LSU frustrates fans in ugly win

I said before the game that I didn't know why LSU fans were so optimistic about our chances against Washington. Sure, they were 0-12 last year, but that was last year. A new coaching staff and a team hungry for a win in their home stadium can spell difficulty for an opponent. Meanwhile, LSU had yet to prove that our defense would bounce back from a dismal 2008 campaign, and we still had big question marks at the quarterback position.

Frankly, I was just happy for our team to get the win. As a Husky fan posted on the Tiger Rant, we might be appreciating this win more as the season progresses. Perhaps Washington will turn out to be a strong team this year. It is always difficult to predict after just one game.

That being said, LSU did not look like a Top 10 team last night. The offense, which was supposed to be the strength of the team, ran one of the most vanilla game plans I have ever seen from an LSU team. If my memory serves me right, we threw no more than two passes that were caught beyond 15 yards from the line of scrimmage.

We often forget that Jordan Jefferson is not a seasoned quarterback. Most of his action last year came when LSU's major goals were no longer attainable. The coaches knew that this would be his first high-pressure game, and probably sought to minimize his chances for mistakes. That's fine. Jefferson managed the game effectively and didn't throw any interceptions.

But with players like Trindon Holiday, Brandon Lafell, Charles Scott, Keiland Williams, Richard Dickson and even the often-talked about Russell Shepard, you would think that Gary Crowton could have spread the ball out more than he did. Let's hope that things get opened up next week against a serviceable Vanderbilt team. Lafell can't be happy with his opportunities last night.

On the defensive side of the ball, it appears that we still have our work cut out for us. Linebacker play seemed much improved (Cutrera had a good game), and the defensive backfield made some good plays (Peterson seemed to be all over the place), but the defensive line struggled, especially on the ends. We had no pash rush from our front four, and we were often burnt on the ends.

Washington converted 11 of 19 3rd downs, and amassed 478 yards of total offense. Without Jacob Cutrera returning a Locker interception for a touchdown, and Washington fumbling the ball inside our 10 yard line, the outcome of this game would have been much different.

On the special teams front, the kickoff coverage was a bright spot. Punting? Not so much. Helton averaged a mere 32 yards per punt, and that included a long of only 38 yards. This has to be an area of concern.

With all that in mind, a win is a win is a win. LSU is now 1-0, with another victory over a Pac-10 team (LSU is now 12-2 against that conference). While some LSU fans may have had higher expectations for the team in this game, our ultimate goal is to win, and we did. We learn from our mistakes, correct them on the practice field, and hopefully play better in our home opener next weekend against Vanderbilt.

Notes:
- ESPN's broadcast was terrible. We will chalk it up to first game jitters for them, but has anyone seen Toliver's first TD reception yet?

- I like how Washington painted their endzones gold. Not sure if they do that for every game, but it looked cool on TV. I wish LSU would try that out in the future.

- If we ever play on the West coast again, can we ask that the kickoff be earlier than 9:30pm CT?

- Home Page Poll: Who was the MVP of LSU's 31-23 victory over Washington?
Terrance Toliver 43.8%
Patrick Peterson 32.3%
Jacob Cutrera 7.6%
Jordan Jefferson 16.3%

That's all I have...I am sure I will think of more.