What will it take? It'll take something you just can't put your finger on It'll take what the US hockey team had against the Russians in the 1980 Miracle on ice at Lake Placid. It'll take what Buster Douglass had in his heart when he beat a stunned and dazed Mike Tyson into submission. It'll take what the New York Jets had when they beat the Baltimore (forever Baltimore in my mind) Colts in Super bowl III. It'll take what was in the hearts of the amazing Mets in 1969. The year they overtook the Cubs to win the pennant and then defeat Jim Palmer and the Baltimore Orioles for the series. (Baltimore...again. They must have felt cursed back then.) It'll take what was coursing through the veins of a horse appropriately named "Upset" when it overcame 100 to 1 odds and upset Man-o-War to give probably the greatest horse of all time it's only loss. It'll take exactly what was in Roulon Gardner's mind when he was stepping on the mat with the Russian, Alexander Karelin in the 2000 Olympics. Gardner had no business being on the same mat with Karelin because the Russian wrestler had been undefeated and unscored on for the previous DECADE. I believe the common denominator in all of these great upsets is what separates winning from losing in all aspects of life. It's the difference between life and death... ...It's faith...absolute, complete and total belief in achieving what you hope for despite every reason not to believe. Talent, preparation, ability...it all helps, but if you don't have Faith...you don't really have a chance if your opponent has it. :tigereye:
You bring up an excellent point...or a couple of them, actually. It's good sometimes to think back to when we were winning at will, and remember there were some close games...and we got some serious lucky breaks. The pendulum has swung, but the thing about that is, it keeps swinging. Like I said in the original post, we have played teams close that, according to the experts, we shouldn't have been on the same field with. I know that's an exaggeration, but let's face it...we haven't been favored against UA or UF in the past couple of years. But except for UF in '08, we've been toe to toe with the big boys...and just haven't gotten a break. --- HOWEVER, I agree that sometimes the breaks aren't luck. Sometimes playing with fire and intensity, precision, a "want" to dominate, etc..., is what it takes to "make" some luck. I'm typically not a quoter of old sayings, but I believe I've heard it said "Luck is where preperation and opportunity meet". I just want the team to be focused on the mission. I want to see 3 hours of absolute HELL for the opponent. I wanna see THEM puking on the sidelines. I wanna see THEM infighting. I wanna see THEM dazed and confused. I wanna see a team clicking on all cylinders on both sides of the ball. With all that said, I do believe it's not necessarily from a lack of preperation or focus, at least not totally. I believe if they were able to BEAT one of the big boys instead of just playing them tough, it could push them over the hump. Give them swagger. I just haven't seen the swagger the last couple of years. I wish we could've carried it over from the '08 Peach, but it didn't happen. Right now, we are coming off a lackluster performance and loss. I hope we don't see THAT carry over. I have great respect for PSU, however, they were NOT the better team that day. I know the field played into it, but not so one sided in their favor that it made a difference. We should be able to control a team like that. I wanna see us DOMINATE a team like that again. I hope the team is as hungry as I am. For what it's worth, just in case there's a question about it...I'm more confident than most of you that have responded seem to be. I think the team will be improved from last season. I think the offense will be MUCH improved. I think the defense will have to gel, but there's talent there, AND coaching...AND leadership ON the field. I believe we'll be OK there. I just think if we are able to win a BIG game, it'll make all the difference in the world. Think about it, how often have you seen a team cruising along, hit a speed bump and lose a tough game, or a game to a team it should've beaten badly, and spiral downward? Not just LSU...any team. The same can apply to a team struggling to find it's identity. Come out and beat a team people think you shouldn't, or dominate a team or two, and watch the whole attitude change. I think it's what we need.
Nothing would make me happier than to be proven wrong about Miles and Crowton. If it means LSU gets to the mountaintop again, I'd eat that big heaping pile of crow with a smile on my face. :LSU231:
It's like listening to a broken record. But you know, that's the problem when you start counting games you "should have won". It means you also have to start counting games you "should have lost": LSU was a Chad Jones career day away from losing to State. In Starkville. If not for a miraculous last ditch final drive, LSU "should have lost" to Arkansas (yet again) in TS, bringing our SEC record to 4-4, or 3-5 if you count State. It took last-minute Jamarcus heroics just to beat Arizona State. Oops, there goes one of those 10-win seasons. (Edit, just remembered we went 11-2 that year, still brings the average down.) While one of the best wins in TS history against Florida, no team has any business going 5/5 on 4th down conversions. Goodbye NC if one of those didn't happen. The point is if you're going to haul out the 10-win season argument and brag about looking at the bigger picture, then you should look at the whole picture. The Miles super-defenders seem to want to live their lives in 2005-2007 and act like the last couple of seasons didn't expose serious problems. Les is a good coach who found success due to very good recruiting, good assistants and a ballsy approach to playcalling that created a lot of fortunate opportunities. The last two things have been sorely lacking the last two seasons. LSU continues to be a heavily penalized team, as it has been throughout Miles' tenure, and the offense continues to stagnate with a lackadaisical attitude and no aggression, combined with inept playcalling. If that doesn't change I don't see this team being better than an above average, 8-9 win team with the current level of competition in the SEC. However, if I'm wrong (and it would be FAR from the first time), then I extend the same invitation I've given to all the Miles defenders to dance on my grave, and I'll be happy to come back and take the heat. People seem to confuse my criticism of Miles with me somehow wanting him fired or gone, and that's the farthest thing from the truth. I really like Miles, he's done a lot of good things for this program and university, and I want him to succeed here at the highest level. But that doesn't mean I'm going to bury my head in the sand and ignore some glaring issues. But IMO the best thing Les Miles can do this season is to prove me wrong.
nothing. i think the players have faith, and i know i do. we could go 0-12 and i would still have faith the next season. I am an LSU fan, any of us who have been for awhile know how bad it can get.
In defending Miles, at times, I've been told, "He was lucky". Even have had some say, back then, "His luck will run out." Were they correct? I'm holding my breathe hoping they were wrong cause at the time (2007) I didn't see it as "luck". As far as the OP, it's not a matter of what it will take. I am just never happy/satisfied with losing even though I know we can't win every game, every SEC Championship, etc. but each year I begin with all the hopes, excitement, and joy of seeing our Tigers hoist another one.
What would it take to make me believe again? I dunno, a table & some beers, and some Team KATT people to play flip cup with? That would do. I never stopped believing in LSU... But here's what I'd like to see this season: Offense: O-Line: The O-line needs to be better than last year, and it should be. Last year's O-line was probably the worst I've seen at LSU in a long time. Blocking scheme, execution, whatever.. If it's better this year, other things will begin to fall into place. Running Game: We need this back. If the O-line is improved over last season, we should see a much more effective ground attack this year. Ridley, Murphy, and Ford should be able to move the ball, and I think Ford will shine as the year goes on and he settles in. Passing Game: Big 'if' here. JJ's numbers last year weren't bad, just no fun to watch. I'd like to see him go over the middle more. If the two above factors work out in LSU's favor, then JJ's job should get a bit easier, since defenses will have to do a little more than simply stack the box to stop us. Last year they had absolutely no respect for our passing game, this has to change. Add Toliver, Randle, and Shepard to the mix and JJ has the tools he needs to be able to light it up. D. Peterson should shine @ TE too. The question is, will JJ (or GC) pull the trigger? Defense: D-Line: We need to get after the QB. Last season sacks were rare for LSU and that's not the LSU defense we've all been used to. That's got to change this year. We've got some serious speed at DE this year, I like that. Linebackers: Sheppard will lead the squad, and even though we lost a couple of experienced guys there's some talent waiting to step up. I think we'll probably be ok here. Safety: Lost Chad Jones, but again, we've got some talent just waiting to step in and perform. We should end up ok here. Corners: Patrick Peterson could probably cover the whole defensive backfield himself, but he's modest and doesn't like to show off :hihi:, so they will likely have Mo Claiborne back there with him. I'd normally be concerned with this, since most offenses will be picking on him and avoiding Peterson. Claiborne should be ok back there though and may end up making OC's regret picking on him. I've been anxious to see him get his chance and it looks like this year he will. Special Teams: I think we're ok there. My only concern is Peterson getting hurt on a return, but you can't play the game worried about injuries. Overall, the team's confidence. I don't care about our record (to a point), I just want the team to have their swagger back. The last 2 seasons just seemed to be full of cliff-hanger type finishes where we sometimes won, but found ourselves wiping the sweat from our brow later and thinking about how fortunate we were not to lose. Whether we win 8 games or 10+, I want the wins to look like we meant to win, not like we just lucked up into it.
