Monday Morning Required Reading

…but I think I’d have that quote taped in my locker this week, just to strengthen my focus.

Or, you know, not needing a goalline stand to beat the worst team in the SEC.

Something like that.

LSU started 4-0 last year and finished the regular season 7-5, losing to every good team they played. This year’s team certainly does not look better than last year’s.

Your response also reminds me of some Auburn fans “a win is a win” pollyanna response to the 3-2 MSU game last year.

Beating crappy teams sloppily early in the year is a precursor to a mediocre season.

… you may be right. LSU has played poorly to date, but you guys are still 4-0 and things could still come together. With Ole Miss’ struggles, if you guys beat Georgia this weekend, maybe you do finish up 11-1 or 10-2. Perhaps that is how things will shake out.

On the other hand, though, the poor play could easily continue and the losses come in bunches once quality competition comes to town. This 4-0 start could be no different than Mike Shula’s 3-0 start in 2006, Saban’s 3-0 start in 2007, or Miles’ 4-0 start in 2008 for that matter. Just as easily as I could see LSU winning 10 or 11 games, I could also see you guys losing to Georgia, Florida, ’Bama, and probably at least a game or two against Ole Miss, Auburn, and Arkansas.

And, frankly, I could see where a lot of LSU fans would be upset and nervous about how the rest of the season looks to play out. With all of the talent you guys have (or at least should have) on campus, I can easily see people expecting you guys to beat up on teams much more than you have. I don’t think that’s at all unrealistic.

Stanford beat up on Washington by three touchdowns, why did LSU need to squeak out a relatively narrow eight point victory? Hell, even Notre Dame is a 15-point favorite over them. Mississippi State beat Vanderbilt about as convincingly as LSU did, and they didn’t need a dropped pass on a first and goal that turned into a game-changing interception to do it. Why not? LSU was sleepwalking to the tune of barely 300 yards of total offense in a 31-3 win over ULL while Nebraska beat the same team 55-0 the following week with almost 450 yards of total offense, so why couldn’t LSU do the same? Auburn beat Mississippi State by 25 points, so why in the hell did two weeks later LSU need a 90+ yard improv punt return for a touchdown and two late goal line stands to squeak out a 30-26 win over the same team?

Again, I think those are very legitimate questions, and I think there are plenty of objective reasons why people would be apprehensive about LSU’s chances moving forward. At the very least, if LSU continues to play over the final two months of the season like they did in the first month, it’s probably going to be a tad bit of a disappointing season for the second year in a row.

the goofy thing about this whole argument is how fast it collapses if you follow it to the logical conclusion. ok. fire miles. now who do you hire that can be even halfway as successful in his stead?

dropping a coach now means you take a pretty good team that has problems that can be fixed and throw it away for three years of mediocrity as another coach puts his system in place. and that’s if the guy works out, which is far from likely nowadays.

the only option is, as pittman pointed out, is to hold the man accountable and work on improving a good system that has been proven to bring success in the past. cutting bait now means not only does bama get seriously ahead of you, ole miss, arkansas and, shit, even auburn are now at least a year ahead as well. instead of vying for atlanta in december you are putting a brave face on unappetizing moral victories which still say “L” in the stat lines COUGHlaneCOUGHkiffinCOUGH.

I think you honestly have the right take on it. LSU admittedly has played poorly to date, so there’s no reason to be overly optimistic, but by the same token there is no reason to be going nuts when are 4-0 either. We’ll see just how it plays out from here. The 2009 LSU team to date looks much like the 2008 team, but it could easily reverse itself. I could see 7-5 again, but I could also see 10-2. We’ll see.

And as for the truth in Miles getting on the hot seat despite a 4-0 start, it’s crazy as hell, but his entire tenure has been that. He was hired to replace a legend, practically inherited an NFL team, won tons of games, won a national title, turned down the Michigan job, pissed away a ton of games he should have won, lost momentum, had to implement staff turnover, and now the program seems to be declining. And, of course, that same legend comes back two years later and is now building a powerhouse at a divisional rival.

It’s crazy as hell, but honestly, given all that, there will never be anything remotely “normal” about the Miles era.