LSU and Tulane will play football against each other for the 98th time Saturday. LSU's game notes say the Tigers lead the series 68-22-7. Tulane's game notes say it's 66-24-7.
At least they agree about who won 88 of the 90 games that had a winner.
The first game between the schools was the first football game in LSU history, the only one of the 1893 "season." It happened at Sportsman's Park in New Orleans on Nov. 25, 1893. Tiger Rant threads that week were about what you'd imagine:
We own Tulane WarSkuleRulz: We handled their nine on the diamond in the spring. Ten to eight. We will emerge victorious.
Just watched practice AgriMajor92: We have some fellows who can run and cradle the pigskin, and at the same time. I bet none else in this nation are the better at it.
FanAttic: Did you get a telling view of Ruffin Pleasant's calves?
AgriMajor92: Yes, they are quite the specimens. As he was on his way to the farm later, they were tethered to a nearby post during practice rushes.
Do you think Coates a wise choice? CadetLad: I harbor reservations about our coach. Are we to believe him up to the task?
Methinks: I trust no one from as far north as Baltimore.
AgriMajor92: He is becoming increasingly wise about the benefits of sugar. This could provide an advantage for our boys.
CadetLad: My nephew, who is ten but strapping and well fitted with derring-do, roams the gridiron for a young tactician called Leopold Saban. We should do well to have him lead our charges rather than this Coates.
Is the word given on uniforms? TigerRagamuffin: Our base ball boys were attired in purple and gold in victory opposite the Tulane performers. What is the talk about our dress for this occasion?
ShunNotTradiShun: A most foul and unpleasant pox shall descend upon he who alters this fashion in any manner.
EinsteinIsAWeirdo: I would not at all mind a more vibrant shade of gold.
QuillTheThrill: Inasmuch as we shall be guests in this contest, an introduction of gray into our ensemble should be required.
BeatTheRushHateTulaneEarly: Is this a Tulane rule? They are already threatening to charge higher admission fees for this affair merely because we are the arranged visitors.
Prof. Morgan FanAttic: Are the rumors verified as to the positioning of chemistry professor Harcourt Morgan as both a coach and a player?
GayleForceWinds: I, too, have heard this. My girl's mother has afternoon tea with a lady who tells her she is a neighbor to a man of letters who introduced the professor to Baton Rouge society, and her tales from a fortnight ago lend credence to this speculation.
FreshMan: Does she have an appealing elegant line of the neck? Have you at least a daguerreotype to share?
Do not post players' telegrams Poultry: Hear me now, good fellows. I shall remove any contributions that purport to be the telegram texts of any of our boys.
CadetLad: HOW DO YOU DARE STOP US FROM OUR FUN STOP
Poultry: Clever. But, do not test me.
EinsteinIsAWierdo: The one supposedly sent from Prescott to his parents was not believable. He would rather die than leave us and enroll at the Alabama school.
CajunMenace: We don't have a college yet, but if not for you Seminary of Learning of the State of Louisiana people, we would have one by now. You are holding us back, and we will soon conspire to catch and surpass you. Mark my words!
CadetLad: That's not our name! Be gone, Freudian cliche! Poultry, away with all trace of him!
Run left, or right? WalterCamp: This flying wedge is the correct strategic attack, but should we run left, or right?
Reveille: Balance is suggested by those in the know, and it should include some element of surprise.
CadetLad: The reputation of Mr. Coates is that of predictability. I fear this shall be our undoing.
AgriMajor92: That is all you ever write, scoundrel.
CadetLad: **This posting redacted by administrator**
We do not receive proper respect PlagioclaseFeldspar: The New York Journal and Boston Herald each penned articles about this foot ball at colleges, and not one word about our boys. They despise us, and openly.
TheRealQuill: I could reveal here a more meaningful utilization or two of their paper, but the few ladies who frequent our establishment would be rendered faint by the odors suggested by their mind's eyes upon reading it.
CadetLad: I have yet to meet a scribe who does not reek.
FanAttic: What you said, I double.
FreshMan: The local rag, which is said to be prepared to indicate this sport as too violent and ungentlemanly, has yet to arrive at my dwelling. I am considering cancelling my subscription already, and I shall if they besmirch our boys and their courageous efforts.
AgriMajor92: Everything I know and suspect about this club of ours, I discover here, not from the morning pages. They are soon to be irrelevant to any discussion.
Tulane's secret plan? WalterCamp: You know I wish not to spread rumors, but too many accounts have emerged wherein the Tulane strategy appears to be augmenting the roster with participants from the Southern Athletic Club. Do any of you hear the same?
TheRealQuill: It should not surprise me. They are nothing if not carpetbaggers and cheats.
Let's meet for early snacks GayleForceWinds: Prior to this contest, I recommend we park ourselves under the shade of nearby trees and enjoy party foods easily assembled, along with beverages. Friends in New Orleans will meet us, and we can establish an area for gathering near their velocipedes, and we'll taste the picnic and anticipate the contest with vigorous debate.
ContributorNameGoesHere: Velocipedes? Are these what are now called bicycles?
AgriMajor92: A splendid idea, and one I dare say no one has thought of prior to this.
GayleForceWinds: And if they have, they could not have thought of it nor practiced it as wonderfully as us.
Should we be playing against Tulane? GroverClevelandIsALiberal: Another sporting contest with those fellows? Do we want this becoming a habit?
DorianGrayGhost: We should not schedule them ever again.
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Carl Dubois has written or blogged about LSU since '99. That's 1999. He apologizes to those who were hoping for a serious game analysis, and he hopes this is in some way an enjoyable substitute as we prepare for what could be the last Tulane-LSU football game in a long time. He thanks Peter Finney and his history of LSU football for an assist, and he hopes Pete will forgive him for linking him to such silliness. You can contact him at carl1061 'at' gmail.com.
There's little to suggest Les Miles sees LSU's game Saturday against Tulane the way many do, as a glorified practice or scrimmage. That's not a term many coaches want associated with them, especially in the world of the virtual bulletin board.
Two years ago -- before LSU played Louisiana Tech, if memory serves -- a student reporter stumbled through a question that had the tone of assuming Miles viewed that matchup as such a game, a chance to empty the bench, and not necessarily as late as the fourth quarter.
Miles rejected the question with extreme prejudice, deflecting and dismissing it with a passion the guy sitting shotgun in the Sonic commercials -- who slaps away his friend's Tater Tot -- would have admired.
The reporter tried again, trying to do an end run with semantics, and Miles pounced again, candidly telling the young man he'd asked a bad question, then followed it with another bad one, essentially the same bad question disguised in cheap clothing.
Miles said, as he had many times before and as he would many times after, that you play for victory, and if victory is secured, then you think about getting some reserves from playing time. Where that line is, of course, is left up to the coach's discretion.
LSU defeated Louisiana Tech 58-10. Ryan Perrilloux replaced Matt Flynn at quarterback with 1:38 left in the third quarter and the Tigers leading 44-7.
There is a time-tested tradition of onlookers questioning a coach for leaving in his starters too long. How long is too long? That depends.
The general rule is, if a player gets hurt, then the coach should have taken him out one play sooner. Actual mileage can vary.
You know the rule about hindsight.
Miles' five seasons at LSU feature examples of him mildly substituting when others thought it should have happened en masse, and often the piece here and the piece there add up by the end of the game. It's not as striking as when a fresh 11 jogs onto the field as a group.
It's understandable Miles was a bit prickly about anything having to do with even the perception of calling off the dogs or easing up on the throttle during a game. On Nov. 6, 2004, his last Oklahoma State team lost 56-35 at Texas after having a 35-14 halftime lead.
It was 35-7 at one point.
Vince Young and Cedric Benson led a dazzling comeback. Texas scored touchdowns on six consecutive second-half drives. In the third quarter, the Longhorns outgained Oklahoma State 266 yards to minus-5.
Less than two months later, Les and Kathy Miles were taking a tour of Tiger Stadium as LSU convinced them to leave Stillwater for Baton Rouge.
At halftime of his first game in that same stadium, LSU led Tennessee 21-0 at halftime. Miles went into conservative mode with his second-half game plan on offense, and one thing led to another until the Vols left town with a 30-27 overtime victory.
Wounds like those leave scars.
While the periphery of the program is chatty with the substitution possibilities awaiting LSU in its Saturday matchup against Tulane, Miles is going about his business. Tucked fairly deep inside a long answer about quarterback Jordan Jefferson was a subtle but noticeable comment about the importance of playing time for a developing young player.
"There's no ability for a coach to take you beyond experience," Miles said, noting he would like to see how Jefferson plays once he's well into double-digit college starts.
Right now he's at nine.
"You need as many snaps as you can get," Miles said, and then, it helps him translate those plays in a game more effectively, especially for a guy that has the talent that he has."
Of course, every snap a starter gets comes at the expense of experience a backup could be getting, but Miles is the type to make a commitment to a player and stick with him. When he had the choice between JaMarcus Russell and Flynn, Miles said he'd start using two quarterbacks when college rules allowed teams to play with two footballs.
It's a sliding scale at times at other positions, and because Miles enjoys being deceptive with his game-week comments -- his best trickeration if often what he sees on Wednesdays about the upcoming Saturday -- no one outside the football operations facility is all that sure about what to expect when LSU plays Tulane.
Two years ago, a few weeks before that homecoming victory against Louisiana Tech, LSU went down to New Orleans to play the Green Wave in the Superdome. Tulane led 9-7 late in the first half.
The Tigers regained the lead, 10-9, just before halftime, and finished strong for a 34-9 victory. USC's unimpressive 27-24 victory against Washington that night opened the door for LSU's first No. 1 ranking in the AP poll since 1959.
I suspect you've heard a little about how that LSU team got to No. 1. What happened 50 years ago this weekend kept the Tigers at that spot for one more week. Saturday is the golden anniversary.
The AP voters didn't rank another LSU football team No. 1 until 2007, after the Tigers struggled for one half against Tulane.
That Green Wave team, featuring Matt Forte at running back, finished 4-8. The Tulane team that will visit Tiger Stadium this weekend is 2-5.
Don't expect Miles to pull his starters for good until LSU secures victory. Don't expect anyone but Miles to decide when that time has come.
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Carl Dubois has written or blogged about LSU since 1999. During his first season in Baton Rouge, the Tigers celebrated the 40th anniversary of Billy Cannon's famous punt return against Ole Miss. It's hard for him to believe the 50th is this weekend. You can contact him at carl1061 'at' gmail.com.
Arguments about statistics and other details typically become secondary and academic at best upon the introduction of a certain word into the conversation.
Scoreboard.
In Tiger Stadium it showed a 31-10 victory by LSU against Auburn, and the numbers from Saturday night can't be used to paint a picture of anything but domination of one SEC football team by another.
LSU sophomore quarterback Jordan Jefferson completed 21 of 31 passes for a career-high 242 yards and two touchdowns. He and his teammates outgained Auburn 376 yards to 193 in total offense, helped by a defense that claimed three turnovers.
Russell Shepard provided the offensive play of the game, sprinting for a 69-yard third-quarter touchdown through a hole created by a block from left guard Will Blackwell.
There was no resemblance between the game and its most glaring statistical setup, the SEC's second-best offense (Auburn) and its worst (LSU). The margin of victory would have been larger had LSU's Josh Jasper not missed field goals of 49 and 52 yards and Jefferson not fumbled the ball away just shy of the Auburn goal line.
LSU coach Les Miles described the opponent as a very good Auburn team. That's open to debate, but the fact that LSU dominated from start to finish is not.
"Obviously, LSU played a great game tonight, and pretty much from the beginning to the end, they just executed better than we did," Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. "They beat us in about every phase of the football game.
"I've got to give them a lot of credit."
He did.
"That's one of the best defenses in the country," Chizik said.
The LSU offense looked pretty good too. Aided by a rash of early Auburn penalties, inspired after scoring a season-low three points against Florida and challenged during the open-date week to do better, LSU equaled its season high with 31 points.
Miles played it safe early, punting instead of going for it on a fourth-and-short situation that in past seasons he might have played differently. And, he let Jefferson -- not power back Charles Scott -- run on back-to-back goal line plays on a series that ended in a turnover.
Scott rushed 10 times for 20 yards, not the lathered-up performance Miles said he wanted to see, but the offense was unquestionably better. With Jefferson and the offense unfettered by check-with-me pauses, they got into a rhythm that made Tiger Stadium look like Death Valley again instead of Meerkat Valley.
"We went into the open week with the want to improve, and we looked at specifics," Miles said. "We still want to run the football and throw the football with balance and have the ability to do both.
"We think that in the long run in football and in the stretch run of the season, that the team that has balance -- that can run it and throw it -- will be the most dangerous offensively."
Miles said the Tigers know they have to continue to improve, but he didn't sound as if he saw any problem with expecting that.
"You'd have been proud of this team when you watched them in the open week come off a tough loss to a nationally ranked team," he said, "and they just played hard."
If you're a fan of the competitive spirit, the only substantial moment of tension in the second half, long after it became obvious Auburn was no match for LSU, came when the visitors reached the LSU 1-yard line against LSU reserves and called a timeout with 8 seconds left.
LSU's first-team defense, which had been watching from the sideline, ran onto the field.
"They wanted to go back on the field. Can you stop them? I couldn't have stopped them," Miles said. "There isn't any chance. I love that effort and that want and that, 'I'll scrap you for it,' and late in the game with nothing really to prove other than a yard, 'I'll play for a yard.' That's what they said."
Auburn scored its only touchdown on the next play, but anyone who stuck around for the finish was rewarded with that mini-drama and all that it said about the pride of LSU's defense.
Flash back to the season opener, when Washington drove downfield with relative ease and scored a touchdown with no time remaining against an LSU defense that looked powerless to stop it. This seemed like a different LSU team, despite the opponent punching one in again at the end.
That was another game in which LSU scored 31 points (a 31-23 victory), and in the other one before Saturday night, the 31-3 victory against UL-Lafayette, LSU did not control the game the way it did against Auburn.
"Part of the improvement is certainly at the quarterback spot," Miles said. "I think you watched him really execute pretty well. His last passing attempt was him not executing very well, but I think we can catch it better and throw it better, and I think that he is the kind of quarterback and kind of competitor that expects himself to be better."
"He's a confident guy. He'll look to improve."
His numbers would have been better without at least three incomplete passes that hit his receivers in the hands.
Chizik didn't overlook the impact Jefferson had in softening up Auburn's defense.
"I thought we had our moments where we played some things well. What he did tonight is he hit some great deep balls on us. He was really, really accurate, and put the ball about the only place you could put it," Chizik said.
"There were times I thought we had good coverage, but the receivers went up and got the ball. He threw some jump balls in some places right now that were very hard to defend. He had a big night and executed well. The deep balls were the things that were glaring to me when it comes to our pass defense. They hit some underneath, intermediate ones as well, but it was the deep balls that got us. He threw them, really, with a nice touch tonight."
Chizik, not Miles, was the one answering postgame questions about possible changes that should be made on offense.
"We will look at everything," he said, responding to a question about Auburn's quarterback play. "That is the natural question, but it was a whole offensive effort, whether it was running the football, throwing the football. We just got beat tonight by a team that was more physical than we were, so I have to give them a lot of credit."
It was a team that came into this game refocused after suffering its first loss of the season.
"We had a sub-par game when we played Florida, and we just had to come out and practice last week, these last two weeks, and just work on our deep-ball throwing to get Jordan in rhythm," said LSU receiver Terrance Toliver, who caught nine passes for 86 yards and a touchdown.
He relished the way LSU threw the ball down the field.
"It felt good. I feel like we could've been doing this all year. Like I said we threw a lot of deep balls today, and we made plays," Toliver said.
LSU defensive players were delighted by the offense's performance.
"I love when I get to see Jordan throw the ball, and Keiland (Williams) and them running around, having a good time," LSU defensive tackle Al Woods said. "It feels good. I love little Shepard being in the backfield, doing something special."
Shepard's value as a decoy has yet to be seen -- when he's in the game, he touches the ball -- but that certainly wasn't on anyone's mind when he broke free for his 69-yard touchdown.
"They're going to be all right," Woods said of the offense. "It took a little while for them to get going. Now they're going, and hopefully they fire on all cylinders week in and week out."
Linebacker Kelvin Sheppard echoed that theme, saying he was glad to see the offense get some credit for a change.
"When they're clicking, they're clicking," Sheppard said. "That's what they did tonight. I'm just so happy for them, because they're finally showing what they can do, and if they come out week in and week out with their heads on right, they can do that against anyone."
Jefferson reflected on the work LSU did during the open-date week and in preparing for Auburn.
"During the off week we focused on a lot of things that we had mistakes on," he said, "so coming out in this game and doing whatever we had to do offensively really gave us a confidence boost."
It helped that LSU's offensive line protected him better, despite three sacks, and Jefferson had a tad more designed plays to roll him out for a run-pass option, which is the type of option play more suited to his natural abilities than the pitch-or-keep version LSU struggled with this season.
There weren't the kinds of major changes that confuse a defense, Auburn players said, but LSU executed more times than not.
"No, we knew everything they were running but they just made plays and we didn't," Auburn linebacker Josh Bynes said. Their receivers made a lot of great catches on the ball, and we didn't get into the pocket enough to make them get it out quicker."
Auburn running back Ben Tate stopped short of calling LSU's defense the best in the SEC.
"This defense was pretty good. but they weren�t any better than Tennessee�s defense," he said. "We just didn't execute."
It all sounded like the familiar script of an LSU postgame, but this time it was the other team talking about the need to improve on offense and do a better job of executing.
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Carl Dubois has written or blogged about LSU since 1999. He followed the game on ESPN2 through ESPN360.com. Postgame quotes are from LSUsports.net and the assistance of a quote runner. You can contact him at carl1061 'at' gmail.com.
There is a reason it's called "Check with me" and not "Check with everybody." A quarterback and his offensive teammates go to the line of scrimmage and look to the sideline for signals, real ones and decoys, for an updated play call based on the defense's alignment.
They are checking with a representative of the coaching staff, not with everyone in attendance. Not that they'd get anything close to a consensus that way.
And despite all of the suggestions he's heard about how to jumpstart an offense whose output ranks 112th in major college football, LSU coach Les Miles made it clear this week not to expect a major overhaul in personnel or formation.
Miles said freshman Dominique Allen has practiced well and might play this weekend, but beyond that Miles is hopeful the same players who have been taking snaps on offense will execute it better when LSU plays Auburn at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Tiger Stadium.
"The calls that have been made have certainly been the right calls," Miles said. "The style of play that we want is there. It's just we're bits and pieces off. For me, I want us to be able to run the football more efficiently. I want us to throw it down the field more comfortably, but I think that those pieces are in place. It just needs to be executed more effectively."
The game will be televised on ESPN2.
For LSU, an aim to establish the running game with more authority could translate into a higher profile for Charles Scott.
"We're trying to get Scott's numbers up, to be honest," Miles said. "I think that there's a concerted effort to want to run the football more. We have some diverse weapons in the fact that we have speed at quarterback and a very, very talented receiver corps.
"So I think there's a want to spread the ball around a little bit more than there's been, but we'd like to get Charles Scott lathered up and let him have a game or two as we go forward."
Scott's desire is not an issue. Not many weeks ago, he approached Miles and volunteered to play fullback if it would help the Tigers.
"He's a very, very team-oriented guy," Miles said. "He wants to be on the field. He wants to have impact. He wants ... in special teams, he wants ... he just wants to play. We want to keep him fresh because we want to hand him the ball. We feel like there's a need for him to take extra energy into some of those carries, but he's all in. He's a wonderful man. Got a great perspective."
LSU (5-1) is ranked No. 9 in the country and is second in the SEC West at 3-1.
Auburn (5-2) is third in the division at 2-2. The two losses came after a 5-0 start.
"Obviously, we have our work cut out for us Saturday night, and LSU's really, really playing well," Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. "Just exactly what you would think in an LSU team: very big, very physical, great speed, phenomenal on defense. Special teams are really, really tops in the league in about everything, so it's just going to be obviously a great matchup, and we're going to have to play really well to beat them in Baton Rouge."
LSU had an open date after its 13-3 loss to No. 1-ranked and reigning national champion Florida. The Gators then survived a scare against Arkansas in a game that featured questionable officiating -- from the same crew that worked LSU's win at Georgia -- and a game that led to the suspension of its crew by the SEC office.
Miles said LSU had good practices, including a scrimmage on the Thursday after the loss to Florida, and enters the Auburn game with "much better" health after some rest.
Auburn, with coordinator Gus Malzahn installing a hurry-up, spread-the-defense system that incorporated the Wildcat formation that became popular in 2006 when he was at Arkansas, won its first five games with what has become the SEC's second-best scoring offense.
LSU has the second-worst.
Auburn has the SEC's second-best total offense. LSU has the worst.
On defense, LSU is in the middle of the pack. Auburn is second-worst.
LSU is No. 112 in total offense. Auburn is No. 8 nationally in total offense, in part because of the addition of a power running game to Malzahn's more talked-about tendencies and characteristics.
Chizik said LSU hasn't lost its physical nature on offense, and he used Scott as an example.
"If you just go back to the Georgia game, on the run that he made to win the game -- I mean, you run through linebackers -- this guy's a powerful, very fast guy," Chizik said. "So I don't know what the numbers do or don't necessarily indicate, but I know that he's an extremely, extremely good tailback and can do it all.
"He's fast. He's got speed, but he's definitely powerful."
Auburn scored at least 40 points three times in its five-game winning streak, topping out with a 54-30 victory Sept. 26 against Ball State. After a 26-22 victory at Tennessee, the Wildcat became more of a mildcat.
Auburn lost 44-23 at Arkansas and 21-14 to Kentucky.
Auburn fans find themselves wondering if defenses are beginning to solve the puzzle of Malzahn's offense, but it's no coincidence production began declining once Auburn reached the SEC portion of its schedule. Whether quarterback Chris Todd is functioning at 100 percent is another question, but Chizik and Malzahn insist he's fine.
Kodi Burns, the quarterback who ran from the Wildcat more frequently earlier in the season, has seen that role diminish as defenses have gained insight into Auburn's approach on offense.
Chizik, who was Auburn's defensive coordinator during the team's undefeated 2004 season, when Auburn led the nation in scoring defense. He said it looks like LSU's defense is rounding into form nicely under new coordinator John Chavis.
"They're very well-coached, they're very sound in what they do, and they're starting to execute the defense, I'm sure, the way he's calling it," Chizik said, "so I think that's why you've just seen such a great improvement, because they are big, they're physical, and again, they're probably going into Game 7 for them obviously more comfortable with the defense."
LSU's offense is another story. Will the Auburn game mark the return of Russell Shepard to a role in the offense? Will quarterback Jordan Jefferson and the offensive line cut down on the frequency of sacks? Have Miles and offensive coordinator Gary Crowton tweaked the plan in ways that would more readily take advantage of Jefferson's skills?
Is it a given Shepard should play and run from a direct-snap formation after the way Kentucky's Randall Cobb used the Wildcats' form of the Wildcat to roll up yardage against Auburn?
Check with Miles, one is tempted to say, but as usual he's careful not to say too much. Often there is not a noticeable correlation between what he says he hopes to see and what his offense displays on the field. The reason he most frequently gives: lack of execution of the right call.
The game Saturday is another chance to see if the plan comes closer to its goals.
Speaking of goals, Miles said his players handled the loss to Florida as well as could be expected, and they realize they still have control over their destiny in terms of championship and high-profile bowl potential.
"Our want, certainly, is to finish this season very strong and have an opportunity to play a game of significance when we get to December," Miles said.
A victory against SEC West rival Auburn is almost certainly required.
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Carl Dubois has written or blogged about LSU sports since 1999. You can contact him at carl1061 'at' gmail.com.
It took a change of pace and a long head-clearing walk during our sweet string of consecutive Chamber of Commerce days in Baton Rouge, but I think I figured out a tiny part of this craziness that brings you and I together here a few times a week.
When we get a taste of something, we want more. I think it's that simple.
Once you're exposed to top-drawer success, even a hint of reverting to a less glorious past is unwelcome.
Any minute, this guy could show up and take away the high life, and that's scary, isn't it?
By my count, we had seven amazing days, with beautiful blue sky and cool, just-like-a-real-autumn temperatures right out there in the sun. If that happened at some point in the past several years, and on the heels of so much rain, no doubt I was stuck in a cubicle farm and didn't notice.
Ahh, nice. Right? What did you do with your gorgeous weather? At what point did you remember the inevitable, that rain or muggy days -- or both -- were bound to return, sooner than you'd hope?
Today's forecast calls for rain in Southeast Louisiana, with more tonight. So, there you have it.
While I enjoyed the past week when I was able to get out and soak up some of it, I couldn't help thinking it was temporary. Why do we get a taste of something so energizing when it might not come around again for a long time?
My roommate's dog knows what I'm saying. I took her for a walk so I could do some thinking and give her some exercise, a break from long days in the house or on the captive side of the backyard fence.
Her excitement and bounce o' step were replaced, once we returned home, by a look of, "Let's do that again."
And the next day by a sad face that said, "Can we go for another walk?"
I needed to retrieve my big flat-panel computer monitor I lent to a friend while my PC was in storage, and the friend had to go back to using a smaller, old-style monitor. Her DVD player malfunctioned during an episode of "Dexter," so we watched on my Vizio. Going back to an old TV that's losing its picture was tough.
That's it, I thought. It's that simple.
After you see LSU score 38.6 points per game, as the Tigers did during the 2007 national championship season, who has fun seeing LSU struggle to average 23 points per game?
After you see LSU reel off a string of games with at least one 100-yard rusher, who enjoys seeing the running game slip?
After you see LSU catch the defense off guard with a big play, perfectly set up, who wants to see the Tigers seemingly more confused by their plan than the opposing team's defense appears to be?
Let me be the first to say I'm not breaking new ground here. This is the way of the world, and it applies to everything. Good makes us never want to see mediocre again. Great makes us impatient with good.
This is a good football team. Ranked No. 9 in the country, winner of five out of six games, and still able to at least dream about goals that remain within reach.
What would have been seen a decade ago as regrettable but understandable flaws in an otherwise upward surge arrive with alarm buzzers and red flags in 2009. So we analyze them, picking them apart for signs, trends, a hint of what's to come.
More than a few LSU fans have told me this season, "I know we're winning, but it's how we're winning."
"We're 5-1, and I'm not having fun watching this team."
"We've been good this whole decade. I know we're due to slip a bit, but I'm worried about the direction of the program."
A fan can watch his team's offense struggle to find the rhythm of the three-step drop, with enough protection to give the quarterback time to put the defense back on its heels, and the fan wonders if the program is taking three steps back.
Five-and-one and No. 9 in the country would have been cause for a party when the decade began, but we have enough history together to know there are plenty of seasons that showed promise at the halfway point before heading south.
And the devil's in the details, so we're all dissecting Mike the Tiger before he's dead, doing his postmortem as much as a diagnosis.
Even Auburn-LSU doesn't feel the same. This isn't the same matchup we became accustomed to from 2001 onward and upward.
LSU had an extra week to prepare, but many of the LSU fans I know are not optimistic they will see the offense come of age, with its pieces all falling into place. They fear they will see the offense that's ranked No. 112 in the country.
And yet, with the expected rain comes a cold front, and there will be football weather Saturday.
I hope you enjoy it.
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Carl Dubois has written or blogged about LSU sports since 1999. You can contact him at carl1061 'at' gmail.com.
The backup quarterback is often the most popular guy on campus. In major college football, there may be no greater challenge to that notion than LSU's Jarrett Lee.
I don't have to tell you how quickly, even in a depressed economy, LSU fans could have collected enough money last season to set up Lee in a pastoral villa in Tuscany for the rest of his life. With spending money.
So, why would anybody ever want Lee again to take meaningful snaps, with the game on the line? Because he just might be the key to unlocking the potential of this LSU offense.
If you were a lawyer hired to defend the case for Jarrett Lee getting another shot, you could build a compelling argument -- especially if the jury of 12 were Les Miles, Gary Crowton and the 10 offensive starters who don't play quarterback.
I don't sit in on team meetings and film study. I don't see practice. I don't coach football. There, in one paragraph, are enough reasons for you to read no further.
Ah, but you kept reading, didn't you? Because you're curious too. Admit it.
Lacking the information the coaches have about Lee and Jordan Jefferson, I must rely upon what I see and hear, and what I've learned in 26 years of writing about football and the psychology of the people who play and coach it.
In every one of those 26 seasons, I heard repeatedly how the quarterback position is about character, leadership, maturity through growing pains -- and the ability to slow the game down enough in the mind's eye to execute a game plan under the most challenging of circumstances.
Call me crazy, but I think Lee is closer to that point than Jefferson is, especially with respect to the 2009 LSU Tigers and their potential.
Character? Lee faced the music last year. He threw all those pick-6 passes and didn't hide. He answered every question about his failures.
Leadership? I never heard him say, "The receiver ran the wrong route," or "The ball hit him in the hands, and if he'd caught it instead of letting it deflect into the arms of the defender, it might have been a totally different game after that."
I don't know much, but I know what I've seen from 26 years of looking at the faces of people who failed and watching them take responsibility for their mistakes -- and the mistakes of their players or teammates.
Louis Coleman didn't duck out the side door when he was the LSU pitcher most prone to giving up home runs early in his career. He didn't hide when he'd slid so far down the hierarchy as a junior everyone wondered if he'd ever pitch again. He didn't seek shelter inside the team bus after giving up the grand slam that ended LSU's season in Omaha.
A year later, after passing up a chance to turn pro so he and his teammates could have one more shot at it, he got the first and last outs of LSU's national championship season -- and many in between.
In 1996, Nicholls State went 8-4 and made it to the Division I-AA playoffs, completing one of the best turnarounds in history. Before and after that season, I talked with players who endured the 0-11 season of 1995.
To a man, they said they wouldn't change a thing, because they treasured what they'd become, forged in the fires of a winless season. Rock bottom is often where character is discovered, where it becomes the foundation of success.
This year in baseball, LSU won 18-3 on a Friday night against Tennessee, slapping JUCO transfer Aaron Tullo around for 10 runs in two-plus innings. As hard as it must have been to do, he stayed behind after the game to talk about his struggles.
"Every time I kept the ball up and made a mistake, LSU would make me pay for it," said Tullo, who was the pitcher most prone to giving up home runs on a Tennessee staff that was the SEC's most prone to giving up home runs.
He's still working on his game and his confidence. When he didn't hide on the bus, that showed me something about character.
None of this matters on the scoreboard if you can't throw the ball accurately. I get that. Taking responsibility and being willing to "man up" after crushing failure is no guarantee of later success, but those are the types of guys I'd want with me in a foxhole.
Jefferson lost his first game as a starter, the regular-season finale at Arkansas last year, and faded into bowl preparations. Protected by LSU's policy of shielding true freshmen from reporters, he didn't have to face tough questions about the loss.
When he led the Tigers to their annual Crush Somebody in a Bowl Game Under Les Miles, LSU allowed him to discuss victory. After Jefferson's next loss, his first in Tiger Stadium, he didn't want to talk about it. He didn't appear for postgame interviews.
That told me something, and it jogged my memory. This decade, JaMarcus Russell was the LSU quarterback most likely to be absent from a requested meeting with reporters. Matt Flynn and Matt Mauck showed up when asked.
Which two of those three won national championships?
Yeah, I know. It's not that simple. But it's worth noting.
Look, I know the media often comes off as self-serving jerks with a sense of entitlement. Sometimes, it's with good reason. But this is not about media access.
The quarterback doesn't have time to stop and talk with each of 92,000 people after a game and explain what happened, so the media is supposed to be the proxy. When the losing quarterback begs off from an interview request or fails to show up, that says something.
When things are tough is when depth of character is revealed. That's what this is about. It speaks to the decision making of someone in a leadership position.
Miles agrees, and he spoke about it with Jefferson.
"What we've done is to tell him it's the responsibility of the position," Miles said, "and he needs to consider that."
Jefferson strikes me as a fine young man who has a lot of growing up left to do. Minutes after LSU's 20-13 victory at Georgia, the week before the Florida game, he was all too eager to talk with reporters about the Gators.
“Florida put it on us last year, and we’re holding a grudge,” Jefferson said. “They were disrespecting us, doing stuff like punting the ball in the stands. We’ve been looking forward to this.”
I'll save the rant about how tired the "disrespecting us" angle is for another time, but the point is Jefferson didn't understand respect is earned, not taken away by someone else's celebration.
Lee, it seems to me, was always more about taking care of his business and letting others worry about theirs.
Crowton, who said in August both quarterbacks would play, has seen players emerge from their struggles better for them.
"The best thing about Jarrett Lee is that he’s not a freshman anymore," Crowton said at LSU Media Day. "When you have freshman starting quarterbacks who haven’t played, playing in some of those big games is a new thing. There is so much adrenaline going. They’re making errors. They’re not used to being booed. They aren’t used to having all that success when they are good either. They learn to be even-keeled."
How did that improve Lee as a quarterback?
"I think his preparation is a lot better," Crowton said. "He’s not sitting there absorbing information that we’re trying to teach him about the opponents. Right now he is extracting that information. It’s almost like he’s asking the question before I can tell him what’s going on because he knows what’s going to happen.
"There’s a maturity that happens that helps him to grow, so when he’s given the opportunity he can learn from the mistakes of last year and turn them into a positive. At the same time with the positives from last year, we want him to expand upon those. It’s exciting to watch him grow."
Maybe LSU's bottom-dwelling offense has reached a point when it couldn't hurt for Crowton and Miles to let the rest of us witness some of that excitement.
OK, disclaimer time. The only time I ever told an LSU coach, in a column, who should play quarterback was after losses at Auburn and Georgia in 2004 took the Tigers out of championship contention early in October. Play for the future, I said, and start JaMarcus Russell.
Russell started at Florida and threw two interceptions that put LSU in a big hole. Marcus Randall bailed out the Tigers, and the first thing Nick Saban said when he reached the interview room was, "Where's Carl?"
(I'm still in Baton Rouge. Where are you?)
I still believe LSU would have been better prepared at quarterback in 2005 had the Tigers strapped in and held on through Russell's growing pains by letting him learn sooner rather than later, but I understand why Saban didn't want to write off the 2004 season.
Until, of course, he did by mailing it in at the Capital One Bowl.
But let's get out of the interview room and onto the football field. Last season the offense was better, even with the pick-6s, than it is now. Last season Lee's quarterback rating, despite Andrew Hatch having half the starts, was comparable to Jefferson's through six games.
The defense was far worse, and Miles brought in new coaches to fix it.
The D is repaired. Thriving. What about the offense? What happened between early August, when Crowton said both quarterbacks would play, and September, when it became obvious the offense was handed to Jefferson?
He's a tremendous player, but he does not seem to fit or embrace much of what they've designed for this offense, nor many of the plays that could get the ball to the difference-makers more often and improve LSU's vertical game. The offense of running sideways is slowly going nowhere while LSU's speed waits to be fully utilized.
LSU's offense is stuck in a slow gear, and it has the horsepower for so much more. Jefferson's timing is off on so much of what this offense is predicated on, and that's a concern for the rest of the season.
If Crowton believes what he said about Lee and maturing through the steep learning curve and its stinging lessons, then isn't Lee ahead of Jefferson in that regard? Why isn't Lee given a shot with what has become one of the nation's least productive offenses, one that's worse than LSU's offense in 2008?
Because LSU designed an offense that wouldn't lose games instead of an offense that would win games. Because Miles is coaching scared. He endured his worst year in Baton Rouge, and he and his staff -- and his QB -- are gunshy.
By giving Lee the ball and running an offense that makes sense for this collection of talent, Miles would have more the type of offense that's in his comfort zone, that's in his DNA, but that would require taking a chance with Lee, and Miles is afraid of doing that.
It won't make the offensive line better, but ... one thing at a time. And maybe it would, by putting a better plan on the field.
This isn't 2008, when Lee was eventually set up to fail with dangerous play calling, including the first play on the script of the home game against Georgia. No, this isn't 2008. LSU is much better on defense. Besides, Jefferson doesn't have to disappear from the offense. That's Russell Shepard's job anyway, right?
Jefferson can make a difference in the right situations. He's proven that. Find a role and a plan that better suits him.
But LSU is pretending to play offense with him in the game. The Tigers are playing defense while they have the ball.
Maybe that's all Miles thinks they need. It's worked for many championship teams: Play strong defense, have a solid kicking game, and don't beat yourself on offense.
This team has too many weapons to have to settle for that. The Tigers can open things up with Lee if they take a chance and line up in formations suited for him and for their skill set.
Why not? Am I crazy for asking the question?
No more crazy than the Mad Hatter, the coach I enjoyed watching every time he said, "Let's go for it." The coach who didn't coach scared.
Seeing Jarrett Lee and THAT Les Miles make a comeback at the same time? What a ride that would be.
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Carl Dubois has written or blogged about LSU sports since 1999. You can contact him at carl1061 'at' gmail.com.
Rain kept LSU from scrimmaging Wednesday at Alex Box Stadium, so after five innings of coach-pitch baseball Thursday afternoon, the Tigers played four innings of Purple vs. Gold before calling it a day.
Pitchers, including walk-ons, took the mound for the first time since fall practice began Tuesday. They threw no breaking pitches, just fastballs and changeups, so it's too early for coach Paul Mainieri to read much into their performances.
Mainieri, who led LSU to the 2009 national championship in his third season with the Tigers, said two of the biggest questions waiting to be answered involve pitching.
-- Has Austin Ross taken it to another level?
-- Who's going to be the second starter?
Mainieri said he would love to leave Matty Ott in the closer's role, but he needs someone to earn a spot in the starting rotation to allow that to happen.
"It's easier to find a closer than it is a starting pitcher," Mainieri said. "I don't mean that to put Matty Ott's job performance from last year down, but you can get by as a closer if you're a one-pitch guy or you have one great quality about you.
"Starting pitchers, if you don't have enough it exposes you. You've got to have three good pitches. You've got to be able to field your position. You've got to be able to stop the running game. I think Ott can do all of those things. That's why I think he brings a lot to that closer's role."
Mainieri said he thinks he can find someone to be the closer, but LSU would be that much stronger if someone can win a starter's job.
Two potential candidates, Chris Matulis and Mitch Mormann, are supposed to pitch this afternoon. Paul Bourgeois, who was 12-2 at LSU Eunice last season, pitched an inning Thursday and is a possibility, Mainieri said.
Daniel Bradshaw is another possibility.
"Someone needs to be the second guy," Mainieri said.
Third base is the biggest concern in the field. Tyler Hanover moved from there to second base, a more natural fit for him.
Derek Helenihi and Michael Hollander were solid defensively in previous seasons at third base, and Mainieri said the importance of the position in college baseball is underrated. With less than an abundance of hard-throwing pitchers and a lot of right-handed batters swinging a aluminum bats, that's a recipe for pulling the ball, he said.
Mainieri said he can put Hanover back at third base and try to hide somebody at second base if necessary, but but he wants LSU to be strong throughout the infield. Wet Delatte, he said, has been playing well. Grant Dozar has swung the bat well and improved on defense, Mainieri said, but is somewhat erratic.
Beau Didier isn't ready to throw after undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery, so he can't get a look there yet.
LSU kept six walk-ons from tryouts to help with fall practice. Pitcher Forrest Garrett is unavailable after having a pin inserted in his elbow to repair a stress fracture, putting him behind schedule.
That left LSU with 15 pitchers instead of Mainieri's preference of 16, he said, so he kept three walk-on pitchers "to see if someone can give us a good look" during fall practice.
The other three walk-ons are position players. Mainieri said shortstop Manny Estrada has impressed him the most.
"There's a good chance that that kid's going to end up making the team," Mainieri said.
LSU doesn't have to declare a 35-man roster until the day before the season begins. The first game is Feb. 19 against Centenary.
There are 34 players on the roster, with two -- shortstop Mike Lowery and catcher Wes Luquette -- probably out for the year, Mainieri said. He will also have to wait until after football season to see whether Chad Jones plays baseball in 2010.
Players had varying reactions to the question of whether there is a big-picture equivalent of the 24-hour rule football coaches have, allowing a day to celebrate a victory before moving on to the next game. What kind of rule is there for baseball players coming off a national championship?
"I think it's different for different guys," Anthony Ranaudo said. "I enjoyed it all summer. I didn't play any baseball, so I didn't have to get rid of the feeling and go play summer ball with some teams and be competitive. I just kind of went home, enjoyed the time with my family.
"We're still enjoying it this fall. Not anymore, I mean. Coach Mainieri gave us a little time. He pushed fall practice back a little bit. We went to the White House, we did things with the team from last year, a couple of things, but right now we're ready to turn the page now for this year. Fall practice has started now, and we had fun, we enjoyed it for awhile, but we're ready to go now. We're ready to turn the page and start this season off."
Ranaudo said LSU has a good corps of freshman and transfer players who show a lot of promise. He said the returning players are all hard workers.
Catcher Micah Gibbs said there is good competition at all positions, which he said is a good thing. He agreed with Ranaudo about the new players showing promise, especially the freshman pitchers. Gibbs said there's more depth from top to bottom on the pitching staff.
"You don't have, like, those kind of bottom guys where you don't know how they're going to do," he said. "We're just more solid throughout the staff."
As for putting the national championship behind him, Gibbs said he did that before playing summer baseball.
"You have guys there from schools that don't really have much of a shot at getting to Omaha," Gibbs said, "so that's their national championship, to get the championship of summer ball, so those guys are really wanting you to do well for them, so you can't really take the time off and kind of bask in the glory.
"Once you get back here, it was good Coach Mainieri gave us a lot of time off before fall ball started. We did a lot of individual work, so you work on your own, but at the same time you have, like you call it, the national championship hangover. We kind of got to enjoy that a little bit, but everybody's ready to get it going again."
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For old times' sake, a play-by-play blog from Thursday's scrimmage:
GOLD
Trey Watkins, cf Grant Dozar, 3b Mason Katz, 2b Edmond Sparks, c Matt Gaudet, lf Beau Didier, 1b Alex Edward, rf Manny Estrada, ss
Right-hander Spencer Mathews is the starting pitcher.
PURPLE
Leon Landry, cf Tyler Hanover, 2b Austin Nola, ss Micah Gibbs, c Mikie Mahtook, rf Kyle Koeneman, 1b Wet Delatte, 3b Johnny Dishon, lf
Right-hander Joey Bourgeois (LSU Eunice) is the starting pitcher.
Pitchers aren't allowed to throw breaking balls -- only fastballs and change-ups. Pitchers get one inning of work each. Will Davis coaches first base. Javi Sanchez coaches third base.
TOP OF THE FIRST
Trey Watkins struck out looking. Grant Dozar drove a ground-rule double to the deepest part of right-center field, almost straightaway. Mason Katz made the second out on a fly to center field. Edmond Sparks was hit by a pitch. Matt Gaudet hit a fly to right field for the third out. GOLD 0, PURPLE COMING TO BAT.
BOTTOM OF THE FIRST
Leon Landry grounded out, first base to pitcher. Tyler Hanover lined a single to right field, near the line. Austin Nola lined a hit-and-run single to right field, putting runners on the corners. Micah Gibbs, batting left-handed against right-handed pitching, drilled a one-hopper that got past a flinching Mason Katz on his glove side at second base, driving in a run and putting runners on first and second.
"Welcome to college baseball, Katz," Mainieri said.
Mike Mahtook doubled to deep right-center, almost exactly where Dozar's double landed. Hanover scored, and Gibbs held at third. Kyle Koeneman struck out swinging. Wet Delatte walked to load the bases. Johnny Dishon singled up the middle to drive in two runs. Mainieri called it an inning with two outs. PURPLE 4, GOLD 0.
TOP OF THE SECOND
Right-hander Blake Breaux replaced Bourgeois on the mound. Beau Didier led off with a double off the wall in right field. Alex Edward walked. With the lights coming on in late afternoon on an overcast day, Manny Estrada walked to load the bases. Matt Furey walked to force in a run. Watkins struck out for the first out, but Mainieri called it a half inning. PURPLE 4, GOLD 1.
BOTTOM OF THE SECOND
Right-hander Mike Reed replaced Mathews on the mound. Florey replaced Estrada at shortstop. Landry walked and stole second base on the first pitch to Hanover. Hanover lined out to center field. Nola hit a hard smash between third and shortstop, and Dozar made a good play to stop it, but that's all he could do, leaving runners on first and second. Gibbs, still batting left-handed, watched as Landry tried to steal third base. The throw beat him, but the umpire called a balk. That put runners at second and third. Gibbs grounded out to first base, driving in a run and putting Nola at third. Mahtook made the third out on a fly to center. PURPLE 5, GOLD 1.
TOP OF THE THIRD
Zach LaSuzzo replaced Breaux on the mound. Dozar was hit by a pitch. Katz singled up the middle to put runners at first and second. Sparks hit a ground ball to second base, and Hanover flipped to Nola for the force. Everyone else was safe, with no throw to first, leaving runners on the corners. Gaudet walked to load the bases. Didier walked to force in a run. Edward struck out. Furey walked to force in a run, and Mainieri called it a half inning. PURPLE 5, GOLD 3.
BOTTOM OF THE THIRD
Left-hander Jordan Rittiner replaced Reed on the mound. Koeneman singled to right field. Delatte doubled down the left field line for a 6-3 lead. Dishon singled up the middle for a 7-3 lead. Dishon stole second base. Landry singled to right field for an 8-3 lead. Hanover singled along the line in right field to put runners on first and second. Nola grounded out to second base. Delatte pinch-ran at second base. Gibbs, batting right-handed, took a called third strike. Mahtook grounded out to third. PURPLE 8, GOLD 3.
TOP OF THE FOURTH
Left-hander Michael Turnbull replaced LaSuzzo on the mound. Watkins walked. Dozar watched him steal second and third before striking out. The infield came in with Katz at bat. He lined out deep to right field, with Mahtook catching it just before the warning track. Watkins scored. Sparks hit a pop-up to second base for the third out. PURPLE 8, GOLD 4.
BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH
Left-hander Chris Cotton replaced Rittiner on the mound. Koeneman made the first out on a fly to center field. Delatte tripled to right-center. He scored on a pitch that got past the catcher, but Mainieri sent him back to third base for situational purposes. Dishon hit a pop-up to first base for the second out. Landry made the last out on a foul pop-up to third base. PURPLE 8, GOLD 4.
Carl Dubois has written or blogged about LSU sports since 1999. He wore his Norman Rockwell baseball shirt to practice because chicks not only dig the longball, they dig that shirt. Alas, nobody commented on it or touched it, a disappointing first. You can contact him at carl1061 'at' gmail.com.
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