re: Ryan Perrilloux: One of the biggest 'what if' stories in LSU football history

I think it is a bit foolish to opine RP would have been a great QB at LSU had he not been kicked off the team. But I'm confident he would have been the starter in 2008 and that LSU would have avoided the roller coaster at that position which ultimately led Les to completely change his game approach/philosophy after that year.

After 2008, Les made a decision to go ultra risk-averse in the passing game. He didn't care if that meant the result of many games might rest on a razor's edge. He didn't care if that approach left many teams who LSU should have blown out in the game late into the 4th. He wasn't going to lose games by allowing his QB the OPPORTUNITY to turn the ball over. That philosophy change defined Les's LSU career. Tremendously talented teams who were (often) great defensively, but fell just short of championship caliber because he refused to allow the offense to come out of its shell unless he had no choice.

LSU would not have been a championship contender in 2008. Even with RP at QB. The defense just wasn't good enough. But having RP would have avoided the need to play Lee which, to this day, might be the most skittish QB I've ever seen play at LSU.