Bitter pill may be best medicine to propel Tigers to greatness.

Look, like everyone else, I had hopes of 14-0 this season.

But it has become very obvious to me, that our defense has been taking way too long to grow up, and my biggest question has now become "Can our defense mature in time for us to compete for the SEC West title?"

Well, yesterday's loss proved beyond any doubt that our 2013 defense is not maturing and improving fast enough.

But how can Chavis motivate these kids to make a big leap forward quickly and mature into a solid SEC defense?

Well, this bitter taste of defeat and being exposed on national tv may provide Chief the best tools he could ask for. He can now get the full attention of his players when he tells them that they must elevate their performance quickly to a much higher level.


Also, if we have to accept one loss this season, this was the best possible one.

First, our offense shined against a highly-regarded SEC team on the road, in a shootout decided by just a field goal. It was the kind of game that everyone knows could have gone either way. We are still a strong contender for the top prize.

Second, we did not lose to any of our rivals in the SEC West.

Third, if we can win out from here, we well may have the opportunity to avenge our only loss, by defeating Georgia in a rematch at the SEC Championship. That win will go a long way with voters in the final BCS poll to greatly discount our earlier road loss at Georgia, which will be the only blemish on our otherwise very impressive resume.


So... what do we need to do, to make that scenario actually happen?

Just one thing - get our defense to start playing grown man football. That is the only weakness of this 2013 LSU football team.


Coach Miles and Coach Chavis will embrace this teachable moment and fully employ it to motivate our defense to get better.

This bitter loss may well prove to be the tool that jolts these kids to dramatically elevate their game and help their team achieve its goals.

When we get to the SEC Championship game at season end, we will look back and realize that yesterday's close road loss at Georgia was a blessing in disguise.

It was the wake-up call that exposed our defense and also motivated those players to step up their game and become another great LSU defensive unit.


Do not give up on these Tigers!
They still control their own destiny, all the way to the BCS Championship Game in Pasadena, if they can keep winning.

And, if LSU does happen to get to the SEC Championship and beyond, I think it will only have become possible for this team, because of the hard lessons learned from the tough road loss at Georgia yesterday.