Leadership against Flawdah

The LSU Fighting Tigers (5-0, 1-0 SEC, #4 AP) travel to Gainesville, Florida to wrestle the Florida Gators (4-0, 3-0, #10 AP) this Saturday in a pivotal Southeastern Conference contest. CBS will televise the game nationally to a live television audience for the 7th time in the last 8 years, with toe-to-leather set for 3:30 pm Eastern.

Let’s cut to the chase: Where are LSU’s leaders? Who is at the helm of this talented, undisciplined ship? Following back-to-back lackadaisical performances against subpar teams, the Tigers from Louisiana’s flagship university need leadership this week more than any other. Someone must step up and lead, dammit!

The leadership void is obvious yet shocking. Consider that last week against powerhouse Towson, the Tigers committed 10 penalties, fumbled the ball five times, gave up four sacks, and turned the rock over three times. A halftime meeting among LSU's seniors resulted in the team voting Mike the Tiger as captain. LSU’s 42 penalties this season leads the SEC. Yes, LSU has lost four starters since the season began which has forced younger players into action, but that’s an excuse, not a reason, for the lack of execution.

Leadership is required to defeat this Florida Gator team. Though none of their 4 wins have come against ranked teams, the Gators showed resilience in consecutive road wins at Texas A&M and Tennessee. Will Muschamp’s team looks stronger, faster, tougher than last year. Les Miles’s team looks weaker, slower, and dumber than last year. On the bright side, LSU comes to the Swamp with the nation’s longest regular season winning streak at 18 straight games. Plus, in a recent scientific study conducted by the College Football Commission, Florida fans were determined to be the cheesiest, most classless, tackiest, trashiest fans in the country. That has to count for something!

But I have to be honest here. I’m not sure our Bayou Bengals are up to this task. We are not a team at this point; we are a bunch of highly talented individuals who rely on talent alone to succeed. LSU makes random good plays but you don’t sense that those plays are the product of any plan, of any cohesive strategy. It all goes back to that leadership issue . . .

Here’s a prediction from the heart, not the head:

LSU 24
Florida 20

Geaux Tigers!