re: In retrospect was the McNeese game important?

Do we get a worse bowl because we're 8-3 and not 9-3?

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Bro......it's McNeese. You do understand they are an FCS team correct?

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Just curious what that has to do with anything? You do remember 2010, right? Appalachian State, James Madison, North Dakota State, Portland State, Jacksonville State? Any of those ring a bell?

I'm not going to sit here and say McNeese would have beat LSU, because LSU's depth would have been key in that game, but to insinuate that LSU would have won that game without a doubt because McNeese is just an FCS team is asinine.

The fact is, LSU wasn't near as good as anyone expected this year. That 7-0 run going into the bye week doesn't look very good at all in hindsight. Their best win this year is against a Florida team that struggled to beat Vanderbilt and Florida Atlantic, and only put up 2 points against Florida State.

I wholly expect that had the McNeese game been played, it would have been a similar contest to 2010, maybe closer. That said, McNeese's season would not be what it is right now, because those early season money games tend to beat up on the team pretty good, and that tends to result in a lot of injuries that derail the season.

To the point of the thread, though. It may have helped Fournette, but overall, those games against FCS teams can only hurt FBS teams. I don't know why they play them, other than as a "warmup game" or a "break". Look at Auburn. That game against Jacksonville State really hurt their perception, and revealed just how bad that team is this year. Or Washington State, who was actually very strong this year and finished 3rd in the PAC-12 North, but has an ugly loss to Portland State. Now, Portland State is a good FCS program, but it still looks bad for Washington State to loss to a "lesser division opponent".

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Do we get a worse bowl because we're 8-3 and not 9-3?

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Probably not. Our 3 ugly losses probably knocked us way down regardless of 9 vs 8 wins. But since bowl games are about revenue generation as opposed to "a good football match up", I think the fiasco that was the fire/keep Les Miles may positively influence our opportunities in a bowl game. In the world of media attention, any press is good press from a ratings point of view.

If we actually could get pitted against FSU, imagine the interest generated. Nearly fired coach vs presumptive replacement. Not sure how the Tigers would fair, though.

16-10, but did anyone expect that game to be as close as it was at the point? No.

Nothing good comes of games against FCS opponents when talking about the FBS schools.

Has anyone ever said "Man, that RB at FBS School X sure did dominate FCS School Y. Maybe he wins the Heisman because of this game"?

I think not. And how the McNeese game would mean anything more for Fournette, I have no clue. So what if he puts 270 on McNeese? Does anyone actually want him breaking the record against an FCS team? What exactly does that prove? I think the lack of production in 3 straight games speaks louder than a potential 250+ performance against McNeese.

Yes.

When it's all said and done Alabama will have had THREE MORE GAME EXPOSURES this season than we did. That's unacceptable.

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NOPE.

He lost it when he ran for 31 yards an the same field Henry ran for over 200 on.

There was no coming back from that.

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this is correct. The 31 yards against Bama, coupled with Henry's big output, doomed Fournette's chances. Even if he still had a chance after that, his two follow up games were solid but nowhere near spectacular to get him back in the mix.

Bama - 31 yards
Arky - 91 yards
Ole Miss - 108 yards

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My point here is that I think you would have seen our offense unfold in a different way on the season had we gotten to play that game

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Revisionist much?

No. Buying wins to pad a record is meaningless except to idiots