I suspect many want to read a long list of areas of concern for this LSU football team. Others probably see the world around them -- a hurting economy, shouting matches that are supposed to pass for democracy (and for news), another troubling start for the Big Ten -- and will take a 2-0 record.

A good columnist would shake up both groups. All I can say is I will try.

The Tigers appear to be doing so. They don't play for Yoda ("There is no try. Do, or do not."). They play for Les Miles, who is fiercely loyal if he thinks he's getting good effort (so many postgame quotes; so little time).

Keep in mind I am still getting used to watching LSU football on TV instead of in a press box, so the recalibration of my radar is ongoing. That said, it's too early to push the panic button, too soon to plan a December weekend in Atlanta.

So, LSU defeated Vanderbilt 23-9 last night. It was the kind of game that teaches you little more than what your team is made of on the inside, what kind of things happen in your players' heads when things don't come easily to them.

On some level it's like playing baseball in the rain: You don't learn anything. You survive and get to the next game.

On some other level that's what playing Vanderbilt usually means. The Commodores, by and large for quite some time now, hang around, make you fidget and go into the fourth quarter with a chance for a big SEC upset -- only to see it wash away.

It's a credit to Bobby Johnson, a solid coach and a classy gentleman, he's never turned into Tom Hanks on that self-made life raft in "Cast Away," shouting "Willlllllsonnnnnnnnnnnn" before breaking down and sobbing after the volleyball drifts away from him forever.

It's more rare this decade to blow out Vanderbilt from start to finish than it is to simply outlast the pesky Commodores. So, there's that fact. Don't leave this weekend behind without it.

Now, it's true it was difficult early in ESPNU's telecast to choose the greater myth. The sideline reporter said "The chance of rain tonight is 60 percent." Has he never listened to Dan Borne?

Then there was Miles referring to Tiger Stadium. "It's known as Death Valley, where opponents' dreams go to die." Did he not remember LSU had lost four of its previous five SEC games in that stadium?

There is a reason I didn't major in math, but I chuckled at ESPNU ("90,000") and Paul Mainieri ("92 or 93,000") when they referred to the crowd. Whatever the actual number, give credit to those who put on a poncho and went to the game.

It's not like they couldn't see this coming, though. If it's early September and LSU is playing football, pack some rain gear. It's enough to keep a groundskeeper awake at nights for an entire season, fretting about another worriesome start to a long season for the turf.

But I digrass.

Russell Shepard said hello, breaking off a good run before being upended in welcome-to-the-SEC fashion. Then, he fumbled. If you have class with him and don't see him carrying a football all week, call "The Les Miles Show" and ask why.

Early in the season, you can't forget fundamentals. Heck, ESPN can't decide who is the fastest player in college football. Last night it was LSU's Trindon Holliday. The week before, it was some guy at Clemson. What, are we going to have to see them sprint side by side at halftime of the Chick-fil-A Bowl to find out?

Brandon LaFell did a good job early of getting open. You had to wonder if Vanderbilt's defense was playing third-and-whatever-the-name-of-its-defensive-coordinator-is.

Terrance Toliver made a nice catch and run. Richard Murphy looked like a bucking bronc, coming out of the chute as if he'd waited a long time for the opportunity. Later, he got hurt.

Keiland Williams owned the night early and reasonably often. He gave LSU a 7-0 lead with a cut here and a burst there that enabled him to slip around Vanderbilt's sentry and give yet another football announcer a chance to mangle the English language and use "contain" as a noun.

(Note: There is a perfectly good word: "Containment." Use it.)

Is this what I've been missing all these years in the press box? Sheesh.

Some fans booed and grumbled when Miles sent Josh Jasper out for the first of his three field goals. You know, when Miles' approval rating gets back to where it was before October 2008, this is something he could use. Get LSU fans -- by e-mail, maybe? -- to buy in to a secret plan and boo as the field goal unit takes the field, setting up the opponent for the fake of the century.

It was a little out of the mainstream to see Chad Jones in a football uniform chest-bumping Jared Mitchell in street clothes, but you've got to love the enthusiasm. Sometimes I do wonder if today's athlete rehearses celebrations more than actual football technique, but that seemed spontaneous.

More from my game notes:

-- There are big holes being ripped through LSU's defensive line in the running game.

-- LSU receivers need to be more careful not to break off their pass routes a yard or two short of the down marker on pivotal downs.

-- In the SEC, they're all pivotal downs.

-- Does LSU lead the SEC in passes completed for negative yardage?

-- Wet ball. Fumble. Near fumble. Incomplete, not a fumble. Muffed punt. Bad night for ball security.

-- They're playing that loud recorded music during timeouts again this year in Tiger Stadium. Was everyone taking the lyrics to "Jump Around" literally? The camera shook so much, I thought this was the Washington telecast for a moment.

-- Eric Collins and Brock Huard are doing Todd Blackledge one better, eating the local cuisine during the game. Remember the old days, when they taped "Taste of the Town" a day or two before the telecast so the announcers didn't have to multi-task like that, and they got to eat at a meal at a restaurant instead of relying upon the kindness of strangers? Is the economy that bad?

-- High snap. Wet ball. Bad night for ball security. Safety.

-- There's nothing safe about this LSU lead right now.

-- Oh, right. It's Vanderbilt.

-- Third quarter's over. Players are holding up four fingers. Did I see a Commodore hold up five? A hint of overtime?

-- Oh, right. It's Vanderbilt.

-- Brandon Taylor's interception came at a good time.

-- Jordan Jefferson checks to the wrong play on third-and-Vandy. He looks frustrated on the bench. How he deals with these things will say a lot about him as a leader. It's easy to forget it's his first start in Tiger Stadium.

-- Keiland's having a good night. That touchdown made it 23-9. This one's over. Prediction: Fifty threads this week on how Les Miles has misused him.

-- OK, maybe 50 threads before sunrise.

-- How can ESPNU tease the ULL game next weekend and not mention the Ragin' Cajuns just upset Kansas State?

So, LSU ended its four-game SEC losing streak. The Tigers are unbeaten. They lived to play another game.

Had he stayed out of trouble and stayed at LSU, this could have been the senior season for Ryan Perrilloux. A veteran, stable Perrilloux in his fifth year in the program, with this surrounding cast on offense? You'd hardly notice the growing pains of the defensive line and the transitional hiccups that are part of having a new defensive staff.

So no, this is not how Les Miles planned it.

Still, that was just a reminder. Don't lay too much at Perrilloux's feet. The responsibility for the 2009 season goes to Miles, his coaches and his players.

It's too early to lose sleep over the details of a 2-0 start, and it's too early to think the Tigers will be immune from what is increasingly more common in college football: the unseen L that sneaks up on a previously unbeaten team.

It rained in Tiger Stadium. LSU won and lived to tell about it. Two weeks in, t