Who was LSU”s Most Valuable Player yesterday? Bryant Hahnfeldt - Vanderbilt”s kicker. By missing a 49-yard potential game-winner against Tennessee, Hahnfeldt kept alive Tennessee”s hopes for an SEC East title and LSU”s hope to make the BCS Championship Game.
If Hahnfeldt makes that kick, Georgia wins the SEC East and LSU”s chances of winning the SEC Championship drop to between slim and none. LSU beat Ole Miss yesterday - in the final score and in turnovers. But the Rebels out-gained, out-passed, out-protected and out-played the Tigers on well over half of the game”s 132 snaps. If not for five key plays - Ole Miss” fumble near the goal line, an interception in the endzone, two more interceptions and Trindon Holliday”s 98-yard kickoff return for LSU - the Rebels would likely have sent LSU to the trash heap of BCS contenders yesterday.
Just as LSU”s 58-10 win over La. Tech last weekend wasn”t as strong as the score would indicate, this 41-24 win over the worst team in the SEC hardly gives me warm fuzzies about LSU”s chances to win the SEC Championship Game, much less get past Arkansas this Friday.
Thankfully - again - the football world is looking the other direction and not really examining how the Tigers are playing. With Oregon losing Thursday, LSU has become the consensus No. 1 and is exempt from the “who should be No. 2″ questioning. And that”s a good thing, because I sure wouldn”t vote this LSU team No. 1 right now.
Where has the defense gone? The Tigers gave up 466 yards to the Rebels and registered exactly one sack the entire game. When Ole Miss had the ball, the line of scrimmage looked like a barn dance, with LSU”s defensive front rarely getting into the backfield and leaving Schaeffer plenty of time to find open men or scramble out for a nice ground gain.
I hate to agree with Lee Corso, but LSU”s defense has just faded away during the season.
In the first six games of the season, LSU”s defense gave up an average of 9.3 points and 198 yards per game. Teams averaged 3.3 yards per play in this stretch, which included games against the Tigers” two highest-ranked opponents (9-2 Va. Tech and 8-3 Florida).
In the last four games (discounting the 3-OT Kentucky game”s stat-busting nature), LSU”s defense has given up an average of 23 points and 318 yards per game, with opponents averaging 4.6 yards per play. The strongest team in this stretch has been 7-4 Auburn.
To put it bluntly, the defense has gone bad.
Offensively, the Tigers have gotten better late in the season, averaging 42.5 points, 489 yards and 6.9 yards per play in the last four games compared to 37.8 points, 432 yards and 6.0 yards per play for the first six games. And that stands to reason with the softer schedule of late, and clearly it”s the offense that”s been saving LSU”s bacon.
So now there”s Arkansas, horribly inconsistent but carrying the potential to drop 650 yards of offense on an unprepared foe. That”s worrisome, but the offense should be able to bail out the defense this Friday.
More important this week will be what happens Saturday in Lexington. If Kentucky beats Tennessee, Georgia”s new-found offense will run LSU off the field in the SEC Championship Game. LSU”s only hope to make the BCS title game is pulling Tennessee - not the Dawgs - in Atlanta.
… then let”s hope somehow Ohio State rises back to No. 2.
And this defensive collapse has softened my support for Bo Pelini to take over should Leslie head back up to Michigan in the next couple of months. I still think Bo is a strong candidate, but the recent collapse of his defense takes him out of slam-dunk status should we have a vacancy at head coach.
Elsewhere in the SEC:
Alabama lost to UL-Monroe. Man, that”s fun. Just such a good time knowing the “Saban is God” crowd has to swallow that one. And now Alabama has to beat Auburn to avoid a 6-6 season. That makes me happy. And the loss Saturday ensures that Saban”s first year at Alabama will be worse than any year he had at LSU. The man took an LSU team that was 3-8 the year before he arrived and flipped them to 8-4 in his first year. At Bama, they were 6-7 last year … can Fonzie even improve that record this season? Bring back Shula!
Georgia again looked strong in shutting down Kentucky in the second half. Deciding to run the ball and not have Stafford throw (interceptions) was a smart move. And no obvious manufactured motivation required, it seems.
Tennessee nearly lost to Vandy, showing why I desperately want to draw the Vols in the SEC Championship game.
Arkansas isn”t good, but Mississippi State is worse, as expected.
Tebow wins the Heisman.
For the week: 5 - 1
For the season: 71 - 14
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