Over by Halftime

A game like this Saturday’s doesn’t really tell us anything. Tulane was completely overmatched from the get go and the only question was how many would the Tigers lay on the Greenies.

A few observations:

* I like Charles Scott running the ball. He’s now LSU's leading rusher for the season and I think he needs to start next week.

* I found it very interesting that LSU came out pass heavy after trying to pound the ball early in weeks 1-3. It worked as JaMarcus lit up the Greenies going 5 for 6 with a TD in the first drive.

* The defense is fantastic. We will see how the season unfolds but they may be better than last year’s squad. (check out the LSU stats)

* Former LSU TE Brian Kinchen is now on the radio and had some very interesting comments. I heard these second hand but I think they are probably accurate and very telling. Kinchen spoke with Jimbo Fisher during the week and by reading between the lines drew the conclusion that the staff is leery of placing too much responsibility on Russell in big games. I think that is accurate given the conservative play calling in the Auburn game. Also, given Russell’s inconsistency in the past and his questionable decision making, simplifying the offense makes sense. The other interesting part of Kinchen’s radio comments focused on the pressure Miles is under. Not just to win, but to win “the right way.” No one would have complained had the Tigers beat Auburn 10-7, but in games versus inferior opponents, Miles feels pressure to win big. This may explain starters playing heavily even in games that are out of hand. Again, I got this second hand, but it does make sense. I think until he is able to really put his stamp on the program, the scrutiny will continue.

LSU has another inferior opponent next week in Mississippi State. MSU is ranked 111th in total offense and 111th in scoring offense. We all know how good the LSU defense is. The Tigers have outscored the Bulldogs 202-26 over the last five years and have won 13 of the last 14 contests. Make it 14 of the last 15.

LSU 45 – MSU 3

Good...Bad "Chokers R Us" Edition

Games like this make me thank God I am not a Spartans fan.

- Terry Foster (Detroit News)

Good…Weak Forest pounded Ole Piss in Oxford and is now 4-0. The Deacons plays I-AA Liberty next week for the chance to go 5-0 for the first time in 19 years.

Bad…Whoever made the decision to fire David Cutcliffe at Ole Piss needs to get fired himself. The Rebs are just plain awful.

Good…After getting smacked by USC, the Hogs have won three in a row.

Bad…Bama. Missed 3 FG’s and an XP to lose in overtime 24-23.

Good…Georgia is still undefeated.

Bad…The Dawgs nearly lost to a terrible Colorado team in Athens. Richt better get that offense in gear before playing UT and the Gators.

Good…NC State and Washington. Huge wins for both teams.

Bad…Boston College and UCLA. Just when you think these teams are ready to move into the upper echelon, they go on the road and poop in their pants.

Good…The old College Gameday.

Bad…The new College Gameday. Too long, too bloated, too much fluff. I don’t even watch any more.

Good…Senior quarterbacks.

Bad…Stupid fans hyping true freshman QB’s. I hear this crap every season about how stud freshman (insert name here) may get the starting gig. If you have a true freshman starting at QB, you are in for a frustrating season. Playing QB is the toughest job on the field. To go from high school to immediately staring at a major division I program is just too big a leap for most guys. Mustain (Arkansas), Williams (Illinois) and Stafford (Georgia) combined to go 24-of-70 (34 percent), 334 yards (111 per game), 2 TD and 6 INT this Saturday.

The Best…The Slow Work Week. We’ve all had them and we must say thank-ya when they come along.

The Worst…The Choke Job, starring The Less than Mighty Michigan State Spartans. MSU gave up 19 points in the last 9 minutes of the 4th quarter to go down at home 37-40 to Notre Shame. JL Smith may have lost his job and the team with that debacle. Along those same lines, I must admit, I was wrong about Smith. I was convinced he would do well at MSU and maybe contend for a few Big Ten titles. But I realize that the Spartans need a maniacal hard ass in the mold of Nick Saban. It almost seems ingrained in the Spartan psyche that good fortune comes with a catch. Loss of focus is expected and blown games are the norm. Michigan State can compete, but it will take a special guy to run the show.

House of Horrors

Since the inception of divisional play, LSU is 2-6 when playing at Auburn. The Tigers have dropped the last 4 dating back to 2000. In those four games, the Tigers are averaging 9 points a contest. Most of the losses have been of the gut wrenching type.

1992: LSU rallies from a deep deficit on the arm of Jamie Howard to take a 28-27 lead. Curley plays prevent defense and Auburn moves down the field and kicks a game winning FG. Au 30 – LSU 28

1994: The Interception Game. Jamie Howard throws 3 pick-6’s as LSU blows a game they dominated all afternoon. AU 30 – LSU 26

2000: Rudy Johnson pounds on LSU. AU 34 – LSU 17

2002: Auburn dominates LSU as Marcus Randall struggles. AU 31 – LSU 7

2004: Classic game decided by a missed XP and a bogus penalty on LSU. Auburn converted on a 4th and long on the game winning drive. Then missed the XP after tying the score at 9-9. But a flag was thrown on LSU for landing on another player and Auburn was allowed to re-kick. I have NEVER seen that penalty called in 25 years of watching football. AU 10 – LSU 9

2006: Another classic marred by the officials. Down 7-3, LSU throws deep on 4th and long. Early Doucet is mugged around the goal line and the ball is tipped away. The ref closest to the play throws a flag but is overruled in an absolutely TERRIBLE call. AU 7 – LSU 3.

Observations of the game:

* The defense is outstanding. Irons was bottled up for most of the day as Auburn was held to 182 total yard. LSU was hurt by the injury to Zenon. Daniel Francis came in and was immediately targeted by Cox.

* JaMarcus Russell played well, but made some poor decisions down the stretch. With 45 seconds left, Russell was sacked as he rolled out the pocket as the play broke down. He could have easily thrown the ball away yet he was caught from behind. He cost LSU at least 15-20 seconds by getting needlessly sacked. He connected with Bowe two plays later getting LSU to the Auburn 19 with 14 seconds left. On the next play LSU was lined up wrong and had to take a 5 yard penalty. Finally Russell throws only down to the 5 on the last play of the game.

* Dwayne Bowe is having the type of season all LSU fans had hoped for. He’s got 11 catches this season and is averaging 19 yards a reception.

* LSU really struggled to run the ball. Auburn pushed the LSU O-line into the backfield numerous times Saturday.

* Play calling was very suspect on the second to last drive. LSU ran the ball four times that drive for a grand total of four yards. LSU was first and 10 at the Auburn 33 then ran up the middle twice after being stuffed all day. Dumb. More generally, the play calling was fairly conservative the entire game, no misdirection, no trick plays, no reverses and not a lot of deep balls.

* Officiating sucked. Every close call went against LSU and the refs clearly blew the late pass interference call.

* This is a damn good LSU team. Auburn was at home and just slightly better on Saturday.

LSU fans should take heart, LSU is going to win a number of games this season.

Next week the Tigers return home to face a Tulane team coming off a big win at Mississippi State. A game like this will test Miles’ coaching and motivational abilities. The players will probably be a bit down, so Miles needs to make sure they move on mentally. I look for LSU to start slow but turn it on late in the second quarter and eventually romp.

LSU 45 – Tulane 3

View From the Captain's Chair

Just a few random thoughts after watching 12 hours of college football:

* Hail to the Victors!! (part I) Michigan put a beat down on the completely over-hyped Irish. All the slurping about ND’s defense can finally come to an end. Plus Brady Quinn’s Heisman chances just went in the crapper. I’ll look for all those apology columns from the media idiots praising the Shamer’s “great” defense.

* Hail to the Victors!! (part II) Lloyd Carr can now tell everyone to kiss his hairy bung. Just when you are ready to write him off, he rallies the Big Blue Mafia for a fantastic win.

* The Criminoles offense is putrid. How did I think this team was going to do anything this season?

* Larry Coker is going to be fired. Get Butch Davis on that speed dial.

* In an interesting twist, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano probably would have gotten Coker’s job at the “U” had he not left for New Jersey at the end of the 2000 season. Now, Schiano is 3-0 and Rutgers may have their best team in decades.

* Speaking of fired, Chuck Amato will probably get run form NC State.

* Auburn is really good. There is no reason the Tigers can’t finish 12-0.

* Mississippi State and Ole Piss are TERRIBLE!!! The Bulldogs just lost AT HOME to Tulane and Ole Piss has looked awful the last two weeks.

* Spurrier is really having a tough time. The Gamecocks barely survived I-AA Wofford. I think the job is turning out to be a lot more difficult than he expected.

* Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson is a stud.

* Georgia has gone 8 quarters without giving up a point.

* Huge win for John L. Smith and the Mighty Spartans. Next on tap is ND at home. There is no reason why the Spartans can’t win this game.

* Texas A&M nearly lost to Army late Saturday night. The Black Knights were down four points inside the Aggie five with only seconds to go. But A&M stuffed Army as the clock ran out.

* Fat Fulmer lost another one to Florida. Who’s your daddy?

* Any fan of the Star Wars movies will remember Billy D. Williams portrayal of the smuggler/entrepreneur Lando Calrissian. As fate would have it, just a few weeks ago a Baton Rouge native by the name of Lando Calrissian Bennett pulled an armed robbery on a garbage man. I haven’t heard any of attempts by Han-Solo and Chewbacca to bust Lando out of the Parish Prison, but I will keep you, my loyal readers, posted.

The Jacob Hester Show

If you will recall, last week I had to question how Jacob Hester gets so many touches. I am starting to get an idea that the coaches really like his versatility. Furthermore, by involving him in the game to such a large extent, 6 catches and 8 rushes for 96 total yards, LSU will force other teams to game plan for him. I can’t argue with his productivity, almost 7 yards every time he touched the ball. Jimbo Fisher has done a wonderful job of game planning in LSU’s biggest match-ups the last seven years, that includes using games like this to give future opponents new wrinkles to prepare for later in the season. Look at it this way, Hester is a poor man’s Domanick Davis; let’s hope he continues to develop.

A few other observations about the game:

* How stupid was it for Arizona to stomp on the eye of the Tiger in pre-game warm-ups? As if LSU didn’t need more motivation. Mike Stoops downplayed the incident, blaming it on the media, but don’t believe it. He’s been running his mouth all week and all that chatter is only clever if you can back it up.

* LSU’s defensive line devoured Arizona’s O-line. Willie Tuitama was running for his life all night and was picked off twice.

* Inside the numbers: Click here for all the stats on LSU.

*JaMarcus Russell has been fantastic thus far. He is #3 in the nation in passing efficiency and has been very productive averaging 12.1 yards per attempt. Compare that with Tuitama who is averaging 4.2 yards an attempt.

*While LSU is still turning over the ball too much with 5 TO in two games, the defense has really stepped up picking off 5 passes already this season. In 2005, the Tigers made 10 picks the entire year.

* For LSU to have another 10+ win season, Alley Broussard must continue to produce. He makes plays Vincent can’t and runs with authority. Case in point, late in the first quarter he took a pitch to the right and was hit behind the line. He shrugged off the tackle and got a first down. No way Vincent makes that play. Exhibit two, in the second quarter, Broussard takes a hand-off up the middle, hurdles over a tackler and scoots into the endzone. Great stuff.

* Special teams were solid. David is now 12 for 12 on PAT’s and even knocked home a short FG.

* Trindon Holiday looked good. The speedy little guy will be making plays for the Tigers the next four years.

Seeing the results of the last two weeks, I am more convinced than ever that the winner of next week’s LSU v. Auburn game will win the SEC West. Ole Miss and MSU are pitiful, Arkansas has a true freshman QB and Alabama struggled to beat Hawaii and Vandy.

With the game at Auburn, LSU faces an extremely hostile crowd. Anyone who has been there knows how loud it gets. Plus Auburn will be hungry after last year’s thriller. Before the season I gave LSU little chance to win this game, but what I have seen so far gives me reasons to be optimistic.

*JaMarcus Russell has really come into his own. He’s been on the road and won big games for LSU. He is not going to wilt under pressure.

*LSU’s D-Line has been better than expected. I know ULL and Zona are mediocre teams at best, but the Tigers have been getting a good pass rush and are backed up by the best(?) secondary in the nation.

*Special teams. So far, so good.

The question remains though, can the young guys on that defensive line get pressure on Auburn’s Brandon Cox and shut down Kenny Irons who ran all over LSU last season for 218 yards.

The home team is 6-0 in this series dating back to 2000. While the 2000-2003 games were decided by an average of 19.5 points, the last two have been decided by a total of 4 points. Both games were decided by special teams which I think will play a big part on Saturday. I think JaMarcus will come up big and the defense will make enough plays for LSU to get out of Auburn with a win.

LSU 24 – Auburn 20

Who is running this place?

First off I want to thank you, my loyal readers, for following the Hit Parade. Without you, this site would be pointless. So thanks for reading, and I hope I can keep delivering as the season goes along.

Usually I confine myself to talking about LSU football, but every now and again I have to blast on some topic of interest. I can’t help but comment on two coaching decisions that are a bit mind boggling to me.

#1. During the pre-season, Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter named senior Sam Keller as starter then 48 hours later reversed field and named Rudy Carpenter, a sophomore, the starter. Keller then transferred to Nebraska and will have one year of eligibility left.

#2. Arkansas opens against USC with junior signal caller Robert Johnson under center. Johnson struggles and is replaced by “super freshman” Mitch Mustain. Mustain comes into the game with less than 10 minutes left with the score 44-7 and leads the Hogs to a TD and is suddenly named the starter for the following week.

All I can gather from these decisions is that Koetter and Nutt are desperate and unsure of the direction of their teams. Koetter has ALL SPRING AND FALL PRACTICE TO PICK A STARTER and goes with the logical and smart choice only to let the players convince him to change his mind. WHO IS THE BOSS HERE? WHO IS CALLING THE SHOTS? ASU then struggled in week one versus I-AA Northern Arizona and red flags are going off all over the place. If ASU falls flat this season, Koetter should be fired for the simple reason that he HAS LOST CONFIDENCE IN HIS ABILTY TO MAKE CRITICAL DECISIONS FOR THE PROGRAM.

As for Nutt, how do you go all pre-season with Johnson as the #1 then bail on him after he struggles against one of the best defenses in the nation? Did Nutt have SO LITTLE CONFIDENCE IN JOHNSON THAT HE WAS READY TO PULL THE PLUG AT THE FIRST SIGN OF ADVERSITY? If so, why not name Mustain the starter early on and let him get the reps during two-a-days? The move smacks of desperation. The Hogs are in a lot more trouble than I thought. There is NO WAY a true freshman comes into the SEC and leads his team to the top of the division.

Don’t be surprised if both coaches are fired at the end of the season.

A Pleasant Night in Tiger Stadium

On a warm and breezy night in Tiger Stadium, LSU got off on the right foot and handled ULL 45-3. After a slow start, the Tigers picked up the tempo and went to the air to put away the Ragin’ Cajuns.

Here are a few observations from the game:

*LSU has got to figure out the running back situation. I don’t know what the coaches have seen in practice, but I was unimpressed with Vincent and Hester.

*Vincent was never as good as the hype he gained from the 2003 season. That offensive line was dominant and he road their coattails. In retrospect, he has turned out to be the weakest back among Joe Addai (1st round pick of the Colts), Broussard and Barrington Edwards (who transferred to UNC). He’s not as quick as he was his freshman year and his reconstructed knee and fumbling problems are obviously affecting him.

*For some reason, which I cannot grasp, the coaches love Jacob Hester. Don’t get me wrong, he is a good, smart player who works hard, but you can’t tell me he is more talented than the young guys, Williams, Scott and Jackson at the running back position. He’s a solid fullback but that is it. During the game I had to ask out loud, “who is he blowing to get all these touches?”

*Broussard looked good. He ran with a purpose and no hesitancy. If his knee can hold up he should gradually get more carries each game. Charles Scott and Keiland Williams both looked good albeit in garbage time. The coaching staff needs to figure this out to have any chance against Auburn two weeks from now.

*Jamarcus looked very good. He is #2 in the nation in passing efficiency and was deadly with deep passes. With the running game looking sluggish, Russell will need to make big throws to move opposing safeties back. If the coaching staff is open minded, they could use the pass to set up the run and throw in some screens and draws until the offensive line becomes more cohesive.

*The defense looked good for having so many new faces. ULL will be at the top of their league and the Tigers did well shutting down their passing game.

*The kicking game was up and down. I’ll never complain about 6 for 6 on XP’s or 1 for 1 on FG’s, but the punt return situation needs to be worked out. Two fumbles, one by Jackson and one by Holiday need to be eliminated.

*Overall I think LSU fans should be really pleased by the game. Russell was sharp, the receivers looked good, the secondary was solid and lots of new guys got to play, even the QB of the future Ryan Perrilloux.

*LSU plays Arizona this coming Saturday. The Wildcats won an unimpressive game at home in week 1 over BYU, 16-13. Arizona’s starting QB, Willie Tuitama is a true sophomore starting in his seventh game, his third on the road. Under Mike Stoops, Arizona has struggled to score points and this game will probably be no different. If the Tigers are focused and not looking forward to Auburn, they should win the game by a few touchdowns.

LSU 28 – Arizona 10

Good...Bad

Good…Texas and Ohio State looked very good. Admittedly, both were at home playing weaker opponents, but they came out and dominated in week 1.

Bad…Notre Shame. Spin this any way you want, the Domers barely survived a team that was ranked 103rd last year in scoring offense. Reggie Ball (Georgia Tech QB) is a four year starter with a completion percentage of less than 50%. Notre Shame needed a couple of dubious officiating calls to get out of there alive. But the media will continue to slurp.

Good…The three man team of Musburger, Davie and Herbstreit did a very nice job with the Georgia Tech v. Notre Shame game.

Bad…Why is Lou Holtz on TV? First off he is a shameless homer for Arkansas, Notre Shame and South Carolina, three places he coached. On top of that he is wrinkled up old dude with a slight lisp. This qualifies you to be on the #1 college football studio show?

Good…Big 10 went 11-0 on Saturday.

Bad…Michigan and Michigan State looked weak against seeming inferior opponents. Have UM and MSU ever both fired their coaches in the same season?

Good…The Contenders: Everyone except Cal.

Bad…Poser Material: Cal – The Bears were down 35-0 at one point.

Good…USC and John David Booty. The Trojans laid 50 on the Hogs. Nutt better get his guys focused on the rest of the season or he’ll be running a lawn cutting service with JL Smith and Lloyd Carr this spring.

Bad…Me. I dogged on Booty last week and he came to play. Looks like LSU got the short end of the Booty stick.

Good…Tennessee and Georgia looked good in week 1. Maybe people will lay off Fat Fulmer for a week or two.

Bad…Florida. I know the Gators won, but that game was very tight for the first 40 minutes. Urban Meyer may end up being an Urban Myth.

Good…TV shows are back on! Prison Break, Nip/Tuck, and Lost are must see TV at the Traylor household.

Bad…I don’t have HBO. If I did, I would be able to watch THE BEST SHOW ON TV – Deadwood. Believe the hype.

Good…Erin Andrews. #1 college sideline reporter this season.

Bad…Dude sideline reporters. What the hell is the point?

Good…Mikey Henderson (PR Georgia) returned a punt for a TD on his second return of the game.

Bad…Mikey Henderson. Returned his first punt for an apparent TD before showboating and fumbling the ball thru the endzone. Jackass!

Good…More football yet to come with the “U” and the “Criminoles” on Monday Night.

Bad…This game has been a bit of a stinker the last few years.

Finally...