CBS projecting we will play Michigan in the Citrus Bowl.
- Thread starter louman90
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Fair enough. Take away the self inflicted wounds at Knoxville and its a tossup. We got the result we deserved there after we lost Chubb. My objection was to the notion that we were a below .500 team, which means 5-7 barring a cancellation. The 5-7 teams in the conference are likely to be Mizzou and Kentucky. Auburn will be 6-6. Vanderbilt 4-8. We're clearly better than all, with Auburn being the closest. (They're going to be 6-6 in the West. We're a 7-5 team on a West schedule with a 3-5 conference record. Besides Auburn, we're better than A&M is right now and were better than Miss St and Arkansas early this season and are better than LSU late). I witnessed the Mizzou game and though we struggled and shot ourselves in the foot, they never looked as if they were capable of going out and taking it from us. I'm probably putting the cart before the horse, because I'm counting on beating a bad Tech team, but 9-3 and a half decent bowl game this year, given the inconsistent QB play and having to redefine roles played by the skill players after the loss of Chubb, is damned good damage control. It could have been a disaster as opposed to a disappointment. As for a default ranking, football is an attritional game. Sometimes you're banged up and below strength and catch a break and face beatable opponent such as Mizzou, Kentucky and Ga Southern. Sometimes you're healthy and it doesn't matter, such as against Alabama. Shit happens to everyone and it's random. I'm interested to have your take on this: I live in Baton Rouge. I think Les is done. People who know people in high places are apoplectic to an even greater extent than the Richt haters and it resurfaced very,very quickly. I would never make that decision, but these folks don't read much that isn't purple and gold and think they're football elite and don't remember Phil Fulmer. Another take I'd like to have from you. Frerentz up at Iowa has them on the brink after about 6 seasons since they had any real results. Worst case is that they're going to the Rose Bowl. Iowa isn't Indiana or Illinois. They've had some success over the past several decades. A couple or three Rose Bowls, an Orange Bowl and they beat Saban in the 2004 Citrus Bowl. They're more like Wisconsin. Would you have remained patient with him?
This conversation has veered off really far... to the point that my context regarding the sub .500 remark, has lost its context. You're comparing us to current .500ish teams. That hs nothing to do with my remarks. I'm saying we are a sub .500 level team with any comparable cocktail of circumstances during a normal year. The SEC in general is tragically bad this year. So our success or lack thereof is scaled to the other bad teams around us. In a normal year, this Florida team might be 6-5 right now. This is ll realated to my point that you can't just project success in bowls because of historic SEC and BIG10 pairings, because literally (and it's not a cliche this time)& the whole conference is down.
BTW, the score of our game vs. UTK wasn't indicitive of the drubbing we really received. After the flurry of odd TD's we scored, our identity of a team who was struggling to move the ball was beginning to take shape. We scored on offensive TD in the final three quarters, and that was on go route (which was the last of its type we've had) while UTK was rolling up well over 500 yards on us at will. In terms of actual production, their offense outscored ours 38-17, and that ass kicking was revealed in the box score.
As far as Miles goes, that's tough. He's the most consistent HC LSU's ever had, but coaches who are figureheads/CEO's are more susceptible to bad spells with an imperfect hire. And with these guys, they are justly held more accountable based on their hires. Like many former NFL OC's, Cam Cameron wants to make pieces fit into his system, rather than adjusting his game to his pieces Ultimately that's on Les. Are the fans at LSU spoiled? Sure. But should they have elevated expectations? Probabaly. The program is sexy now. Thanks in large part to Les. Is Les still good enough? Hard to say. But the game does pass certain coaches by. It may be too soon to tell with Les, but he has been mediocre for four years now. Becoming tolerant of lesser results, but wanting to be respectful to the program's architect can be dagerous territory, especially in the SEC arms race. Honestly, I think he deserves one more year, altough I actually understand the fanbase's concern, as ludacris as it seems on the surface.
Incidentally, I wouldn't compare Les to Fulmer. It's difficult to tell if LSU's program has actually declined in the last four years (I don't think it has), but witth Fulmer it became obvious. It was seven years of roller coaster results. The move just seems like a mistake in hindsight because Tennessee failed in trying to replace Fulmer. Iowa is different. I sort of think Ferentz generally keeps them idling as high as they possibly can realistically, given their natural situation. I think he's good enough to have them tale advantage of their circumstances when they get a lucky bounce. Year to year, I don't think there would be a noticeable difference with someone else from year to year, but Ferentz is just solid enough to give them an unexpected 2 loss season a couple times every nine years. Which might be just enough to spoil Hawkeye fans.
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