LSU Preview - Part of the 117 Teams in 117 Days Series Sorry if posted... Without doing any research on the subject, let's just go out on a limb and say that this LSU team is one of the fastest in college football history. Of course there are teams that have had great team speed and some recent Florida State, USC and Miami squads that should be counted in the mix, but the 2004 Tigers have speed everywhere. Tigers Head coach: Nick Saban 5th year: 39-13 11th season overall: 82-39-1 Returning O Lettermen: 23 Returning D Lettermen: 15 Returning ST Lettermen: 3 Lettermen Lost: 26 Ten Best Players 1. CB Corey Webster, Sr. 2. DE Marcus Spears, Sr. 3. RB Justin Vincent, Soph. 4. C Ben Wilkerson, Sr. 5. OT Andrew Whitworth, Jr. 6. WR/PR Skyler Green, Jr. 7. SS LaRon Landry, Soph. 8. LB Lionel Turner, Sr. 9. CB Travis Daniels, Sr. 10. DT Kyle Williams The skill players are fast, the secondary is fast, and even the offensive linemen are relatively fast. Start with All-America sprinter Bennie Brazell as a reserve receive and star receiver recruit/Olympic sprinter hopeful Xavier Carter, and you have the beginnings of an elite 4x4 relay team. This team has more than enough candidates to fill out the other two slots. There's the old cliche that you can't coach speed, yet that's precisely what head coach Nick Saban, offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher and defensive coordinator Will Muschamp do. No, they don't make their players faster; their designs are based on the warp speed their players can fly at. Others are going to try and imitate LSU's attacking style on defense, but they won't be able to do it without the quicks the Tiger back seven has. When you can move like this team can, everything else just falls into place. So now the Tigers will try and repeat as national champions with the athleticism and talent to beat anyone in the country. It won't be easy with several key personnel losses and a brutal SEC schedule to go along with the bull's-eye that a national title brings. No matter what happens, this program should be here to stay among the elite. The Schedule: The defending SEC and national champs will certainly be pushed going on the road to face Auburn, Georgia and Florida. They won't get much of a chance to take advantage of the Death Valley crowd with a light home slate. LSU can win three of the road games, but all pulling off all four is too much to ask for. Best Offensive Player: Sophomore RB Justin Vincent. All Vincent needs is a sliver of daylight and he's gone with an 87-yard touchdown run against Georgia in the SEC championship game and a 64-yard dash against Oklahoma. He headlines a tremendous group of backs that should be among the nation's overall rushing leaders. Best Defensive Player: Senior CB Corey Webster. He should be in the NFL now, but he chose to come back for another year after breaking up 25 passes and picking off seven last year. He's a big corner with a fantastic nose for the ball. Key player to a successful season: Matt Mauck isn't going to be remembered as the most talented college quarterback of all-time, but he won and will always have a place in the hearts of LSU fans. Now it'll be up to Marcus Randall, JaMarcus Russell and Matt Flynn to try and get the team back to another SEC and national title game. All three have tremendous talent, now they have to lead the way like Mauck did. The season will be a success if ... LSU wins the SEC title. As good as the Tigers are, that's not going to be easy with road dates at Auburn, Georgia and Florida. Even if they get past those, there's still the championship game, most likely a rematch against the Dawgs, to get past. That's asking a lot of any team. Key game: September 18 at Auburn. With brutal SEC road dates ahead, LSU must win the nasty SEC opener if it has any hope of repeating as SEC champions. Auburn will be a lot better than many think. 2003 Fun Stats: - Scoring after the first three quarters: LSU 406 - Opponents 90 - Rushing touchdowns: LSU 24 - Opponents 5 - Third down conversion: LSU 83 of 198 (42%) - Opponents 49 of 204 (24%) 2004 Recruiting Class Star of the Class - Early Doucet WR 6'2 210 St. Martinville La. The top wide receiver in America and the No. 1 athlete in the state of Louisiana ... Rated among the nation's top-five prospects by every major recruiting publication ... Explosive player who can change the complexion of a game, constantly making big plays ... Dedicated, hard-worker who gives it his all on every play ... Showed tremendous versatility, playing quarterback, wide receiver, running back, and return man in high school ... Closed out his career with 7,104 all-purpose yards and 79 touchdowns ... Ran for 3,592 yards on 470 carries and 52 touchdowns during his career ... As a senior, rushed for 850 yards on the ground and passed for over 750 yards in the air, despite suffering from a nagging hamstring injury ... Accounted for 30 touchdowns as a senior ... Became the first player in 31 years to start every game as a freshman at St. Martinville High ... Member of four postseason teams, including a state semifinal berth as a freshman and junior ... Also a standout basketball player, playing a pivotal role in helping the Tigers win the Class 4A State Basketball Championship as a sophomore Instant Impact Players Glenn Dorsey DT 6'2 295 Gonzales (East Ascension) La. Rated among the nation's top defensive linemen and one of the top three prospects in Louisiana ... Outstanding footwork and quickness for his size ... Despite being sidelined for three games with an ankle injury, registered 43 tackles (16 for losses), two sacks and one forced fumble as a senior ... Had a stellar junior year, making over 100 tackles (12 for losses) and 12 sacks ... Bench presses 335 pounds and squats 610 pounds Claude Wroten DL 6'3 295 Bastop (Mississippi Delta CC, Miss) La. One of the top-10 junior college prospects in the nation ... Extremely talented and gifted defensive tackle primed for a breakout season ... Great quickness off the ball ... Recorded 53 tackles, 15 sacks, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in 2003 ... Bench presses 370 pounds and squats 550 pounds ... Runs an amazing 4.9 40-yard dash for his size ... Originally a two-year letterman at Bastrop High School who signed with Northwestern State ... Got bigger, stronger and faster and is now currently enrolled at LSU and will be able to compete in spring drills Rest of the Class Charles Alexander DL 6'3 265 Breaux Bridge La. Xavier Carter WR 6'3 195 Melbourne (Palm Bay) Fla. Mit Cole TE 6'4 245 Picayune (Memorial) Miss. Harry Coleman DB 6'2 205 Baldwin (West St. Mary) La. Marlon Favorite DL 6'2 310 Harvey (West Jefferson) La. Lavelle Hawkins WR 5'11 175 Stockton (Edison) Calif. Brett Helms OL 6'3 305 Stuttgart Ark. Jacob Hester RB 6'0 235 Shreveport (Evangel) La. Ali Highsmith LB 6'1 220 Miami (Central) Fla. Max Holmes OL 6'4 285 Baton Rouge (Parkview Baptist) La. Jeffrey Jack DB 5'11 180 Houston (Madison) Texas Chevis Jackson DB 6'1 180 Mobile (St. Pauls Episcopal) Ala. Tyson Jackson DL 6'6 280 Edgard (West St. John) La. Herman Johnson OL 6'7 395 Denton Texas Trumaine Johnson DL 6'2 255 Galena Park Texas Quinn Johnson LB 6'3 225 Edgard (West St. John) La. Jeremy Jones TE 6'5 285 Harvey (West Jefferson) La. E.J. Kuale LB 6'3 240 Daytona Beach (Dodge City CC, Kan) Fla. Ryan Miller OL 6'5 310 Lake Charles (Barbe) La. Luke Sanders LB 6'3 220 West Monroe La. Craig Steltz DB 6'2 195 Metairie (Archbishop Rummel) La. Mario Stevenson DB 6'2 195 Memphis (Melrose/NE Miss CC, Miss) Tenn. Matt Stoltz LB 6'3 240 Little Rock (Pulaski Academy) Ark. Curtis Taylor DB 6'3 180 Franklinton La. Tim Washington DE 6'4 270 Stafford (Dulles) Texas P.J. Zimmerman TE 6'4 240 New Orleans (Jesuit) La.
They gave the LSU OL an 8.5 LMAO ... the best line in school history ... I love these azzclowns Our DL got no respect early last year either ... they'll learn to respect LSU ... next year :wink:
