WBRZ - Baton Rouge

There's been a lot made of this 2009 Tiger football team, and never being one to sit on the sidelines when a good sports conversation or generally any nit-picking is going on, I decided I would weigh in with "what's wrong" with Les Miles and his Tiger Football Team.

First off, nothing is wrong with them, everything is wrong with us.  We expect more, we demand more, and right now we're not getting more.  The LSU Tigers haven't wowed us enough.  Sure they're undefeated on the early season and ranked #7 in the polls, but they were 5-0 and in the top five last year before the pylons started shaking.

This years Tiger team may be a victim of their own doing.  First off they went and won the National Title just two years ago, but also they told us they were going to be better.  Coach Les Miles said this was one of the best offensive lines he's ever seen, but so far the Tiger rushing attack has struggled to find it's legs.  Their 164 yards on the ground is third to last in the SEC, while the passing attack is ranked 102 in the country out of 120 teams.

Following the first game of the season many fans were up in arms over the performance on defense, giving up 478 yards and 23 points.  They wanted answers, especially after going out and hiring some of the best college and pro coaches on the defensive side of the ball.  However coaches weren't out on the field missing all those tackles.  It's clear the defense fixed their problems with a little tweaking and a lot more paying attention to detail.

What's really been concerning me about this Tiger team and has been since game one is this teams inability to sustain any kind of offensive rhythm.  The supposed "best offensive line" has been anything but, playing as spotty as a Dalmatian.  149 yards against Washington, 178 against Vanderbilt, and 164 against ULL on the ground, with not one single Tiger rusher going for more than the 73 yards Keiland Williams gained against Vanderbilt.  Against what would be considered inferior talent, this Tiger offensive line has failed to dominate in either run blocking or pass protection.

But the O-Line isn't the only problem spot for this Tiger offense, the wide receivers, namely Terrance Toliver seems like he needs to drop a couple of passes before he can catch a couple of passes in each game.   And quarterback Jordan Jefferson is staring down his targets for far too long, throwing the ball to late in the count, and certainly slinging it a bit off balance when he does attempt the deep ball. 

After reading all that you might wonder, who did we ever win 3 games, well guess what folks, the Tigers may not be the seventh best team in the country, but then again no one else is either.  This is what early season football looks like.  So give the Tigers a break, and give yourself a break.  Enjoy the games, the season, the team.  Sure it sounds like something Les Miles would say, but it's a "good go", and it doesn't last long enough.

These Tigers will improve with each game they play, and they will take their hits, but didn't you expect it?   I figured this team would go 9-3 in the regular season, and nothing I've seen so far this football season has convinced me otherwise, including the play of these Tigers as well as that of any other team in the country.

If you've got a take, hit me up at mikec@wbrz.com.