This season I'm going to try and post a little more but no promises. Bad guys will occasionally take priority.
Here's my shot in the dark as to how the BCS Bowls will play out.
Rose: Michigan v. Oregon
Orange: Clemson v. Alabama
Fiesta: Texas v. Louisville
Sugar: Georgia v. Boise State
BCS Title: Ohio State v. Stanford
Yes! I am predicting the end of the SEC "Reign of Terror." All of the SEC teams will finish with at least one loss and OSU and Stanford will go undefeated. Don't get too worked up though. Last year I picked LSU and Wisconsin to play for the National Title. The two teams combined for 9 losses. OUCH!
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Sunday, August 25, 2013
LSU Preview
For
the first time in years, I think LSU is the “wild card” in the SEC
West. The media, rightfully so I think, has ordained
Alabama the class of the SEC. Texas A&M and Manziel are the “Johnny
Come Lately” (pun intended) fresh face flavor of the month. But LSU is lurking around and considered by many as the
6th best team in the SEC behind Bama, Georgia, A&M,
South Carolina and Florida. I know pasts records shouldn’t affect our
view of this season, but since 2010, LSU is 8-3 versus those 5 teams,
6-1 not counting the 2-2 record versus
Alabama. I know those teams are very good, but Les Miles just wins
football games.
A few thoughts on the offense and defense:
Offense
*In a very talented SEC QB class, Zach Mettenberger has the opportunity to shine and make himself the highest NFL draft pick of the bunch. He’s been on campus for three years. He has a new and very successful offensive coordinator in Cam Cameron, a talented offensive line and three future NFL running backs to hand off to. No excuses.
*The receivers have to be better. They killed Mettenberger with all of the drops through the season. Landry and ODB must step up.
*I don’t think the offense needs an overhaul. It just needs to be tweaked. I’m VERY confident Cameron will bring new wrinkles and assist Mettenberger with his decision making. I look for LSU to involve the running backs more in the passing game and give Mettenberger easier throws. This is still a run first team, but I think Miles finally has an OC he fully trusts which will pay dividends for LSU.
Defense
*Since 2009, Chavis’ first season, LSU’s defense has finished 11th, 11th, 2nd and 12th nationally in scoring defense. Anyone that follows the SEC knows that championships are won with a nasty defense.
*Fans have a natural inclination to say, “oh no, we lost Patrick Peterson? What are we gonna do?” Well, Morris Claiborne came along and followed Peterson in winning the Thorpe Award. New guys will step up and become leaders. Miles has done a great job of stocking the pantry with talent.
*LSU is returning 8 of it’s top 13 leading tacklers.
*I look for Anthony “Freak” Johnson to have the kind of break out season Drake Nevis had in 2010.
*This is the deepest group of LB’s LSU has had in the Miles era. There are currently four former Tiger LB’s in the NFL, Cutrera, Riley, Minter and Sheppard. I believe there are four future NFL LB’s on this roster this season.
Odds & Ends
A few have mentioned the Georgia game as the pivotal game of the season. WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! As it has been since the return of Saban to the college game, the Alabama game will decide LSU’s fate. LSU has been to the SEC Title game 5 times. In each of those seasons, LSU beat Alabama in that November match up. Matter of fact, ALL 5 of those trips to Atlanta went through Tuscaloosa. Keep that in the back of your mind on November 9 when the Tigers and Tide meet up for the biggest game of the season.
I think LSU has the players to win a National Title. The defense lost a lot of guys, but there is an abundance of talent returning. If the offense can rise from it’s malaise, this could be a very special season in Tiger Town. Enjoy the anticipation as we are only a week away from LSU’s opening game of the 2013 season.
*In a very talented SEC QB class, Zach Mettenberger has the opportunity to shine and make himself the highest NFL draft pick of the bunch. He’s been on campus for three years. He has a new and very successful offensive coordinator in Cam Cameron, a talented offensive line and three future NFL running backs to hand off to. No excuses.
*The receivers have to be better. They killed Mettenberger with all of the drops through the season. Landry and ODB must step up.
*I don’t think the offense needs an overhaul. It just needs to be tweaked. I’m VERY confident Cameron will bring new wrinkles and assist Mettenberger with his decision making. I look for LSU to involve the running backs more in the passing game and give Mettenberger easier throws. This is still a run first team, but I think Miles finally has an OC he fully trusts which will pay dividends for LSU.
Defense
*Since 2009, Chavis’ first season, LSU’s defense has finished 11th, 11th, 2nd and 12th nationally in scoring defense. Anyone that follows the SEC knows that championships are won with a nasty defense.
*Fans have a natural inclination to say, “oh no, we lost Patrick Peterson? What are we gonna do?” Well, Morris Claiborne came along and followed Peterson in winning the Thorpe Award. New guys will step up and become leaders. Miles has done a great job of stocking the pantry with talent.
*LSU is returning 8 of it’s top 13 leading tacklers.
*I look for Anthony “Freak” Johnson to have the kind of break out season Drake Nevis had in 2010.
*This is the deepest group of LB’s LSU has had in the Miles era. There are currently four former Tiger LB’s in the NFL, Cutrera, Riley, Minter and Sheppard. I believe there are four future NFL LB’s on this roster this season.
Odds & Ends
A few have mentioned the Georgia game as the pivotal game of the season. WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! As it has been since the return of Saban to the college game, the Alabama game will decide LSU’s fate. LSU has been to the SEC Title game 5 times. In each of those seasons, LSU beat Alabama in that November match up. Matter of fact, ALL 5 of those trips to Atlanta went through Tuscaloosa. Keep that in the back of your mind on November 9 when the Tigers and Tide meet up for the biggest game of the season.
I think LSU has the players to win a National Title. The defense lost a lot of guys, but there is an abundance of talent returning. If the offense can rise from it’s malaise, this could be a very special season in Tiger Town. Enjoy the anticipation as we are only a week away from LSU’s opening game of the 2013 season.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
National Picks
Just watched the CBS pre-season show which got me motivated to write. Here are a few thoughts on the upcoming season.
Big Boy Football Conference Champs:
ACC: Clemson
Big 10: Ohio State
Big 12: Texas
Pac 12: Stanford
SEC: Georgia
Top 5 games of 2013:
1. LSU v. Alabama
1a. SEC Title Game
2. Oregon Stanford
3. South Carolina v. Georgia
4. Ohio State v. Michigan
5. Florida State v. Clemson
A few other nuggets:
* Alabama and Texas A&M's conference schedules are significantly less challenging than LSU's. Alabama gets Kentucky and Tennessee out of the East while A&M gets Vanderbilt and Missouri. The Tigers play Florida and Georgia. Thanks SEC office!
* Johnny Manziel won't duplicate last season's success. This is no knock on the Heisman winner, just a realistic assessment based on his off-season issues, my expectation that he is looking to the NFL and his 5000+ total yards from last season and 47 TD's. Very difficult to match or surpass.
* I like Braxton Miller to win the Heisman and Ohio State to beat Stanford for the national title. You read that right, no SEC teams in the title game. The streak has to end at some point. (But will start again in 2014 with the four team playoff)
* Curious about these 5 teams:
1. Auburn - Auburn will be better, but how much better under new coach Gus Malzahn?
2. Oregon - Loaded team in a program that is on a roll. New coach is a question mark.
3. Penn State - Year 2 of probation will be challenging for Lions.
4. Iowa - No one in college football is paid so much yet won so little as Kirk Ferentz over the last few years.
5. USC - Lame Kiffin will be looking for a job by December.
* Johnny Football will play this season. There appears to be very compelling evidence that Maziel took money for autographs, but the key people will refuse to cooperate with the NCAA and the investigation will stall out for lack of "proof."
Big Boy Football Conference Champs:
ACC: Clemson
Big 10: Ohio State
Big 12: Texas
Pac 12: Stanford
SEC: Georgia
Top 5 games of 2013:
1. LSU v. Alabama
1a. SEC Title Game
2. Oregon Stanford
3. South Carolina v. Georgia
4. Ohio State v. Michigan
5. Florida State v. Clemson
A few other nuggets:
* Alabama and Texas A&M's conference schedules are significantly less challenging than LSU's. Alabama gets Kentucky and Tennessee out of the East while A&M gets Vanderbilt and Missouri. The Tigers play Florida and Georgia. Thanks SEC office!
* Johnny Manziel won't duplicate last season's success. This is no knock on the Heisman winner, just a realistic assessment based on his off-season issues, my expectation that he is looking to the NFL and his 5000+ total yards from last season and 47 TD's. Very difficult to match or surpass.
* I like Braxton Miller to win the Heisman and Ohio State to beat Stanford for the national title. You read that right, no SEC teams in the title game. The streak has to end at some point. (But will start again in 2014 with the four team playoff)
* Curious about these 5 teams:
1. Auburn - Auburn will be better, but how much better under new coach Gus Malzahn?
2. Oregon - Loaded team in a program that is on a roll. New coach is a question mark.
3. Penn State - Year 2 of probation will be challenging for Lions.
4. Iowa - No one in college football is paid so much yet won so little as Kirk Ferentz over the last few years.
5. USC - Lame Kiffin will be looking for a job by December.
* Johnny Football will play this season. There appears to be very compelling evidence that Maziel took money for autographs, but the key people will refuse to cooperate with the NCAA and the investigation will stall out for lack of "proof."
Tuesday, August 06, 2013
Coaches Poll released
The
Coaches Poll came out on Thursday with LSU checking in at #13. The
Coaches Poll is the MOST important feature of this last BCS Title race.
So no matter how little
we may think of the integrity of the rankings, ultimately the 63
coaches that vote will determine the National Title game.
5 overrated teams:
6.
Texas A&M
9.
Louisville
11. Notre Dame
14.
Oklahoma
State
20. TCU
5 underrated teams:
5.
Georgia
12.
Florida
State
13. LSU
17.
Michigan
NR.
Kansas
State
Texas A&M and Johnny Football will find it very difficult to match last season’s success. #6 is just too high in my opinion. I’m not drinking the Kool-Aid on the Ville and I think the Big 12 (OSU & TCU) as a whole is a bit of a slump relative to years past. Notre Dame was very fortunate in a number of games last season and was utterly destroyed by Alabama in the title game. With 6 or 7 “toss up” games on the schedule, look for a 3-4 loss season.
Georgia,
FSU, LSU and
Michigan have been recruiting lights out for the last few years; expect
all of these teams to do very well. KSU won the Big 12 last season, how
can they not even be in the Top 25 when we KNOW
what a great coach Bill Snyder is?
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