re: Facts on Bridge Schedule re: LSU

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FWIW, here in Colorado, most unbiased college football fans feel the same way. Sure, Bama is good, but the 2011 mulligan was a sham, and they lucked out last year by every team losing in front of them and then playing the weakest NCG opponent in the history of the BCS. The national perception is not one that sun rises and sets on that place. They're a good program, but have caught a lot of breaks too.

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Agreed. Most people here on the East Coast feel the same.

Can't tell you how many people told me they didn't even watch 1/9. There simply wasn't any interest.

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Can't tell you how many people told me they didn't even watch 1/9. There simply wasn't any interest.

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Me too. Many sports fans and CFB fans had no interest in that game around here. I would compare it to interest in the World Series when I lived in Louisiana. If LSU won, so what, LSU already beat them and proves nothing. If Bama won, they didn't deserve to be there in the first place. It was just the opposite in 2010, and it had nothing to do with any allegiance to the Pac 10. People just wanted to see two deserving league champions.

I don't think ESPN was too stupid to realize that, and that's exactly what they wanted--to create an undesirable matchup for fans/admins/coaches to force change in a contract year for the BCS. That's what they got. I bet if if the 2011 season occured in 2010, they'd have pumped up OSU because it would have brought better ratings and interest for that single game. That's a subject for another day though

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If you think 44-15 was the worst of the Spurrier-Gator rapings, then you missed 58-3.

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You're right. What I meant to say was that it is the worst arse raping of a GOOD LSU team that I've ever seen.

Seriously, we won the SEC yet got ANNIHILATED by that team. It wasn't even nearly as close as that 30 points indicates. Rex Grossman had perhaps the best game of any college QB I've ever seen. It wasn't even that painful to watch because I was so damn impressed.

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I also object to you saying we would have lost to UF in the SECCG. We lost to Tennessee in the regular season and beat them soundly in the SECCG, short handed at that.

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Completely disagree here. We played Tennessee pretty closely on the road early that year. We just matched up better with them. Casey Clausen was NOT Rex Grossman, who should have won the Heisman, and our secondary was by far the weakest area of that team. UT's receivers were very very good, but Clausen couldn't hit the open guys as well as Grossman and Spurrier could dial it up.

If LSU and Florida played 10 times that season, LSU would be lucky to win 1 IMO.

I think it's one of the biggest disappointments that we didn't get to see that great Florida team play that 01 Miami team for the BCSCG. Would have been a USC/Texas type classic IMO.

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As far as LSU "backing into" the title game, that is far from the truth. We won games down the stretch, something Auburn and Ole Miss couldn't do.

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I mean, we backed in. I can't imagine a more fitting scenario for that term. We were 3 games out with 3 games left. The teams in front of us lost all of their remaining games to underdogs. We lost to Ole Miss AT HOME for the right to control our own destiny, and we were embarrassed. That's is backing in. Plain and simple. The end of that first half was as bad as any I can remember. The boo birds were going crazy all game. Erin Damond is still a name that I can't say without cringing.

Now, sure we beat Auburn to go to ATL with everything on the line. We didn't "back in" at that point. But we backed in even still being alive after losing to Ole Miss. We were dead in the water for all intents and purposes when we walked out of Tiger Stadium that night.

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This was probably the best offensive team LSU has produced since I started watching in 1987 (you could throw 1998 in that mix as well).

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For the last 5 games of the season, yes we were.

But that's why that team was so frustrating and should not be considered a great coaching success by Saban.

EVERYONE knew we should have been using Ro and Reed as our bread and butter, but Saban/Jimbo were so stubborn and refused to open it up and kept forcing the run with Toe and DD even though that OL was not a great run blocking line.

It wasn't until we were practically eliminated that Saban took the brakes off and we torched Bama for 500+ passing yards that that team really reached it's potential, and that was in NOVEMBER, 10 years to the day before The Game of the Century as a matter of fact.

Had we fully committed to Ro all year, I don't think we lose to UT, and we certainly don't lose to Ole Miss.

That is the opposite of coaching success. Similar to Miles/Jimbo in 06 not throwing the ball against Auburn when that was clearly that team's strength.

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In the SECCG, we made the #2 team in the nation look like garbage, and that was *without* Rohan Davey and LaBrandon Toefield.

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We beat them by 11, basically on two QB draws with our backup QB that no one knew anything about. I wouldn't say we made them look like garbage.

A great win for Saban no doubt.

I was a student at LSU then, and that Auburn game is to this day one of my top 3 game experiences ever. But that doesn't mean we didn't luck the frick out or that it was some amazing job by Saban.

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That's why this was Saban's best work as an LSU coach, and perhaps his greatest season as a coach, ever.

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Once December rolled around with Auburn, UT, and Illinois, yeah, Saban was on fire.

But everything before that was pretty much a mess.

And again, that defense was absolute garbage. Saban, as a defensive guru, is likely still ashamed of that group.

Erin Damond

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To me, Alabama's dynasty under Saban will always be tainted because of the rematch and their cream puff schedules.


I've said this before..



2009 McCoy gets hurt, beats Texas
2011 Mulligan against LSU
2012 Destroys overrated Notre Dame


meh

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Agreed. They're on a fantastic run, but they don't belong in the discussion with the greatest dynasties of all time IMO.

A true "dynasty" should have more than 1 undefeated season IMO.

Hell, Miami and even USC had winning streaks of 34 games in a row.

Bama has never even won 20 in a row. That puts them outside of the top 50 streaks in NCAA history. Hell, Stallings' Bama squad won 28 in a row at one point.


They're the best in country right now, but not by a whole lot. They've had some unbelievably timely losses to teams ahead of them, granted most champions do, and a very fortunate break in their strength of schedule.

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They're the best in country right now, but not by a whole lot. They've had some unbelievably timely losses to teams ahead of them, granted most champions do, and a very fortunate break in their strength of schedule.

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Meh. All they've done is figured out how to manipulate the farce that is college football's championship system. The fact that they are a media darling helps as well.

May as well crown them in 2013 too. LSU fans need to come to grips with this soon or they will lead miserable lives this fall.

We did not beat Tenn soundly in 2001 SECCG. That was a tough game we would've likely lost if not for Mauck's running which Tenn was unprepared for. Although we did save Tenn from being embarrassed by Miami. Florida wouldve been the better matchup against Miami and although they lost to Tenn, that Florida team was the best in the SEC.

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TexanPete

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Look, trust me, I'm not a nega-Tiger. I never have been. I wasn't complaining like this back with Saban in 01, and it's why I don't complain when things don't go perfectly according to plan with Miles. I can promise you I've NEVER been a boo bird, although I may have let out a few towards Tepper at the UGA game in 97


And I'm certainly not trying to knock on 01 or any of the great players on that team. Like I said, it truly was one of my favorite seasons at LSU.

My main point in sort of pointing out the gaffes in those 01 and even 03 seasons is to set the record straight about Saban's time at LSU when people try to glorify it to tear down Miles and all that he's been able to accomplish in his time in BR, which FAR outweighs what Saban did.

I'm not saying that's what you're doing, but it's just sort of my initial reaction on the rant whenever someone brings up those years. Again, I loved them, but they weren't some shining example of perfect coaching and program building by Saban like many revisionists love to tell themselves.


As for us not backing in, like I said, we earned it in the Auburn game, but both Auburn and Arkansas had to lose to other teams before playing us to put us in that position.

I just remember the disappointment walking out of TS that night after the Ole Miss game. We had our chance to control our destiny, and just blew it, in pretty embarrassing fashion at that.

Saban was 12-7 at LSU at that point. Things were far from great, which like you said, I guess makes Saban rallying the troops at that point all the more impressive.

I just wished he would have made the obvious changes even sooner, because it was pretty obvious what changes needed to be made.

Not claiming that about the defense, of course, which was just an absolute dumpster fire. Still can't figure out how Saban ever fielded Ds so bad in 01 and 02. Just awful.

That's actually what has always been so impressive to me about 03. We went from absolute dogshit on D in 01 and 02 to the monster that was 2003. Unreal turnaround

Anyway, the stubborn coaching in the first half of 01 doesn't take away from those players and the fun of that season though for sure. Ro and Reed just took flight the following week against Bama, and every player on that team believed in themselves and fought like hell to end the season on a high note.

Fortunately, that ended up being in ATL and NOLA despite all signs that those goals were out of reach.

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For him to turn a team that was 3-8 in '99 into an SEC Champion in 2001 is an accolade worth celebrating.

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No question

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I didn't get to see the Ole Miss game because I was in Kosovo. I listened to the second half; I called my mom and she put the phone next to the radio at 3am Kosovo time. Disappointing loss, indeed. I also listened to the game against UK that we barely won. Had we lost that one, the Tigers would have been 0-3 in conference play and we wouldn't be having this conversation right now.

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You are also one hell of a Tiger fan my friend!!!


That Kentucky game was wild!! Michael Clayton's arrival on the scene with the game winning TD as time expired



Also a weird scheduling quirk that made us play AT Kentucky again in 02 (which gave us the Bluegrass Miracle) and get Ole Miss AT HOME again in 2002 to wipe the taste out of our mouths from the disappointing game in 01 (my last game as an undergrad )

And as frustrating as that game and season could be at times, I LOVED every single second of that game. Rick Clausen getting his only LSU start only to be bailed out by Marcus Randall in the second half



It really was fun being there as the program was reestablishing itself. More fun in a lot of ways than the overbearing expectations surrounding every game and season now IMO.

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We'll never know what happened if LSU played UF a second time, but I believe we could have beaten any team in college football in November/December/January not named Miami.

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Were you in Kosovo for the Florida game too?

Holy hell I just can't imagine anyone seeing that game and thinking our D would have ever had a chance to stop Spurrier's O in 2001.

If you said LSU would have beaten any team in college not from a state named FLORIDA, we'd be in total agreement

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Holy hell I just can't imagine anyone seeing that game and thinking our D would have ever had a chance to stop Spurrier's O in 2001.

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I agree here. LSU obviously improved once Rohan was unleashed but I don't think we improved enough to take Florida. That was a damn good team, probably one of its best that didn't win a NC. Somehow Florida lost to Tenn but you couldn't watch both those teams and honestly say Tenn was as dangerous as Florida.