I don't usually stick my *neck* into other teams' affairs, but okay, it might be useful to give my perspective given the unfair assessment of your excellent team by some of your fans. First of all, we Huskies are definitely not the team we were last year. We do have reasonable talent, especially with Locker; and the team's transformation under Sarkisian and his young energetic coaches has been truly amazing. We really thought we were going to surprise you -- like the undermanned Germans surprised the Americans in WWII in The Battle of the Bulge. I guarantee you that every single Husky player and coach expected to win. But like the Germans we were defeated a little bit by the lack of the bad weather we were hoping for; but mostly by the ability of the opposition to bounce back, hold the line under tough conditions and then take care of business. People who didn't make that trip don't realize how brutal it was. In the fourth quarter as it approached midnight LSU time, I saw a very tired LSU defense. It was not because they were not well-conditioned, It was because of many other factors: the first game of the season, the travel, the fact that they were playing past bedtime, the totally different conditions, the different eating schedule, the different sleeping schedule on different beds, the unexpected strength of the opponents, the stadium noise, chasing a really fast quarterback around and the sheer number of plays the Huskies were able to run. I had an excellent view from midfield and the Tiger defense was definitely tired, especially the big guys, who had their hands on their hips, sucking air between plays and were kneeling on the ground trying to catch their breaths as much as possible. I thought we had a chance to win because of it, but your guys showed a *lot* of toughness, a lot of fight, and an extraordinary amount of character. The LSU players, under adverse conditions, were really pulling together. The linebackers and defensive backs kept encouraging the big guys and patting them on the back. I could only shake my head in admiration as your big guys, as tired as they were, got up and went full speed each and every play -- they continued to run as hard and hit as hard as they possibly could. That is what football is all about. There is no doubt LSU has the talent, skill and coaching to be a strong team, but we all know that is not enough. At the core of football are toughness, heart and character and your football team showed me a lot of that last Saturday. Your team became stronger because of the way they handled adversity. I saw in them the backbone, fight and poise that will pull them through the tough situations they will surely face in the tough SEC. This was a much better experience for them than if they had easily run up 700 yards against a bad team like we were last year. That would not have been nearly as impressive for me. I hope people give your players and coaches the credit they deserve for the way they bounced back and took care of business under tough, unusual, weird conditions. There were a lot of positives, that if recognized, can be built upon. The people in this forum who weren't there and who are critical do not realize what determination your team showed. They don't realize what your team is capable of accomplishing this season. Anyway, you asked for my perspective as an outsider. From what I saw last Saturday night in Seattle, LSU played an excellent game. From my perspective, I expect really big things -- great things -- from the LSU football team this season.
SH thank you for the very kind words. With fans like you and other Husky visitors I can't help but cheer for you guys. Your team deserves to achieve good things. They played much better than an 0-14 team. Best of luck this season. Geaux Huskies
