Don't celebrate the victory. Don't. An official might see you and throw a flag, and your LSU Tigers will have to begin the Florida game next weekend in a 15-yard deficit at the opening kickoff.

Leave it to officials in the SEC -- a conference we're told is the closest thing to the NFL in scholarship football -- to treat this like the No Fun League. More on that later.

LSU's 20-13 victory this afternoon at Georgia convinced me Les Miles knows exactly what he's doing. His Tigers have a 5-0 record, 3-0 in the SEC, yet have left everyone wanting more all season. They're good for business for talk shows, pickers of nits, water cooler conversations and many others.

The Times-Picayune's Peter Finney once said the perfect season for LSU fans would be: unbeaten, untied, unscored upon -- and fire the coach at the end of the season. Miles has a way to go to test that theory, but he's underscored it in spirit.

Five games, five victories, and a solid top-five ranking heading into the showdown at home against No. 1-ranked Florida. The programs responsible for the past three BCS national championships in Tiger Stadium on a Saturday night? Must-see TV.

Record books and media guides list a team's game-by-game results in straightforward style, showing the rankings, the opponents and the final scores. It's hard to imagine right now, but I promise you LSU's 2009 results won't show up this way in the history books:

W 31-23, but ...
W 23-9, but ...
W 31-3, but ...
W 30-26, but ...
W 20-13, but ...

You win or you lose, and basically that's what history records.

I didn't expect the Tigers to win. They did, and with an impressive will to do whatever was necessary. It will go in the books this way:

W 20-13.

Charles Scott rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Josh Jasper kicked two field goals. Find many more details here.

Now, some thoughts without time to sleep on it:

Random notes

Miles and some of his players chest-bumped before the game (but I'm sure it wasn't fiery enough for some).

You and I may never see another 18-play, 60-yard drive in our lifetime.

Kade Weston, for enough of the game for me to notice, was Glenn Dorsey today.

When we get to hear only the short version of "Cribbs, Incorporated," the bad economy has won.

The commercial that might be the better theme for this LSU season is Messin' With Sasquatch. A program with the talent of a monster, just winning every week and minding its business, and everyone's trying to give it a hot foot. Wake a sleeping giant? How about tweaking it, pissing it off?

All of us who focused more on the flaws than on the results: How many of us are living up to our potential? I asked myself that after the game.

I had no comment.

Broad brush strokes

In the first half, Georgia looked like a team trying its best to let LSU win in a blowout. LSU looked like a team determined to keep self-destructing Georgia in the game.

From my real-time notes:

Georgia intercepts one in the end zone and makes a bad decision to run it out. Joe Cox misses throws he has to make. The Bulldogs get one first down in the first half and can't give their defense time to catch its breath.

LSU owns everything between the hedges, winning in field position for the first two quarters, yet leads only 6-0 after four red-zone penetrations. No power running game means the Tigers must turn to tricks or the passing game inside the 5.

Jordan Jefferson needs a better internal clock, better timing. Russell Shepard needs ... something. LSU lines up wrong or confused -- or both -- twice in the same series.

LSU is struggling with attention to detail.

Things taking shape

Now we know why Shepard doesn't play more.

The offense without a clear identity seems to be settling into the I formation, with some play-action, some spread with Shepard and some work-in-progress option.

There is no substitute for what big receivers such as Brandon LaFell and Terrance Toliver can do when they concentrate and see the ball into their hands after getting open, getting position on the defender and everything else they're good at.

LSU's offensive line can't protect Jefferson the way it should, but Jefferson bears some responsibility for that.

Jefferson stood in against oncoming pressure, knew he'd take a hit and still showed poise and good mechanics on a crucial pass to Rueben Randle. That's a sign of a young quarterback's maturity in progress.

Mini-rants

Any of us who have ever griped about players celebrating modest successes as if they just won the Powerball drawing might feel a bit hypocritical complaining about the excessive-celebration penalties Saturday, but ... wow. This is still college football, right?

I didn't like the flag on Charles. I didn't like the flag on Green. I didn't like the flag on Scott. If college football players can't try to fire up their fans, let's just tell the bands, cheerleaders and mascots to stay home on game day.

Gary Danielson was right: Those flags change the strategy of the game. They altered this one.

I don't put sole blame on SEC officials. It's the NCAA rules committee's point of emphasis, and if any agency in this country can overreact like a champion, it's the NCAA rules committee.

Miles letting the first half end without LSU trying a field goal or a bomb into the end zone? Inexcusable, and he knows it.

A lot of seconds get wasted during a game, but the ones within the control of the coaches are those I have a hard time accepting. The Georgia player who touched the ball after the last punt of the first half, stopping the clock a few seconds before it would have had he let the ball stop on its own? It could have had consequences.

He gave LSU at least two more seconds to work with before halftime. That could have been the difference between 6-0 and 9-0 (or even 13-0), and there was no reason for it. Let it roll dead, special teams players.

A wise coach preaches playing for 60 minutes. That includes taking ownership of every bit of that 60 minutes one can manage.

Mini-rant over.

Wrapping up

There remains plenty for us to chew this week. The offensive line can't get enough push in short-yardage situations where it should dominate, but illness was apparently a big factor this afternoon. Pass.

The LSU defense isn't getting as much pressure on opposing quarterbacks as opposing defenses are against Jefferson, but there is clear improvement going on with John Chavis and his first group of Tigers. Progress.

Scott hasn't been his former battering-ram self this season, but on his game-winning 33-yard touchdown run, he broke through the tackle of Georgia linebacker Marcus Dowtin and broke 90,000 Georgia hearts. Redemption.

I promised I wouldn't say this, because everyone else is tonight, but despite all their inconsistencies, these Tigers find a way to win. Bottom line.

We could go on and on, but ...

In the end, it's one W after another, five weeks in a row. Not many teams can say that.

Few abuses of the English language fire me up more than "impact" as a verb and "efforting" as a word, but among the guilty culprits are the use of "love" for any positive feedback and "hate" for any criticism. If you're not a ray of sunshine, you're a "hater," and ... well, I hate that.

But a 20-13 victory at Athens, where LSU hadn't won since 1987? A gut check, and then another one? A victory on the day many, including me, expected LSU and its No. 4 ranking to be exposed?

He's not yet Lesticles this season (although he was set to fake a field goal before Georgia sniffed it out), but whether you call him the Hat or the Mad Hatter or just Les, Miles is 5-0 and ignoring the "haters." His fans keep laughing at their guy and with him at the same time, and all they know is their team has yet to lose this year.

If there is a motto begging to be born for this season, maybe it's this: Haters and Hatters unite.

Whichever group you're in, your team is undefeated and ranked No. 4 in the country, with No. 1 coming to town. There are worse positions to be in.

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Carl Dubois has written or blogged about LSU sports since 1999. He's curious to know if the Tigers won over some doubters with this victory. You can comment on this board or contact him at carl1061 'at' gmail.com.