This is what the score should have read. Thank god we pulled this one out. LSU dominated Auburn almost the entire game, but almost lost, choking occuring on two key plays that put our season on the brink. Ryan Perrilloux pitched the ball to the defense at the end of an option play, setting up an Auburn touchdown, instead of giving LSU an almost certain field goal (10 point swing right there), and Brandon Lafell tossed the ball to the defense after seemingly catching the ball inside the 5 yard line, costing LSU a touchdown (another 7 points). Total points LSU gave away on turnovers=17. Enough said. I’m going to lay off Lafell this week, I feel bad for the kid, who was last seen crying on sidelines after being (deservedly) benched by the coaching staff. But before we go into any more detail on the game, one thing has got to be noted:
Early’s back, and with his return, Matt Flynn played like the star we all knew he could be. Even with Flynn’s best performance to date, there were at least 4 drops (one leading to an interception) which would have improved his numbers even more. At any rate, Flynn and Doucet returned to be the dynamic duo we had been anticipating all summer long. Without Doucet, Flynn has appeared average, but as has been noted numerous times on this website, some of that has to do with the rest of our receiving corps being named “Chump McButterfingers”, and some of that has to do with Doucet’s unbelievable talent.
If we don’t turn the ball over in those two key situations, this game isn’t even close. Other observations on this game:
Clock Management: A lot has been made of Miles’ supposed “gamble” when Demetrius Byrd caught the ball with 1 second left on the clock. This was more calculated risk as anyone knows all season. Whatever our receiver’s catching percentage (catches divided by the number of times the ball hits you in the chest, hands, or head) it has got to be better than Colt David’s kicking percentage beyond the 40 yards. As one person noted, the only thing less reliable than Colt David from 40 yards is Colt David from the right hash at 40 yards. ALL THAT BEING SAID after watching the replay, it looks like the clock operator let the clock tick down to 1, when Byrd actually caught the ball with 4 seconds left. I have no doubt that Miles would have lobbied the officials and gotten those 4 seconds back had Byrd not caught the ball.
Perrilloux vs. Flynn: Enough said.
HT: LSUFreek
Chop block on Dorsey: There should be a suspension, but there won’t be. Mike Slive’s office will have none of it, they’ve never corrected poor officiating before, why start now? Still, it’s a shame that a bunch of aristocratic suits in Birmingham would let an act like this, causing a great kid like Dorsey to potentially lose millions of dollars due to this. If Dorsey knew that someone was going to try to intentionally injure him this year, he would never have come back. If kids don’t return, it hurts the league, plain and simply. Slive has never been a long-term thinker, and never will be, and so an act like this will go unpunished, and at some point, some kid is going to get hurt, or some fan is going to go after one of these guys, and it’ll make a horror of a dateline NBC special, and someone’s going to either lose a pro career or go to jail, or possibly both. The guys that could prevent it refuse to do so. Fucking bullshit.
BCS thoughts:
LSU ended up #3 in the BCS this week, with the home stretch of the schedule looking pretty good, the only tough game remaining will be Alabama. If our catching game gets better, and we stick with Flynn over Perrilloux, we should win out until the SEC Championship Game, and at that point it’s anybody’s guess of who will win that game. As SMQ wrote last night, there are still Ohio State, Boston College, and Arizona State that are undefeated. However, their schedules to this point have not been nearly as strong as LSU’s. LSU has won 4 games against top 25 teams. Ohio State hasn’t played 1 top 25 team. I believe the voters will take this into account. Just because you’re undefeated doesn’t mean that you deserve to be the top ranked team in the country. Meanwhile, LSU really needs to take care of business, and while Alabama is a concerning game on the schedule, the SEC champoinship is even more concerning. Meanwhile, Ohio State only has to play Michigan, a team that was beat by a I-AA team this year. Crazy times.
Around the League
Speaking of Alabama, I was completely wrong about the Tennessee game. What the fuck happened? I don’t know. John Parker Wilson looked pretty good against the Tennessee defense. It’s hard enough for me to admit that I was wrong about Bama. I hate Bama in the face, but still, they blew the doors off of Tennessee, and so yay for them. I hope LSU takes the time off to heal, learn how to catch, and dominate again on defense. We all know Les has been thinking about this game for months, and I hope we’re all prepared for it.
Vandy beats South Carolina? The Ole Ball Coach in year 3 ain’t doing so hot I guess
Houston Nutt dominated 44-13 over the Orgeron. Does Darren McFadden go pro after having a dismal year or does he want take another year to mature and win a heisman? I take it back, he’s got to play Auburn, who will try to injure him.
Florida defeated Kentucky 45-37. Tebow accounts for 75% of the offense. If there was a way for him to catch the ball, Herban Meyer would figure it out. He looked hurt at the end of the game, it’ll be interesting to see if he bounces back.
Mississipi State got the crap kicked out of them by West Virginia. No real surprise here. Still, I think Croom keeps his job at the end of the season. He’s got to win 2 of the following to go to a bowl game: Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi. I think he can win the last two on the schedule. Bama might be difficult. No way he beats Kentucky. I think he gets a contract extension if they go to a bowl.
In other news around the leauge, the Edmonton Eskimos are mad at Notre Dame for stealing their uniforms, and Joe McKnight did pretty good against a terrible team .
We’ve got two weeks until ‘Bama. I’ll follow Virginia Tech vs. Boston College this week, as well as identify the worst player in a BCS conference. Until then, Adios.
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