What are your 3 biggest worries about the 2009 Season?

My three worriesare as follows:

1) Getting tickets for the SEC championship game to watch our beloved LSU
2) Getting tickets BCS championship game to watch our beloved LSU
3) Getting home safely after watching our beloved LSU win the BCS championship game.

:lsup:LSU!:champs::champs::champs::lsup:LSU!

 

1) D-line. Everything else on that side of the ball should be good from what I could tell in the spring.

2)O-line.. No Big Herm and Helms is hard to replace, but we do have some monsters in waiting.

3) The same jack@ss will be sitting behind me this season.

 

Good thread, but for me...the title needs tweaking. Instead of 3 biggest "worries", how about 3 biggest "things I hope got straightened out". Only because I feel they WILL be much improved in the 3 areas that bugged me the most last season...but I want to see it on the field.
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1) Leadership...on the field.
Need some guys to step up and take the lead. I think this will happen, because there are leaders there...they just weren't in a position to step up last year. I'm speaking of a couple of guys in particular on defense... Chad Jones and Patrick Peterson. These two guys weren't starters at the beginning of last season, and this year they are. They are now the top dogs at their respective positions. They need to lead, and I think they will. I also hope a leader is found on the offensive side of the ball. I believe that will come from Ciron, Charles Scott, and yes...Jordan Jefferson. JJ does not appear to be outspoken, but neither was Jacob Hester. JJ seems to be a very cool customer that doesn't let things rattle him. I like his poise, and if fans like me notice it, surely the players on the field will notice it. That is leadership.
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2) Players in the right position.
Last season, there were times when...especially on defense...it looked like a 3 ring circus. Guys didn't seem to know where they were supposed to be, and the results were pitiful. Furthermore, not only guys in the right position for a particular play...but actually playing the right position for their skill set/size/talent level. Chad Jones will finally be playing his natural position. Harry Coleman I think will be better suited to LB...and will be able to cover receivers out of the backfield with his safety experience. I don't think we'll see tight ends and fullbacks schooling them like they have been schooling a certain other player the past couple of years.
3) Coaching.
In other words, making adjustments to stop the other team from exploiting a weakness, not putting players in a position to fail by doing something they are not ready to do, (JLee last season), making sure the intensity is there in the first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter, and however many overtimes it takes...playing all out until the whistle stops echoing. No more quitting on the field in the middle of a game. AND, if that does happen, put his arse on the pine...I don't give a rat's hind end WHO the player is. NO QUITTERS!!! If something works, do that. If it stops working, do something else. I want to see focus, intensity, and committment...and that all comes from coaching...then it transfers to the players on the field.
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Like I said, I think these things WILL be on display this year. We've already seen evidence in the bowl game and the spring game. I like what we have going on, just hope it is as it appears to be...to me.

 

1. Linebackers - We need more speed & better reaction.
2. Coaching - I'm not convinced that Miles is a top in-Game coach. I like him. He is a solid game planner & a great leader, but.... I'm not sure what kind of team our coaches will build this year. We need leaders by example.
3. Talent - All I hear is that we have great talent. But how great? USC, Florida great?

I could be worrying at the wrong things, but this is what I worry about.

What I am NOT worried about.
1) Dline & Oline
2) Fan support
3) WR & TE
4) Game plans

 

1. Experience and DEPTH at QB. I like what I have seen of JJ, but we haven't really seen much. He had a decent game against Arky and a good game against a supposed quality opponent in Ga. Tech. But he's young, and susceptible to a bad game. Behind him is Jarrett Lee and I believe his mistakes last year are coachable, and with the experience I think he'll be better. Shep will get some reps, I'd like to also see Garrett get some, unless he takes a red shirt year. Shep is a much better runner than Garrett, but I like Garrett's arm. I'm partial to a big arm over great feet in a QB, so I'd like to see Shep more at receiver. But in the end, not a lot of experience there, and I hope it doesn't cost us again this year, like it did last year. Upperclassmen QB's have a better shot at winning championships.

I think this club will be good everywhere else.

I am strangely comfortable with Chavis. I haven't watched a Tenn. defense closely, but the man has more coord. experience and has to be a step up from last year. I'm comfortable with Cooper on the secondary. I really believe the D will perform, I'm not worried about it.

We need a receiver, I think we'll find one. The schedule has a 3 game meat grinder, that will be a challenge. This team still feels like a 9-3 regular season, 10-2 with some luck. Fla., Ole Miss, Bama, Ga., and Aub. will all have a shot to win, but not all of them will.

 

Maybe I should be more concerned but I'm really not too worried about the QB position. I wish that JJ had more experience and I believe that before he is through he could become one of LSU's all time greatest QBs. He is still young and will make some mistakes but now he seems to have a pretty good grasp of the offense and Croyton is very good at devising schemes to fit the talents of the players he has. I just pray that he dosen't get hurt.

If something should happen to JJ I think that Russell Shepard just might be up to the challenge. I have seen videos of him on youtube and even though it was against high school players he is a very special talent. He has moves that remind me of Barry Sanders and even though most of the footage I saw of him displayed his running ablility some of the passes I saw him throw under pressure after scrambling were major league throws.

Chris Leak started as a freshman at Florida and I believe that Shepard is a much better player than Leak at this stage. He just might be a better version of Michael Vick and from everything I have heard about him he is a dedicated good character guy who is solidly grounded and has a good head on his shoulders. He has already shown his leadership ability by the way he tried to talk many of the top players the Tigers were recruiting into coming to LSU.

The O line should be OK with Ciron Black as the anchor. I heard a radio interview with Black recently and he talked about how the other guys on the O Line who were not starters last year are ready to step up to the plate and Ciron will be the leader of the O Line. I hope that T Bob Hebert is fully recovered and can take charge of the all important center position.

Chavis's defense will be huge step up from last year's D. As bad as Tennessee was last year the Vols still had the 3rd best defense in college football.

One thing I am worried about is punting and placekicking since we will have new guys at the positions this year.

I would be surprised and disappointed at anything less than 9-3 but I wouldn't be totally surprised at 11-1 or even 12-0 in the regular season. The Tigers should be favored in every game other than Florida and maybe Alabama on the road, depending on how well the Tide is doing at the time with a new QB.

I see LSU in the SEC Championship game against Florida. Probably losing at home against the Gators but just maybe the Tigers will have grown and improved enough to beat them in Atlanta. If that happens and the Tigers are 11-1 or better they will play for the BCS title in Pasadena against USC, Texas or Oklahoma.

I don't know if the BCS powers that be would let it turn out this way but wouldn't it be great if LSU and Florida were both 12-1 after the SEC game in Atlanta and played the rubber match in Pasadena?

 

1. QB: If LSU has a consistent passing game they will be better. That's what I saw as the biggest offensive problem last year.

2. Defense: Can they bring back that stingy D they used to have just a couple years ago?

3. Coaching: Will Les Miles press his luck with trick plays and gutsy calls?

 

Name a trick play or gutsy call that Miles has "pressed his luck" with.
I know you're gonna say the play against AU in '07...but it's a stupid argument that has been beaten down over and over. There was still time on the clock for a FG attempt had it not been completed. The only risk was interception, and the FG was not a gimme. Flynn did take too long to get the play going, but other than that...it wasn't as risky as Miles haters seem to think. Everyone likes to say there was only one second left...but the catch was made with 3 seconds left...and the clock operator was apparently too busy celebrating to turn the clock off. It would've been reset if necessary...probably was reset for the KO.
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Other than that, what? We don't win the UF game that year without going for it on 4th so much. It's not "gutsy"...it's playing to win. Nick Saban would've lost both of those games with his conservative approach.
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What, the flip over the shoulder fake FG against USCe? Even if it's unsuccessful, we still are in control of that game. No risk there.
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Notice you didn't see that much trickeration last season. That's because the situations didn't present themselves...and Miles didn't trust the personnel. That alone should tell you that there's more than luck involved. These plays are practiced, and are utilized in the right situations for success...obviously, since they nearly always work for us.