Win or lose, this Saturday is a huge moment in Nick Saban's resarection of the Tiger football program from the garbage pit that Curley Hallman and Gerry DiNardo put it in thanks to Joe Dean's policy of hireing the cheapest available coach. 2000 - Year 1 of Nick Saban - Season looked dismal after Booty booted a Tiger win with his ill advised interception that caused a loss to UAB. Tigers turned it around to go on to a Peach Bowl win but the injury to Davey killed the chance for a better record. 2001 - Year 2 of Nick Saban - After the devastating loss to Ole Miss dropped the Tigers to 4-3 they put it all together with Davey to Reed, won the SEC title and the Sugar Bowl and were were one of the best 2 or 3 teams in the country by the end of the season. Its too bad the NCAA dosen't have a playoff because this team was as good as anybody at the end of the season and sure as hell would have given Miami a better game than Nebraska did in the Rose Bowl for the NC. 2002 - Year 3 of Nick Saban - After an opening game loss to Virginia Tech the Tigers were getting better every week as Mauck gained confidence and were 5-1 following the blowout of Florida at the Swamp. Randall as Mauck's replacement was up and down with little consistency and Tigers ended up 8-5 after a Cotton bowl loss to Texas. The last second loss to Arkansas kept LSU out of the SEC title game but I guess that it was just karma balancing things out after the Bluegrass Miracle. 2003 - Year 4 of Nick Saban - With 2 number 1 recruiting classes and with only a few of DiNardo's recruits still around its basically Nick's team with the players he recruited. Tigers have displayed awesome firepower on both offense and defense against inferior opposition so far but still have some question marks about the pass blocking. We know the D line is among the best nationwide but still the linebackers and secondary haven't been tested against a quality team. Randall Gay is still out and the status of Jack Hunt is questionable. Hunt has shown a lot of heart and guts and the ability to play at a higher level than his talent would indicate. If he is called upon to play no doubt he will be in the lineup but a concussion like he suffered against WI can be a lot more serious than just having your bell rung. If it was up to me I would keep him out of the lineup unless the doctors assured me that he was 100% recovered no matter how important the game is. According to most predictions LSU is still a year away from greatness. Most of the number 1 recruiting class will be redshirted but a few of them have already stepped up bigtime. The 2 hotshot quarterbacks, Flynn and Russell look like the will be redshirted. Mauck has gotten better and better. Clayton is a legitimate superstar and with receivers like Henderson, Carey and Brazzel and with the running of Addai and Carey the Tigers should be able to move the ball on anybody. If the O line shows a little more consistency in protecting Mauck in passing situations nobody will keep the Tigers from moving the chains. The D Line with Lavalais, Spears and Hill is one of the best in college football. If they can contain the run and put sustained pressure on Greene when he drops back to pass it will take a lot of heat off of the linebackers and D Backs. Saban likes to uses blitzing packages but he likes to use them not out of necessity to cover a weakness in the D Line. Put it all together and 2003 could be the Year of the Tiger. Oklahoma put it all together and won a National Championship with a young team who was predicted to be a year away from even contending for the Big 12 title. Last year Ohio State went all the way even though they "won ugly" against a few teams that were huge underdogs. Mauck has better skills than Josh Hypl did at OK. He has better skills than Krenzel did at Ohio State. Krenzel has great leadership ability and a knack for coming up with the big play when the team needs it the most, like the way he came through in overtime in the NC title game against Miami or the way he did in overtime last Saturday against North Carolina State to preserve the Buckeyes winning streak. NC State QB Phillip Rivers responded to every Ohio State score in OT with clutch plays. If it hadn't been for the idiotic play calling in the 3rd Overtime they might still be playing. If the game is close with LSU needing a score in the last few minutes I look for a Joe Montana/John Elway type clutch performance from Mauck. Does he have an Elway type arm? No Does he have the guts and will to win of a Joe Montana? Yes
Nice post BB, but you'd better watch out. Some of your comments imply that Georgia's entire lineup may not be the best ever put on a football field. I'm sure the Dawg's supporters will quickly point out your erroneous assumptions.
I've heard that Randall Gay was practicing in a soft cast and was looking good. Hopefully, he'll be able to go on Saturday as he has experience and leadership in making correct calls before the play.
