The View from Section 109: The LSU Game

I knew that whichever team would win Saturday night's game would have to earn it, and I can't complain too loudly about LSU walking out of Jordan-Hare Stadium with the five-point triumph. It played out almost exactly like last season's game in Baton Rouge, and we are going to have to re-learn how to sit on leads if we're not going to go for the throat on great opponents like LSU in order to get back to winning those types of ball games. What we have done the last couple of years just isn't cutting it any more. Yes, Tommy Tuberville has a sterling record against top-10 and top-five opponents, but we have lost our last three games against top-10 teams now.

Now, that isn't to say that I agree with the sitting on leads strategy. I know we can't get a national championship beating teams 9-7, 10-9, 7-3, and this is why we went to the spread. However, winning games 9-7, 10-9, 7-3 is better than the alternative of losing games 26-21, 30-24, etc. Tuberville got out-coached Saturday night by someone who hasn't been afraid to take any chances since he took over the LSU program. This guy is someone that no one gave any credit towards outside the state of Louisiana, but I tip my normal-sized hat to Les Miles for having the courage to trust in his play-makers when it was obvious that a sneaky play or two could catch our team off guard. Tuberville used to be that guy, but it hasn't been seen in a while.

If you had told me that we would score 21 on LSU, I wouldn't have thought it would be the close game that it turned out to be (nor would I have thought there was any chance for them to walk out victorious). Our secondary was exposed for the first time in I can't remember, and Charles Scott took our defense's manhood in the second half. If you are going to be a championship defense, you have to make more stops on third down - which is made easier when you can keep the opponent out of short-yardage situations. Yes, the offense and special teams put these guys in tough situations, but LSU would have been kicking field goals instead of scoring touchdowns if our D was championship caliber. They're good, very good in fact. However, right now, they're not a championship defense. It's not all their fault, though.

How bad can you play on special teams? When did we get scared of kicking it to a particular return guy? I think it all goes back to 2005, when Skylar Green essentially won the game for LSU with his punt return to put them up 7-0. Sure, that wasn't last score of the night and there were five missed field goals, but Tuberville seems inclined to keep the game out of the special team's hands and in the defense's hands more and more each time we play LSU since that night. We need to quit playing scared in the kicking game and trust our coverage (which has been much better so far this year than the last two seasons).

I want to take this time to applaud Robert Dunn, who had his best game by far as an Auburn receiver. While leadership has been hard to find on the offense, I really feel as though he's starting to achieve that status along with Rod Smith. We've had a different receiver have a big game each game this season, which tells me that this offense is getting one thing accomplished we brought it in to do: get the ball distributed to our playmakers. I'm also happy we found a way to get Tim Hawthorne some more touches. He doesn't have the speed to be a breakaway guy, but he should use Saturday night's performance (with the game's two biggest catches) to springboard into a big season - just like Ben Obomanu following the Ole Miss loss in 2003.

The positives: the offense scored a touchdown when it was imperative to get points in a situation where three wasn't going to cut it. That toss from Chris Todd to Dunn was gorgeous, and I feel as though this is something that will help spark the bond between those two. Dunn played a lot harder for Todd this week than he appeared to from the stands against Mississippi State, and his comments after the LSU game show he has much more confidence in Todd's abilities than a week ago. This was the best defense we will face this year, and no offensive line will be able to hold our defensive tackles like the Bayou Bengals'. This is LSU's best team this decade - not their most talented but their best cohesive group of players. We won't be the only secondary Brandon LeFell and Jarrett Lee carve in 2008 and beyond.

I don't have a problem saying that LSU was the better team and deserved to win in Auburn. What scares me is that this was possibly the least-talented LSU team we will face for some time. I hope they say the same about Auburn.

War Eagle, everyone, and thanks again for reading.

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