I think our biggest concern is the SEC west is going to be VERY VERY strong next year (Again) Arkansas is getting stronger and seems to own us lately, Auburn is the defending National Champ, Alabama is well Alabama and Miss St is even better. Ole Miss can beat you on any day. So for us I think we will have a great team, but sadly so does most of the teams we play. I personally dont think any team out of the West will have less than 2 losses. Not because we are not that good, but this division is BY far the toughest division in college football is the toughest conference in football. I just hope we dont start gathering the horses and pitchforks again when we do drop one.
Auburn lost 22 seniors and all their playmakers. They'll be lucky to compete for 3rd place, much less division champs. Arkansas starts over with a new QB, admittedly one who looked good against Auburn's pass defense, but so did a lot of teams. Not sure how good their defense will be. Ditto for Ole Miss. Nutt has gotten several over on us, but doesn't have anywhere near the caliber of players he had at Arkansas. This is a very tough division in the toughest conference in the country, but I expect the West to be down a bit from last year, particularly in QB play. It's a window of opportunity that's ours for the taking if we don't screw things up.
Qb and offensive line play will determine the year. If the line gives the qb the time and the qb uses that time to make plays, we will be champions.
I willing to bet good money that Odell Beckam and Jarvis Landry will be studs. They might have a huge mountain to climb to see playing time in their first year, as I think Tolliver and Boone will prove to be weapons. I just go back to this, LSU WR have been hard to fairly grade becaus eht eQB play has been terrible. Reminds me of when Peter Warrick went to the Bengals. The guy made amazing plays when in Cincinnati when given the opportunity. Problem was, those chances were hard to come by when you have Akili Smith was his QB. And Akili smith was terrible!! And as they say, so goes the QB, so goes the team. Keyshawn Johnson can also tell you how hard it is to put up #'s with a mediocre QB. Back to the topic.... The WR did drop a few, but I can only imagine breaking the huddle knowing that I am going to be running a route full speed with a minimal chance of actually being thrown the ball.
My biggest concerns are: Defensive Tackes - we lost our 2 starters, including a leader in Nevis. We have some talent, but everybody there really needs to step it up. LB - I'm not completely sold on Minter yet. He's got the talent but has been too slow on his reads. Hopefully with another year of experience this won't be an issue. I think Hatcher will be an improvement over Francois and have no worries about Baker. RB - I love Ware, but the fact remains we don't have an established RB. I'm not sold on Ford because he hasn't picked the game up enough given the length of time he's been on campus. He needs to be a reliable first or second RB for us to be strong here. WR's - Reuben is ready for a break-out season, but Sheppard has to prove he belongs at WR. The two freshmen that played last were solid (Boone & Wright), but we don't have anybody ready to be the #2, much less #3, go-to-guy. I expect Landry to make an impact. Leadership - our defensive leaders are all gone. Jefferson or Mett need to step-up as a leader on offense. Schedule - absolutely brutal.
I'm not concerned about QB, OL, DB's, DE's, or TE. QB will be fine. Either Jefferson improves dramatically or Mett takes it over. OL, DE's, & DB's are in great shape. Not worried about starters or depth. I think Peterson is going to shine at TE, and we've got Clement behind him who I think will be a good one.
My biggest concern is the same as it is every year at this time... It's going to be an extremely long 5 1/2 months.
The schedule is the least of my concerns. Great teams rise up against the best opposition. It's the trap games when you're looking ahead that kill you. When Alabama went undefeated and won the BCS title game they were battle hardened by having played one of the toughest schedules in the country. Last year the schedule was weak for the Crimson Tide and they underperformed and lost to the best three teams on their schedule. LSU got into the 2003 and 2007 BCS title games because we played tough schedules and got respect for it. In fact, LSU just edged out USC for the title game in 2003 because Alabama, an LSU opponent, beat Hawaii, a USC opponent. Great teams find a way to win. Great schedules can make good teams into great ones. :geaux:
