Re: Four years later and LSU is back to being LSU
LSU is just hard to say right now. The quarterback situation has clearly hurt them, but anyone who thinks that is all of their problems simply hasn't been paying attention. It's the biggest problem of many problems.
And I do think they may improve slightly next year, but all of these LSU fans who think this year is just a reloading year are wrong. This isn't "reloading," this is a team that seemingly looks a bit worse each year, and now they've reached the point to where they generally play with all of the intensity of the Grand Old Opry.
Moreover, while it is a somewhat young team, they do have a ton of experience too, and they will lose a lot of key players after this year. You can just name them off the top of your head... Demetrius Byrd, Brett Helms, Herman Johnson, Tyson Jackson, Darry Beckwith, Ricky Jean Francois, Kirsten Pittman, Charles Alexander, Colt David, etc. Bottom line, this isn't a team that returns everyone, they're going to have to replace a ton of key contributors from this 8-4 team, and if they have as much trouble replacing these outgoing seniors as they did the ones from a year ago, that's not going to be pretty. Moreover, they have several guys who can pro early, and while they've held onto those guys the past few years, they may not be so lucky this time around now they're actually struggling a bit.
And, finally, the schedule isn't going to get any easier. I know LSU fans love to rave about this whole even year-road game bit, but next year's schedule will be just as tough as this one, if not tougher. Florida will come to Tiger Stadium, but will still be ungodly good, and the roadtrips to both Alabama and Georgia will be damn tough as well, considering both of those teams should be as good as they are this year, and with Georgia probably a bit better. Moreover, Ole Miss returns a ton of players, and that game in Oxford next year will be even tougher than the one they played last night. Bottom line, Florida should still come to Baton Rouge and win (assuming Tebow returns, which most think he will), and the three home losses this year (Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss) will all be on the road in 2009 and all three of those teams will likely be as good, if not better, in 2009, and I think we can safely say that both Georgia and Ole Miss will clearly be better next year.
I'm sure they will have their typical cupcake OOC schedule and a few easy conference wins like MSU, Auburn, and Vandy to keep them at worst 7-5 or so, but it's not going to be easy next year. Even Arkansas, if they take off like most expect they will with Mallett, will not be an easy victory by any stretch.
Bottom line, I figure LSU will improve slightly next year, but honestly anything better than 9-3 will probably be a bit of a stretch. At the very least, all of these LSU fans who think this is a reloading year and they'll be back in national title contention next year... well, they're probably on about the same level as all of those guys on TideFans before the beginning of the year saying they would still win 10-11 games this year and likely still end up in Atlanta...
and they actually gave the game away agianst kentucky by running the same play 4 times without, imo the best person on their team, hester and not takin AR-KANSAS seriously.
