re: Where did all the negativity go? It's amazing

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I guess I don't get the mentality of some people that think either you proclaim that LSU is going to win the NC every year or cheer a mediocre season or you are not a true fan or "negatiger".

I think it's OK to discuss areas that need improvement or what maybe should have been done in a certain situation. I'm pretty sure that doesn't make you a bad fan. I'm very optimistic about this season, but there's a lot to clean up as far as penalties, missed assignments and improving the passing game. This team is not a NC contender "yet" as far as I'm concerned, but they are making strides in that direction. I like Harris' progress. Fournette is a straight up monster. We have stud WRs that I would like to see utilized more. If we were able to get them more involved teams would no longer say "stop Fournette and you stop LSU". Instead it would be choose the manner of your defeat.

If we can do this I think we will be unstoppable. Can we win the way we are going? Sure. But, I want this team so bad arse that when LSU hits the field, teams tremble at their approach.

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agree with this guy...

our play calling and creativity CAN be improved. It's not there yet. We also still have to be Ole Miss and Bama, not an easy task. We have to become more diverse and stealthy. I also would like to see the defensive line nastier, they were supposed to be with Ed O. where are the sacks? We are doing good but there are still areas for improvement.

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Where did all the negativity go? It's amazing
Last year at this time, we started 0-2 in conference and could have easily lost to Wisconsin as well. People were saying Jennings was arguably the worst QB in SEC history and Miles' dinosaur playcalling was squandering the skills of our talent. Our offense only averaged 13.6 PPG in SEC west play.

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Well, your post has some of the answers to your questions...

2014:
0-2 to start in SEC
bad start by Jennings
offense - 13.6PPG (in 0-2 start)

2015:
2-0 in SEC
mistake-free, if not spectacular, start by Harris
offense - probably 35+ PPG in SEC to start

These factors alone are cause for the change of tone in The Rant. That LF7 is exceeding expectations, former players (Tyrann M, Odell B, Jarvis L, Patrick P... and 30 some-odd other players) are excelling in the NFL and casting positive pub in LSU's direction, and recruiting seems to be going well contribute to the giddiness.

LSU never fell off the map during over the past decade, but has had a couple of relatively down years-- and these years (like last year)-- cause the Chicken Little's (not to be confused with Chicken) to come out and declare "the sky is falling!" After last year's speed bump, it appears LSU is trending up again.

There's still cause for concern:

1) lack of passing game... This may or may not be valid in terms of LSU's ability to run the table. LSU has a puncher's chance or better in every game this year if the passing game stays as it is now. Still... it would be nice to see a little more balance.

2) Defense. It's been dominant in the 1st half and has shut every offense down it's faced. It has been suspect in the second half, whether that's a function of lack of depth, conditioning, or less aggressive play-calling to protect a lead. I don't know the stat's exactly, but the D is only giving up... I would guess less than 100 yds of offense and less than 7 PPG in the 1st half, but probably 200+ yards and around 17 PPG in the 2nd half.

3) Special teams. Just not very impressive to this point.

4) Penalties.

There's been plenty of threads about the above four points and others. They haven't cost us a game to this point so the meltdowns are mostly limited to the duration of a bad play or bad drive... and maybe the next day. They are dying down now that we're entering the relatively soft middle of our schedule (no disrespect to USCe and UF... who should not be overlooked). The negativity will increase as bigger games approach and if we don't see some level of improvement.

right here

They're all on saints talk now

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There were plenty of reasons to be skeptical last season, but the inexperience had a lot to do with it..

Inexperience was the least of our problems last year... I am happy with the wins this year but reserving judgement until they play against a good team with talented coaching. Hopefully this team and coaches will be up to the challenge... Especially in road games in Al and Miss.

Where did the negativity go? It moved to the sidelines where it belongs.

When AJ had the football replaced with a clipboard, optimism skyrocketed. So far...so good. I'm not confident we would be 3-0 with AJ.

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They are clearly running out of things to bitch about.

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Negative Nancys never run out of things to bitch about. When all else fails, attack the band.

i love winning but i still don't like les miles.