gold? If I thought I’d be the only one there not in gold (to match Penn State’s “white out” which looked ridiculously cool) I would participate, but we’re not there yet.

Rankings
I told my dad from the first time we heard Bama was up big on Georgia that LSU was going to get leap-frogged by the Tide in the AP poll, b/c we were playing poorly. His answer was that if LSU doesn’t lose it shouldn’t be the problem. Sorry, I tend to be glass half empty, and we didn’t look like a #2 team Saturday - and apparently the AP voters agreed. Bama #2, LSU #3. True, rankings don’t matter right now, and we have bigger problems in the coming weeks – it’s just the principle of the thing. And Nick, don’t give me this bologna about not knowing what your team is ranked now. That’s just an outright lie.

Curl Routes for Trindon?
No bubble screen here. How about a basic comeback/curl route for #8? I don’t know how Lee got the ball over the lineman having to aim so low, but it was complete. I think this is a waste of a play to Trindon. How about a slant, or something that Lee can hit him in stride and let him fly!?!?

Go Long
Or, how ‘bout we line Trindon up out to the short side of the field, Lee takes a three-step drop, pump fakes a slant to LaFell to freeze the safeties, then just airmails the ball and lets Trindon run under it. Throw it to where no one but our world-class sprinter can get it and see what happens. That would be awesome – if it’s caught.

Vanilla Defense?
This is a change – normally it’s our vanilla offense that infuriates fans. Without a doubt our defense was very vanilla. Put pressure on the young QB? Not so much. Force turnovers? Negatory. Yes, we had some injuries and some guys did play well, but overall the defense’s strategy seemed to be “just hold them to less points than we have” rather than “shut out/shut them down.” I was a little disappointed, to say the least.

Big Return followed by Big Hit
Pegues kicked off the game with a killer return, but he paid for it on the next one. After LSU tied it up with a field goal, one of our talent freshman (the name escapes me) laid it on him, and good. The entire stadium let out a boisterous "Ooooohhhh" both during the live hit, and when the replay showed on the jumbotron. Nice.

“I” of the Tiger
This is directed specifically at the male cheerleader that carries the “I” flag after every LSU score. Between scoring and the ensuing kickoff, flags spelling out LSU TIGERS are carried by jogging cheerleaders circling the north end zone. The guy that carries the “I” is slow, visibly winded and he carries the flag at an awkward angle. It ends up looking like T IGERS. In order to pretend to show that I’m not partial to the football team, I yell at him for his lack of effort every time, just like I do when the ‘D’ gives up a big play. He’s the freakin’ “I” of the TIGER. This is just disheartening. He looks like he just did a keg stand, draining the entire keg (did I mention he’s a little chubby) and he’s about to keel over. To the only person around me that didn’t find this funny and gave me nasty look – the truth hurts, deal with it.


Nice Time for the Bye
We are pretty banged up, and while it’s going to be tough to play 8 in a row, we really need this bye before Florida. One, to let UF simmer down b/c you know they’re going to bring the wood to their next opponent, but also b/c we’ve got a lot of key guys that need some R&R to recuperate. Beckwith, Alexander, Jean-Francois, Hatch and who knows what other ailments our guys are playing through. Rest up fellas, it’s gonna be a long haul.

Receivers
These guys are just flat out good. Minus LaFell’s fumble at the goal line (and I mean AT the goal line) they played well all night. If we ever open it up, it’ll be fun to watch.

Golden Band’s Halftime Show
I enjoyed the halftime show. This is a big deal b/c I usually don’t care. The coolest part was when they marched off the field to the south, played there, regrouped into the “LSU”, marched back across the field and ended in the north end zone, with several salutes normally reserved for the folks in the south. In all my years of going to games, I can’t remember one time the band “saluted” the north at end the half-time show. It was way cool.

Bammer
Dang. Talk about putting on a whuppin’. Didn’t see the game, but I can only imagine if you go into Georgia, b/t the hedges, and are up 31 – 0 at the half, that is a beat-down. They have a very pansy schedule from here on out, minus LSU and hopefully Auburn. Crap.

Timmy’s Apology
Tebow has apologized to Gator Nation and vowed to never have a game like that again. I’m just glad they get to take out their frustrations on Arkansas before we get there.

Charles Scott
Dude is a beast. I thought it was a quiet night for him and didn’t think we ran him enough, but he had plenty carries for over 140 yards. Listening to the post-game stats on 98.1, I heard he had 140+ yards and was shocked. I like being shocked like that!

SEC West Domination
The Tide is turning, figuratively and literally, in the SEC West. After years of domination by the East, LSU led the charge last year to what seems to be a resurgence by the West. The East continues to drop like it’s hot at the hands of a West opponent. Let’s hope this trend continues as LSU rolls on to take on three SEC East teams in a row.

SEC East: Vandy #1?
Do my eyes deceive me or does 4-0 Vandy sit atop the SEC East leader board? Whoa nelly.

Props to State
I’ve been a fan of Croom’s since he took over at MSU. He’s steadily rebuilding a team that was in very bad shape and he’s turned them in to competitors. I believe that the days of thumping State 45-0 are in the past. Not that they will be winning the West any time soon, but they aren’t the West’s doormat either (thank you Arkansas).

Derek Pegues
I’m so glad he’s a senior. Return threat, interception, numerous tackles. Good riddance (and good luck on Sundays)!

Starting QB
Has to be Lee. Same comment as last week – he’s the only one of the two contenders that can get the ball to our wide receivers. Hatch will need to play when he gets rattled, but if we are going to win, he’s our guy. He played well against State and seems to be improving. Today's article in The Advocate was more like a "I LOVE JARRETT LEE" fest, led by former quarterbacks. But, hey, I'm glad for the kid.

Jordan Jefferson
This dude has the cleanest uni on the team. One play? One stinking play? Come on coach, he’s not gonna redshirt, let’s see what he can do.

Other RBs
Believe it or not, LSU does have other talented running backs behind Scott. But, Williams has been just ok as a tailback. Murphy, pretty much a non-factor. They can both thank a “not to be deterred” Charlie Scott. Maybe next year fellas.

Weather
I debated about going to the MSU game, or just watching from home. The deciding factor was the weather. It really doesn’t get much better for football in South Louisiana. Could have been a little cooler, but I’ll take Saturday’s weather any day!

Lee x2
So, I’m a little ashamed to admit that I didn’t realize MSU’s quarterback’s name was Lee, too, until the third quarter. Blame it on my poor eyesight, or me not paying attention to Dan Borne’s calls, but I was a little slow on this one. Once I figured it out, I thought it was pretty funny.

Next Up
LSU @ UF – in PRIME TIME. Yes, this games been slated as CBS’ night game next Saturday. This is especially awesome, b/c I get CBS in HD (again, my cheapness rears its frugal head – I don’t have ESPN in HD).

Never Been to an Away Game
This surprises a lot of people - I’ve never travelled to watch the Tigers play “away.” This does not include the 2001 Sugar Bowl at The Superdome (way too close to home). I’ve never really had the opportunity to go to an away game, especially one that guarantees an LSU win (which to me, is a requirement if I’m gonna spend the money). But lo, and behold, I was offered a ticket to the LSU/Florida game in Gainesville – and I can’t go. Yes, I’m playing in a tennis tournament that weekend and don’t want to leave my friend without a partner. So, Becky, we better win this tournament if I’m giving up my Florida ticket!

I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’
A win is a win, but I left the game frustrated. LSU was not sharp, and as Scott admitted, maybe their minds were on other things, like UF and USC losing. I know you can’t get caught up in the rankings this early in the season, but I hate to see a wasted opportunity to be ranked #2. No, #3 isn’t bad, it’s just not #2, especially when it’s ‘Bama ranked ahead of you. I really think that’s where my irritation lies.