Our offense, special teams, and turnovers caused by the defense (these three things combined, not even our offense alone) did enough to allow the defense to win the game for us in almost every important game. The defense was still looking for an identity in the Tennessee game and the offense did nothing the whole game (except capitilize on turnovers in the first half). No defense can hold up forever when the offense won't contribute, especially not a defense that has lost key starters and is still figuring itself out. The only game against a defense with a pulse where our offense showed up was against Miami.
A 4 point per game difference is more than 40 points over the course of a season. I wouldn't be satisfied whatever the stats showed, however, because I know what I saw in 2003 (a championship caliber team with an effective offense and a killer defense) and what I saw most of 2005 (a team full of athletic players who couldn't put an effective offense together for most of the season). 2005 was still a success for Miles in his first season because of the obstacles we overcame, the record we compiled, and that final cherry on top against Miami, but I'm not going to pretend that our offense and thus team was something it was not. SF, I'll openly admit winning isn't enough for me. I've said before that winning is nice but not ultimately what makes me respect a team. It's how a team plays that impresses me (LSU or any other). And you're damn right margin of victory is important to me. It is one of the most key statistics in college football, usually explaining how strong you are in relation to your opponent. I tend to look more at the margin of victory compared to your opponent's average margin of decision, but it's the same basic premise.
Kinda like how 'Bama kept winning games by a field goal with less then a minute to play 3 times this year? Not too impressive if you ask me, either. Chuck :geauxtige
