Turn the Page

Ah here I am, on a road again
There I am, up on the stage
Here I go, playing the star again
There I go, turn the page

 

-Bob Seger

 

LSU turns the page this fall with new permanent head coach Edward Jim Orgeron, Jr.  With Alabama’s continued dominance of the SEC and college football in general, expectations are a bit muted for Coach O.  But that doesn’t mean Tiger fans will be satisfied with 8 or 9 wins.  LSU needs to up last year’s 8 win total and show improvement on offense.

A few thoughts from early June:

 

* A number of fans are down on Danny Etling as LSU’s QB.  I am not one of them.  In a season marked by Miles’ firing after four games, Etling finished 6^th in the SEC in QB efficiency rating with a 135.54.  For perspective, Jalen Hurts, Alabama QB and SEC Offensive player of the year finished 5^th with a 139.12.

 

* Etling and the rest of the offense are now mercifully free of Miles’ stone age offense with the hiring of Matt Canada.  Canada comes from Pitt where he had great success leading the Panthers to their 2^nd most prolific offense in the last 45 years.  A breakdown of what fans can expect to see this season are here and here courtesy of And the Valley Shook and SEC Country.  I expect Elting to have a solid season that will make LSU fans excited about the future.

* Derrius Guice is a legitimate Heisman candidate.  His 285 yards versus Texas A&M stand testament to his ability.

The key will be for him to rack up big numbers early as Fournette did in 2015.  The Tigers play BYU, Chattanooga, Miss. State, Syracuse and Troy to open the season.  The Tigers should be 5-0 and Guice could have between 750-850 yards by then.  The next three opponents, Florida, Auburn and Ole Miss will present a big stage for Guice and LSU’s “new” offense.


* I like the way LSU’s schedule sets up.  Challenging opener versus BYU then an FCS opponent then at State then two lesser teams at home before traveling to Florida.  Playing five SEC road games will be no fun, but there are a number of seniors on this team that can lead.


* New faces on defense but I’m not worried.  LSU has plenty of talent to compete and as mentioned earlier, the first five games give the Tigers some room for error and growth.





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