Who is LSU?

BATON ROUGE – Through four games, the 2009 LSU Tigers are a mystery team.

Their fan base may be the most displeased in the history of the game as far as a No. 4-ranked, undefeated team is concerned.

Just 10 years ago at about this time, LSU was not ranked and 2-2 after 41-7 and 23-22 losses to Auburn and at Georgia losses on the heels of a 4-7 season in 1998. There would be six more straight losses and a firing and a new beginning.

Many programs would do anything to be 4-0 and ranked No. 4. Programs like Florida State and Notre Dame.

But even LSU coach has been very critical of his team. There are obvious problems, and he knows it. Should some of them not be solved this week, the Tigers will not be able to get by No. 18 Georgia (3-1, 2-0 SEC) in a 2:30 p.m. game Saturday in Athens, Ga.

The offensive line is the biggest area of concern. It’s getting pushed around. There are two new starters on the line – sophomores T-Bob Hebert and Josh Dworaczyk at center and left guard. They are learning and making mistakes, but they are very talented. The problem is LSU’s veteran offensive linemen are playing like freshmen at times as well. Fifth-year senior Ciron Black, who is projected as a high-round draft pick, has not played well the last two weeks. Fifth-year senior right guard Lyle Hitt has also played better.

In addition, it appears that LSU’s speed and offensive talent is not being used properly by offensive coordinator Gary Crowton. Miles has complained – like many fans and media – that Russell Shepard is not getting the ball enough. He was LSU’s leading rusher in the first half against Mississippi State and never touched the ball again.

Quarterback Jordan Jefferson is not the problem. He has played very well. He needs more help from the talent around him. Junior wide receiver Terrance Toliver, for example, ruined a perfectly thrown touchdown pass from Jefferson against Mississippi State on Saturday because Toliver didn’t know where his feet were. Toliver was running out of the end zone before he caught the pass. Crowton needs to get the plays to Jefferson quicker as well.

The defense is much better than last year, but every now and then it makes silly mistakes and allows key plays.

Still, LSU is much better off now than it was at this time a year ago. The Tigers were 4-0 on Sept. 29, 2008, and everyone was happy and still aglow from the 2007 national championship. Miles was still the greatest coach ever and better than Alabama coach Nick Saban, many believed.

The Tigers had pretty 41-13 and 41-3 victories over rent-a-win opponents early on. And LSU had found a new quarterback in Jarrett Lee, who brought his team back for a stunning, victory at No. 9 Auburn and threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-24 win against Mississippi State.

LSU was swimming in fool’s gold, though. Auburn ended up being a bad team and finished 5-7. State was bad, too, and finished 4-8.

Lee was also not very good. Florida and Georgia destroyed LSU’s defense and Lee made it worse with his interceptions over the next three weeks. LSU’s best effort of the season was not good enough to beat Alabama as four Lee interceptions and the coaches who decided to let Lee keep throwing killed the Tigers. Then Troy should’ve beaten LSU, and Ole Miss ripped LSU’s defense and offense in a 31-13 win.

LSU is 4-0 now with problems. It was 4-0 last year at this time seemingly without problems.

LSU has played this season like it could be an 8-4 team this season. It looked more like 10-2 at this time last season, but it finished 7-5 in the regular season.

Do not judge a season by its first four games.

LSU knows what it has to correct for the rest of the season, and the best thing about that is that it has not had the same problem in each game. Things have flared up, and things have been fixed. They will continue to be fixed.

Don’t let the early quarter of the season fool you like it did last season. This LSU team is better. It will finish the regular season 10-2.

LSU will beat Georgia and have a chance against Florida as Tim Tebow may not be himself after a concussion and flu issues.

If LSU does go to 6-0 with a win over No. 1 Florida and moves up to No. 1, do you really think people are going to be worried about Trindon Holliday and Russell Shepard not getting enough touches?

MAIL CALL! Flynn was good, not great

BATON ROUGE - In response to the passing efficiency statistical listing of quarterback Jordan Jefferson doing better in the first three starts at the beginning or early in a season than any LSU quarterback since Rohan Davey in 2001, one reader commented that "Matt Flynn is the most capable quarterback out of the bunch."

Wrong. It's amazing how many people think Flynn was so good. Flynn was decent and solid and popular among fans, but sometimes popularlity causess blindness.

Flynn finished the 2007 season No. 64 in the nation with a 125.8 rating in passing efficiency, which is one of the most significant of all statistics because it takes in everything. Flynn was erratic in 2007, but he built up such a following because of his bowl performance against Miami after the 2005 season, because he waited so long to start and because he was a sharp, clean-cut kid who said the right things.

Flynn also helped LSU win a national championship in 2007, which tends to make people remember you fondly.

In reality, Flynn was not great, but he was on a great team. He threw many more interceptions per attempt than did JaMarcus Russell, who finished No. 3 in the nation in passing efficiency in 2006 with a 167.0 rating.

In 2007, Flynn threw 11 interceptions and 21 touchdowns through 359 attempts. That's a touchdown every 17 passes and an interception every 32 passes. In 2006, Russell threw eight interceptions and 28 touchdowns through 342 attempts. That's a touchdown every 12.2 passes and an interception every 42 passes.

Russell threw one intercepton over his last four games as a Tiger, and in 11 of his 13 games in 2007 he threw a total of two interceptions. In nine games in 2007, Russell threw zero interceptions.

Flynn, on the other hand, threw at least one interception in eight of his 12 games in 2007, including five against Alabama and Louisiana Tech in consecutive weeks.

The significant thing about Jefferson's early games as LSU's quarterback is that he has not had a bad game yet. Flynn, for example, completed just 8 of 19 passes for 70 yards with an interception in his third start in 2007 against South Carolina. Jefferson's first three opponents are comparable in ability to the early opponents the other quarterbacks as well. Flynn, like Jefferson, missed his share of open receivers. Richard Dickson was wide open deep over the middle against Tulane in 2007, and Flynn missed him.

Former LSU quarterback Matt Mauck, for example, also had a bad game in his third start of 2002 against The Citadel. He completed just 8 of 18 passes in that game for 90 yards with an interception.

Another reader commented that LSU's offense "unlike the Saban teams" will keep the ball long enough to give the LSU defense a rest.

LSU's offenses under Gary Crowton and Les Miles have been for the most part better than the offenses of Jimbo Fisher, who worked for Nick Saban. Fisher's offenses were great, but Crowton's are a tad better. They have been more explosive, creative and just better. But they do not control the ball any better. Fisher was very good at that and tended to have a better running game. But we're splitting hairs here.

Until next week.

"Offensive" questions getting to Miles?

BATON ROUGE - LSU has the worst offense in the Southeastern Conference at the moment. Its 325.7 yards a game is also 90th in the nation.

LSU coach Les Miles, who is heavily involved with the offense and stays away from the defense for the most part, did not need to see that statistic to criticize the offense himself after his team's lackluster 31-3 win over Louisiana-Lafayette Saturday. He criticized it again before questions at his weekly luncheon on Monday. Then during the queston-and-answer portion, he patiently answered questions about his offense.

He was asked about his offense's "identity" again on Wednesday during the weekly SEC media teleconference.

The queston was, "What is it, and if not (if the offense lacks identity), what do you hope it is?"
Miles gave another patient answer, but it did not really answer the question.

"I think the responsibility of LSU is to play at a very high level and play for championships," he said. "I think that that is a pretty standard feel for our team. I think the want to get the ball to the playmakers and to make plays is certainly a piece of the puzzle on offense that we're working on very, very, very hard. In terms of personality of the team, this team wants to win. And that hadn't changed. I enjoy the position this team is in. Do we have to improve? You betcha. We have to improve every week. In terms of personality, I think it's competitive."

Then the same questioner on the teleconference - a reporter from the Baton Rouge Advocate - basically repeated the same question about finding the plays on offense that LSU is best at. And the normally mild-mannered Miles apparently had had enough.

"What we call on Saturdays is what we're best at," he said tersely, and there would be no elaboration.

As Miles' 10 minutes was now up, the moderator from the SEC office bid the coach adieu. Miles usually says a polite goodbye at this point. Not this time. It was more like this:
"CLICK."

Look for LSU's offense to be improved Saturday at Mississippi State.

And look for more on LSU's offense in Saturday's Shreveport Times and other Gannett Louisiana papers and on www.LSUbeat.com Saturday with an exclusive interview with LSU offensive coordinator Gary Crowton.

Blog Correction on QB ratings

BATON ROUGE - LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson missed some open receivers, particularly deep, on Saturday against ULL and looked uncomfortable and anxious at times, but he is still off to the best start of a new starting quarterback at LSU since Rohan Davey in 2001.

Yes, Jefferson has performed better than Matt Flynn did over his first three starts in 2007 and better than Matt Mauck's first three in 2002, Andrew Hatch’s and Jarrett Lee's first three last season and JaMarcus Russell's opening trio in 2004, according to the comprehensive passing efficiency statistic that takes into account virtually all aspects of the forward pass.

Jefferson has completed 47 of 73 passes for 64.4 percent, 475 yards and five touchdowns against one interception for a 138.90 passing efficiency rating. That mark is only No. 7 in the SEC, but the SEC has some of the most efficient passers in the nation this season, including the nation's No. 1 quarterback in Arkansas' Ryan Mallett at 193.49 and the No. 7 passer in the country in Florida's Tim Tebow at 170.45. Jefferson is 45th nationally, which is still markedly better than Flynn’s No. 64 efficiency rating in 2007.

Jefferson's 64.4 completion percentage is the best of LSU's last eight starting quarterbacks who started at least three games early in a season. His five touchdown passes is also the most of LSU’s last eight quarterbacks to start at least three games. He also has the second most rushing yards before sacks with 112. Hatch had the most with 118.

Davey put together a 142.28 efficiency mark in his first three starts in 2001.

Here is the breakdown with year, opponents, completions-attempts-interceptions-yards-touchdowns and rating:

1. Rohan Davey, 2001 vs. Tulane, Utah St., at Tenn. - 53-96 (55 percent), 0 ints., 838 yds., 4 TDs, 142.28 rating.
2. Jordan Jefferson, 2009 at Wash., vs. Vanderbilt, ULL - 47-73 (64.4 percent), 1 int. 475 yds., 5 TDs, 138.90 rating.
3. Jarrett Lee, 2008 vs. Miss. St., at Florida, at S. Car. - 57-91 (63 percent) 4 ints. 659 yds. 4 TDs, 129.18 rating.
4. Matt Flynn, 2007 at Miss. St., vs. Va. Tech, S. Car. - 37-65 (57 percent), 1 int. 415 yds. 3 TDs, 122.71 rating.
5. Marcus Randle, 2002 vs. S. Car., at Aub., at Ky. - 31-66 (46 percent), 4 ints., 526 yds., 3 TDs, 116.79 rating.
6. JaMarcus Russell, 2004 at Fla., vs. Vanderbilt, Ala. - 13-25 (52 percent), 2 ints., 172 yds., 1 TD, 106.99 rating.
7. Andrew Hatch, 2008 vs. App. St., North Texas, at Auburn – 19-37 (51 percent), 1 int., 218 yds., 1 TD, 104.36 rating.
8. Matt Mauck, 2002 at Va. Tech, vs. Citadel, Miami-O. - 38-79 (48 percent), 2 ints., 439 yds., 3 TDs, 102.25 rating.

Flynn and Mauck each helped lead LSU to national championships in 2007 and 2003, respectively, but each had horrendous starts early in their career. Flynn completed just 8 of 19 for 70 yards with an interception in a win over South Carolina in 2007, while Mauck completed 8 of 18 for 90 yards with an interception in a win against The Citadel in 2002.

Russell threw two interceptions at Florida in his first start in 2004 while completing 6 of 10 passes. In 2006, he finished No. 3 in the nation in passing efficiency at 167.0, which is believed to be the highest final efficiency rating by an LSU quarterback in history. The NCAA developed the passing efficiency formula in 1979.

Jefferson off to best start since Davey in 2001

BATON ROUGE - LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson missed some open receivers, particularly deep, on Saturday against ULL and looked uncomfortable and anxious at times, but he is still off to the best three-game start of a season by a new starting quarterback at LSU since Rohan Davey in 2001.

Yes, Jefferson has performed better than Matt Flynn did over his first three starts in 2007 and better than Matt Mauck's first three in 2002, Jarrett Lee's first three last season and JaMarcus Russell's opening trio in 2004, according to the comprehensive passing efficiency statistic that takes into account virtually all aspects of the forward pass.

Jefferson has completed 47 of 73 passes for 64.4 percent, 475 yards and five touchdowns against one interception for a 138.90 passing efficiency rating. That mark is only No. 7 in the SEC, but the SEC has some of the most efficient passers in the nation this season, including the nation's No. 1 quarterback in Arkansas' Ryan Mallett at 193.49 and the No. 7 passer in the country in Florida's Tim Tebow at 170.45. Jefferson is 45th nationally.

Jefferson's 64.4 completion percentage is the best of LSU's last seven starting quarterbacks who started at least three games. His five touchdown passes is second only to the six thrown by Lee in his first three starts last season.

Davey put together a 142.28 efficiency mark in his first three starts in 2001.

Here is the breakdown with year, opponents, completions-attempts-interceptions-yards-touchdowns and rating:

1. Rohan Davey, 2001 vs. Tulane, Utah St., at Tenn. - 53-96 (55 percent), 0 ints., 838 yds., 4 TDs, 142.28 rating.
2. Jordan Jefferson, 2009 at Wash., vs. Vanderbilt, ULL - 47-73 (64.4 percent), 1 int. 475 yds., 5 TDs, 138.90 rating.
3. Jarrett Lee, 2008 at Aub., vs. Miss. St., at Florida - 52-87 (59 percent) 4 ints. 652 yds. 6 TDs, 136.29 rating.
4. Matt Flynn, 2007 at Miss. St., vs. Va. Tech, S. Car. - 37-65 (57 percent), 1 int. 415 yds. 3 TDs, 122.71 rating.
5. Marcus Randle, 2002 vs. S. Car., at Aub., at Ky. - 31-66 (46 percent), 4 ints., 526 yds., 3 TDs, 116.79 rating.
6. JaMarcus Russell, 2004 at Fla., vs. Vanderbilt, Ala. - 13-25 (52 percent), 2 ints., 172 yds., 1 TD, 106.99 rating.
7. Matt Mauck, 2002 at Va. Tech, vs. Citadel, Miami-O. - 38-79 (48 percent), 2 ints., 439 yds., 3 TDs, 102.25 rating.

Flynn and Mauck each helped lead LSU to national championships in 2007 and 2003, respectively, but each had horrendous starts early in their career. Flynn completed just 8 of 19 for 70 yards with an interception in a win over South Carolina in 2007, while Mauck completed 8 of 18 for 90 yards with an interception in a win against The Citadel in 2002.

Russell threw two interceptions at Florida in his first start in 2004 while completing 6 of 10 passes. In 2006, he finished No. 3 in the nation in passing efficiency at 167.0, which is believed to be the highest final efficiency rating by an LSU quarterback in history. The NCAA developed the passing efficiency formula in 1979.

MAIL CALL! Talking back to your comments

BATON ROUGE - To the "Anonymous," commenters on the LSUbeat.com website, please be a Tiger and sign your name or code.

One "Anonymous" comment on my Associated Press poll voting agreed with LSU not being ranked in the top 10 at No. 13. Another commenter was glad that reading my voting each week was free. Sharp humor. Like it.

Another "Anonymous" comment said I have Ole Miss ranked so high at No. 7 because of its schedule. Wrong. I've heard schedule comparisons a lot from LSU fans whom I think fear that Ole Miss and Alabama will have better seasons than LSU. This is a silly argument, particularly concerning SEC teams.

First of all, one never really knows how tough a schedule is until one knows how good all the teams on it really are, and that usually is not learned until the end or near the end of the season. For example, LSU's 2005 schedule was viewed as difficult partly because it featured No. 10 Tennessee, which beat LSU. But Tennessee ended up 5-6. Washington looks like it makes LSU's schedule tough, now, but what if UW finishes 4-8, which I think it will?

Secondly, how can an SEC team like Ole Miss have an easy schedule? It's in the SEC, the toughest league in America. Sooner or later it's going to have to play somebody or two.

Everything evens out in the SEC. And if Ole Miss beats LSU this season, which could happen, does it matter if Ole Miss had an easier schedule? If you beat a team, more often than not you're better than that team regardless of the teams you played before or will play after that game.
I rank Ole Miss No. 7 because I think Ole Miss is that good and its coach is that good, and because I think the Rebels will have that good of a season.

Pastor Robertson made a nice comment about the blog concerning Les Miles not really being a gambler. He made an excellent point about the national media building and enhancing labels. This is very true. National media members like labels because it makes their job easier. They don't have to research. Unfortunately, if they did research, they would find that Miles is not a gambler.

Thanks to "brerrabbit" for praising my honesty. That is really all I try to do regardless of the repercussions. Unfortunately, the truth more than anything is really what makes fans mad.
"RaginCajuns1" said I got the story on the LSU's impact in the NFL from LSU's "media guide."

That is true in a way. LSU sent out a release last week trumpeting LSU's 47 players on NFL rosters. But the media guide would have rejected the facts I presented concerning former coach Nick Saban's huge impact on the tremendous talent entering and leaving LSU over the last several years. Obviously, LSU's media relations department does not want to praise Saban, and I understand that. But the truth is the truth.

"Twitterer" conceded that Saban did a great job at LSU but questioned his talent as a family man and father. This is completely out of line even if it's true. And, believe me, if Miles, who truly is a great family man, goes 8-5 a few more times, "Twitterer" and LSU fans will not care if Miles is the father of the year. LSU fans wanted previous LSU coaches who were great people and great family men - Charles McClendon, Jerry Stovall and Mike Archer - fired, and they got their wish.

I've heard this personal criticism of Saban in the past, and it is way off base. Funny, LSU fans rarely brought it up when he was here.

Until next week.

You Know Who Started NFL's Bayou Pipeline

BATON ROUGE - LSU set a school record last week when it opened the season with 47 former players on NFL rosters. A release by LSU said that coach Les Miles had coached 22 of the 41 players on the NFL's active rosters.

It did not mention that former LSU coach Nick Saban signed 33 of those 47 players from 2000-04. Of course, during the 2007 national championship flag ceremony before the 2008 season opener at Tiger Stadium in which the 1958 and 2003 titles and flags were mentioned, LSU did not mention that Saban coached the '03 team when it did mention that Paul Dietzel coached the 1958 team and Miles the 2007 team.

Here is the breakdown of the LSU players in the NFL by the coach who signed them and coached them for at least one season:

--- 33 Signed by Former Coach Nick Saban from 2000-04 - RB Joseph Addai*, Indianapolis; LB Eric Alexander, New England; WR Dwayne Bowe*, Kansas City; WR Michael Clayton*, Tampa Bay; WR Craig Davis*, San Diego; DT Glenn Dorsey*, Kansas City; WR Early Doucet, Arizona; QB Matt Flynn, Green Bay; CB Randall Gay, New Orleans; C Brett Helms, Houston; WR Devery Henderson, New Orleans; RB Jacob Hester, San Diego; OLB Ali Highsmith, Arizona; CB Chevis Jackson, Atlanta; DE Tyson Jackson*, Atlanta; OG Brian Johnson, Baltimore; OG Herman Johnson, Arizona; FB Quinn Johnson, Green Bay; DE Tremaine Johnson, Minnesota; P Donnie Jones, St. Louis; S LaRon Landry*, Washington; OG Nate Livings, Cincinnatti; C Rudy Niswanger, Kansas City; OG Stephen Peterman, Detroit; QB JaMarcus Russell, Oakland*; DE Marcus Spears*, Dallas; S Craig Steltz, Chicago; S Curtis Taylor, San Francisco; RB Justin Vincent, Pittsburgh; CB Corey Webster, New York Giants; OG Andrew Whitworth, Cincinnatti; DT Kyle Wsilliams, Buffalo; TE Keith Zinger, Atlanta.

--- 9 Signed by Former Coach Gerry DiNardo from 1995-99 - S Ryan Clark, Pittsburgh; RB Kevin Faulk, New England; DT Howard Green, New York Jets; DL Jarvis Green, New England; LB Bradie James, Dallas; C Todd McClure, Atlanta; WR Josh Reed, Buffalo; S Mark Roman, San Francisco; TE Robert Royal, Cleveland.

--- 3 Signed by Current Coach Les Miles from 2005-06 (Miles' high school signees fromn 2007-09 are still in college.) - LB Darry Beckwith, San Diego; WR Demetrius Byrd, San Diego; DT Ricky Jean-Francois, San Francisco.

--- 1 Signed by Former Coach Curley Hallman from 1991-94 - OG Alan Faneca*, New York Jets.

--- 1 Signed by Former Coach Mike Archer from (1987-90) - C Kevin Mawae, Tennessee.

* Selected in the First Round

Quit Whining, LSU fans

BATON ROUGE - LSU fans need to quit whining. They whined all year about the LSU baseball team, and if I remember right that team ended up having a pretty good season. They whined about Jared Mitchell striking out too much and getting picked off. Yet he was a hero of the College World Series and got drafted in the first round.

LSU fans, sometimes you don't know what you have. You have a very good football team this season that could end up being great.

Everyone wanted a blowout against Vanderbilt Saturday. Yes, the Tigers could have beaten the Commodores more handily than 23-9 with touchdowns instead of field goals, but Vanderbilt is a tougher team than people realize.

Blowout victories are overrated anyway. LSU started the 2008 season with 41-13 and 41-3 victories over inferior opponents, and those games hid problem areas that LSU learned later and never solved. In 1991, LSU beat Arkansas State 70-14, and the Tigers finished 5-6.

LSU's play in its first two games against more decent teams than it usually plays early on this year have given the coaches a sense of urgency that they didn't have at this point last season, and that hurt LSU.

In the long run, LSU will be better off this season because of mistakes made and mistakes corrected during the first two weeks. Fans need to look at these first four games as preseason games. LSU should not be showing a lot on offense or defense. If a blowout victory over ULL this Saturday shows too much of the offense, then it's not necessary.

Yes, LSU needs to work more on its vertical passing game, but it is smarter to bring quarterback Jordan Jefferson along more slowly. LSU's coaches made a big mistake last year by trying to treat Jarrett Lee as if he was already JaMarcus Russell. And it backfired with interception after interception.

LSU should blow out ULL Saturday, but it shouldn't open up its playbook too much. The preseason, which continues next week at Mississippi State, is about getting better and learning your personnel. It's not about producing pretty scores. It's not like LSU needs to play pretty for rankings anyway. It has played average in its first two games, and it's still ranked No. 7 in the USA Today poll.

I even heard a fan on the radio yesterday ask if youth was the problem on defense. Uh, LSU's defense just held an SEC team to one offensive score. That does not happen often.

Your team is very good folks, and it's going to only get better.

Miles Never Really Was a Gambler

BATON ROUGE - LSU coach Les Miles faced a pair of fourth and ones in the Tigers 23-9 victory over Vanderbilt on Saturday, and each time he opted for short field goals. On a first-and-goal from the Vandy 5-yard line with six seconds to go, he elected to go for the field goal and not try a quick play for the touchdown and still kick the field goal.

Miles has had the reputation of a swashbuckling, riverboat gambler coach since he went for it on fourth down five times and made it five times for a 28-24 victory over defending national champion Florida in one of the greatest games in LSU history back in 2007.

Miles' already blossoming coaching reputation soared nationally after that game that was nationally televised on CBS. Just two weeks before, Miles beat South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier at his own game when he faked a field goal and scored a touchdown late in the second quarter for a 21-7 lead. He basically decided to win the game right there and did, as the Tigers held on for a 28-16 victory. Miles' legend grew taller with the last-second win on a touchdown pass over Auburn when a field goal would have been enough, but that was more clock mismanagement than game boldness. Most coaches in that situation try the end zone once, then kick the field goal. Miles' process was way off as he crazily let too much clock run out and was fortunate that the result went in his favor.

But the fourth downs against Florida were the stuff of legend. Trailing 10-0 in the second quarter, backup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux kept it on fourth and goal from the 1 and scored.

Trailing 17-7 in the third quarter, Miles went for it on fourth-and-5 from the Gators' 25, and starting quarterback Matt Flynn rushed for 8 yards. LSU later scored to get within 17-14.
Down 24-14 early in the fourth quarter, Miles faced a fourth-and-3 from the Florida 19. He opted for a field goal, but Colt David missed it. There would be no more kicking.

On fourth-and-3 from the Florida 4, Flynn found Demetrius Byrd for a touchdown to cut the Gators' lead to 24-21 with 10:15 to go. Then on fourth-and-1 from the LSU 49 and on fourth-and-1 from the Florida 7, a pair of two-yard runs by Jacob Hester kept the drive alive. LSU scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:09 to for a 28-24 lead and held on.

Miles showed a lot of guts, but people did not realize at the time that what he really showed was more brains than brawn. Miles went into the game figuring he would go for it on fourth-and-very short plays, which is what he did three times, because Florida had a weak defense and LSU had one of its best offensive lines. The Gators finished seventh in the SEC and 41st nationally in total defense that season. LSU finished second in the SEC in rushing and 11th nationally.

On the fourth-and-5 and fourth-and-5 conversions via the pass, Miles was facing 10-point deficits and feared Florida's lead would get out of hand. Also, the Gators finished last in the SEC in 2007 in pass defense and 98th nationally.

Miles took calculated risks. In virtually every fourth-and-short situation since that game Miles has NOT gone for it. The Vanderbilt game was just another example. Miles is really not a gambler.

"They say he's a gambler and all that stuff," fifth-year senior offensive tackle Ciron Black said before this season when asked what is the greatest misconceptions about his coach. "I don't think so. I don't think so, because we work on everything. He just doesn't take crazy risks. Everything we do in games, we work at it in practice every single day. And every time before the game, he tells us, 'Everything we worked on, we're going to do them. We're not going to practice them and not do them.' People say he gambles a lot, but I don't think so."

What Miles does a lot is make smart decisions. When you play a team like Florida and you are behind, you may have to take a calculated risk here and there. When you play Vanderbilt and you're never behind and never really close to losing, you don't.

Guilbeau's A.P. Poll Voting

Glenn Guilbeau's Associated Press poll voting for Sept. 13

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Alabama
4. USC
5. Penn State
6. Ohio State
7. Ole Miss
8. BYU
9. Virginia Tech
10. Boise State
11. Oklahoma
12. TCU
13. LSU
14. Houston
15. Oklahoma State
16. Georgia
17. Miami
18. UCLA
19. Nebraska
20. California
21. Pittsburgh
22. Kansas
23. Arkansas
24. Iowa
25. Missouri

NOTES: LSU stays the same. Even though the Tigers have not won in very beautiful fashion, it is obvious it knows how to do what it takes when it needs to. Vanderbilt is also a tough team. Houston jumps up to No. 14 after its win over Oklahoma State, which drops from No. 8 to No. 15. Ohio State stays right where it was at No. 6 because it lost to a higher ranked team in USC and could have won.

MAIL CALL! Answering Your Blog Commentary

BATON ROUGE - It's Friday and time to answer the week's comments from previous blogs.

TO "LAEXPAT," who suggested I dropped LSU in my Associated Press rankings because coach Les Miles closed practice this season. Nothing could be more wrong. I and other reporters were actually happy that Miles closed practices because we never got much out of those anyway, and it was a waste of time. Now, I have more time to write and blog and chat and tweet with you wonderful folks.

Even when I went to or short window of practice when it was open, I would talk to some of the people with the program who were at practice for the duration to find out what was really going on, and I still do that. So little has changed. There is less injury information, but we reporters tend to write too much about injuries anyway. Not because we want to help the other team, but because an injury update is an easy, ready-made notebook item, which is what we are always looking for.

I did keep LSU below two teams that lost - Virginia Tech and Oklahoma - because those teams lost to highly ranked teams but still played well. It's not always if you win or lose in rankings, it's the team you beat or lose to and how you won or lost.

LSU looked average against what I feel will be a bad team this season. Washington, 0-12 last season, will not be better than 4-8. Don't believe all the spin you're hearing. UW is not that good. Iowa did struggle with Northern Iowa as well but it still won, and I dropped Iowa five spots to 24. I dropped LSU only one spot to 14.

TO "KATSUMOTO," who did not like my assertion that LSU has been complaining too much about the travel. It was not nearly as difficult a trip as the LSU spin surgeons - particularly Miles - would have you believe. The players are all very young and such a trip does not affect them.

They got there on Thursday for cryinig out loud. What WAS a tough trip was what LSU made Tennessee do in 2005. The Vols had to fly in, play and fly out on the same day because of a lack of hotel space in the wake of the hurricanes. Meanwhile, LSU didn't give up its hotel rooms even though its players could have stayed in dorms.

Also, I do not want to cover Alabama. Just because I think Nick Saban is a great coach does not mean I want to cover him. He can be tough to cover. You never know his mood. But half the time he's yelling at reporters, he's just making a point. And Saban answers questions much better than most coaches, particularly Miles, who speaks in riddles and says crazy things half the time.

But Miles is very easy to cover because he basically has no temper and is not moody. He's also fun to talk to. It's trying to figure out what he's saying that is tough. Sometimes he's being silly on purpose. Sometimes he doesn't know what he's saying. Sometimes nobody knows, including him.

As far as Saban's "loyalty," the only time he has been disloyal in his career is when and how he left Miami. Every other move has been normal, coaching upward mobility. Saban has moved around no more than many, many coaches. He was at Michigan State for five years, LSU for five years and will be at Alabama many, many years.

TO "CALVINIST," who still thinks Michigan is an elite program. Dude, you're like Notre Dame fans. It's over. Your program is nothing like it used to be, and coaches who are not tied to that place no longer see it as a destination job. It's just another very good major program. LSU is a much better job. Miles would only go to Michigan because he has strong ties there, and if it pays him and his staff more money.

TO "WHYDAHATIN," who said Miles doesn't care about the money. He does. He's smart. He has an economics degree, not a P.E. degree like most coaches. Had Michigan offered more money for his staff in 2007, Miles may have thought about it a second longer.

TO "ANONYMOUS," who said LSU offensive coordinator Gary Crowton needs to mix it up more. First of all, why don't you sign your name or code? And secondly, Crowton mixed it up expertly and called a superb game at UW. But you are not alone. Fans and media alike have been criticizing LSU's offense this week. None of you get it.

It was passing like a Big 12 team last year that got LSU in so much trouble with Jarrett Lee and all his interceptions. If he throws it 19 times (which is how many times Jordan Jefferson threw it against Washington) in the Alabama game last season instead of 34 times, LSU wins. Because LSU played good defense that day, ran the ball well and didn't get behind early. Yet Crowton and Miles kept passing Lee like he was in the Big 12 even though he entered that game with obvious interception issues.

Crowton and Miles were conservative against Washington because they want to bring Jefferson around slowly and not just plug him in as they did with Lee, thinking he'd automatically be as good as JaMarcus Russell. And it's OK to be conservative when it's working and when it lulls the opponent to sleep so you can strike. This is precisely what Crowton did.

LSU ran 29 times and passed just 19 times against Washington, but it averaged 5.1 yards a rush.

IT WAS WORKING. Jefferson's 11 completions averaged 15.6 yards. This is mixing it up expertly, which is better than evenly. Yes, LSU ran a lot on first down - 16 times to be exact. But it gained 116 yards on those carries for a 7.2-yard average. You don't get away from that because it's not cool. These runs also set up excellent passing opportunities on first and second down. The 45-yard touchdown pass from Jefferson to Terrance Toliver happened on a second-and-10 play, not a typical passing situation. The 39-yard touchdown pass to Toliver happened on first-and-five play, which would be a running play for a conservative play caller. Crowton is not a conservative play caller.

On LSU's last and best drive of the night, Crowton was a magician. A 7-yard run by Keiland Williams set up a second-and-3 play. Did Crowton choose to run some more clock to finish off the game? No, on a sure running situation, particularly seeing the time of the game, Crowton called a pass and caught Washington off guard. Jefferson hit Toliver for 25 yards to set up the clinching touchdown, which was also on a pass to Brandon LaFell.

Considering LSU had only 48 plays (lowest since 1965) because its defense played so poorly, the offense was very good. It scored 24 offensive points, which comes out to a point every other play. It averaged 6.6 yards a play. Crowton called a great game. He set the tempo.

LSU defense will get better

BATON ROUGE - There is no question LSU's defense looked bad against Washington, and it had nothing to do with the road trip or with any of the other weak excuses LSU coach Les Miles has offered.

Yes, it was more difficult than normal to game plan for Washington's offense because it had a first-year coach in Steve Sarkisian, who helped run the offense at USC for years. But it was equally difficult for Washington to game plan for LSU's defense because it had a first-year coordinator in John Chavis, who ran the defense at Tennessee for years. Neither coach was going to do what their respective teams did strategically in 2008 because both Washington's offense and LSU's defense were terrible last season.

So, Sarkisian and staff studied what Chavis did at Tennessee, and LSU's staff studied what Sarkisian did at USC. And, by the way, Sarkisian and staff were coaching far less talented players than were LSU's coaches.

So where's the game plan advantage that Miles keeps saying Washington had?

Washington's coaches just did a much better job of preparation and called a better game than did LSU, plain and simple. Chavis did get better as the game wore on, particularly in the third quarter. LSU's defense came up with several stops in the second half and forced field goals instead of allowing touchdowns. This won the game.

A trademark of Chavis' defenses at Tennessee was that they got better during the season. That will happen this season. It will start happening Saturday when LSU hosts Vanderbilt. Chavis is too talented and his players are too talented to allow anything similar to a 478-yard game, except when LSU plays Florida.

Chavis' debut was disappointing but not nearly as bad as former LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini's opening night back in 2005. Pelini's defense allowed 560 yards to Arizona State, including 461 yards passing, in one of the worst defensive performances by LSU this decade.

And Arizona State finished that regular season 6-5. Not only did Pelini allow 560, he did that with most of the starters on the 2004 LSU defense that finished No. 3 in the nation in total defense (257 yards a game), No. 5 in pass defense (157 yds. a game) and No. 7 in rush defense (100 yds. a game). Then the next week Pelini blew a 21-0 halftime lead and gave up 320 to a Tennessee team that would finish 5-6, including 250 yards passing and 196 yards passing to weak-armed Rick Clausen.

Pelini got it together as the season went on though, and LSU finished No. 3 in the nation in total defense (267 yds. a game), No. 3 in pass defense efficiency and No. 3 in scoring defense (14.2 points a game) as well as No. 6 in rush defense (91.5 yards a game).

Chavis will also get it together and quick.

-end-

Guilbeau's A.P. poll voting

BATON ROUGE – Here is my first in-season vote for the weekly Associated Press poll. LSU drops from No. 13 to No. 14 after a sporadic performance against what was an 0-11 Washington team last season that will be no better than 4-8 this season.

LSU held on and won, but the Tigers’ defense gave up an embarrassing 478 yards, and with a break here and there Washington would have won. I also dropped Iowa from No. 19 to No. 24. It also won, but barely – 17-16 over Northern Iowa.

Alabama had the best win as it beat No. 8 Virginia Tech 34-24 and jumps from No. 14 to No. 3. BYU beat a higher ranked team in No. 3 Oklahoma, but the Sooners were without their quarterback when it counted. BYU moves up from No. 17 to No. 9.

Here is the Guilbeau Poll for the A.P.



1. Florida

2. Texas

3. Alabama

4. Penn State

5. USC

6. Ohio State

7. Ole Miss

8. Oklahoma State

9. BYU

10. Virginia Tech

11. Boise State

12. Oklahoma

13. TCU

14. LSU

15. Georgia

16. Notre Dame

17. Miami

18. Nebraska

19. California

20. UCLA

21. Pittsburgh

22. Kansas

23. Arkansas

24. Iowa

25. Florida State

And here is the complete A.P. poll.

RK TEAM RECORD PTS
1 Florida (56) 1-0 1493
2 Texas (2) 1-0 1424
3 USC 1-0 1355
4 Alabama (2) 1-0 1331
5 Oklahoma State 1-0 1201
6 Mississippi 1-0 1095
7 Penn State 1-0 1082
8 Ohio State 1-0 985
9 Brigham Young 1-0 984
10 California 1-0 971
11 LSU 1-0 890
12 Boise State 1-0 882
13 Oklahoma 0-1 782
14 Virginia Tech 0-1 652
15 Georgia Tech 1-0 630
16 TCU 0-0 523
17 Utah 1-0 404
18 Notre Dame 1-0 383
19 North Carolina 1-0 338
20 Miami (FL) 1-0 315
21 Georgia 0-1 294
22 Nebraska 1-0 266
23 Cincinnati 1-0 248
24 Kansas 1-0 196
25 Missouri 1-0 126
Dropped from rankings: Oregon 16, Florida State 18, Iowa 22
Others receiving votes: Oregon State 113, Michigan State 83, Pittsburgh 82, Texas Tech 53, Oregon 47, Clemson 40, FLORIDAST 39, West Virginia 32, Tennessee 30, Iowa 24, Michigan 18, UCLA 18, Baylor 17, Boston College 14, Arizona 12, East Carolina 6, Air Force 4, Auburn 4, Colorado State 4, Arkansas 3, South Carolina 3, South Florida 1, Southern Miss 1, Tulsa 1, Houston 1.

-end-

LSU survives, gives Miles teaching point

BATON ROUGE - Good teams can play poorly and still manage to win.

That is what LSU did in a scary, 31-23 victory over an upstart Washington team early Sunday morning at Husky Stadium in Seattle.

If football had five quarters, LSU may well have lost the latest game in its history. The Tigers, who started at 9:36 p.m. central time and finished at about 1 a.m., were running on coffee grinds and had just enough to hold on, particularly on defense.

Holding Washington to a field goal to keep the score 24-16 late in the fourth quarter was critical. The Tigers had one of their few third-down stops to force that field goal. Then the offense and quarterback Jordan Jefferson went right down and scored to take a 31-16 lead.

The defense struggled immensely early on as it allowed 7 of 9 third-down conversions in the first half and 296 yards, but it finished strong. Jefferson also looked frazzled in the first half, and he finished with a flourish. That's what the good teams do. They may plod along for a spell, but in the end they get it right.

The defense ended up allowing just 182 yards in the second half and stopped the thriving offense of new coach Steve Sarkisian when it needed to do so. Jefferson, who was 3 of 8 for 65 yards in the first half, was 8 of 11 for 107 yards and three touchdowns in the second half. He put the game away when he drilled a 6-yard touchdown pass across the field to Brandon LaFell with 1:54 to go for the 31-16 lead. Previously he found Terrance Toliver for a 45-yard touchdown and 17-10 lead and again on a 39-yard touchdown for a 24-13 lead.

Tolliver for the first time looked like he will answer his potential. Washington could not contain him.

The defense has to get much better. New defensive coordinator John Chavis' unit looked a lot like last year's unit with the missed tackles and the gaping holes in the middle. But Chavis made adjustments during the game and got things settled down. He'll get the defense better as the season progresses.

LSU survived Seattle and will end up being a better team for it.

"This is a very dangerous team," LSU coach Les Miles said of the Huskies, who did not look like a team that has lost 15 in a row. "We prevailed. It was a very satisfying win even though we made it more difficult than it should've been. We should've put it away earlier."

Miles can teach much from the misadventures of this game.

"Coach can say, 'BS' a couple more times and get the players' attention," Miles said.

LSU came to Seattle as a very overconfident team to be coming off an 8-5 season. It will leave Seattle knowing that if it does not get better over the next month, it could be 8-5 again.

Postgame thoughts

I understand why coaches close practice to the media. They don't want any information -- injury, personnel or formation getting out.

But here is why everyone is better served with at least letting the media watch scrimmages.

The "much-improved defense'' looked a lot like the same defense from last year. Let's not forget, LSU has the most fortunate bowl matchup in the school's history with a game against a Georgia Tech team that couldn't throw the ball in the ocean last year.

This isn't the first time the fans of LSU have been led to believe something had changed. Anybody else remember those scrimmage stories when Chad Loup would go 16-of-18 passing and then struggle once the season starts?

I know it's just one game. I know they traveled across the country. But that defense, particularly against the pass, has to get better.

LSU could be in for embarrassing loss

If LSU does not make a lot of adjustments on both sides of the ball very quickly, it is in for one of its worst upsets in the history of the school.

The Tigers took a 17-13 lead into halftime, and they could have easily been behind 20-10 or something similar.

The defense still looks a lot like the outfit from 2008 despite the new system of newly hired defensive coordinator John Chavis. Washington piled up 296 yards of offense in the first half and would have had the lead without a fumble inside the LSU 5-yard line and an interception by Tiger middle linebacker Jacob Cutrera that he returned 28 yards for a touchdown and 10-7 lead in the first quarter.

The Huskies converted 7 of 9 third downs in the first half and have simply been consistently beating LSU to the punch.

And this is a Washington team that has been one of the worst major college teams over the last several years. The Huskies were 0-12 last season.

The game is looking much like the near disaster against Troy last season.

Amazingly, the Tigers still lead 17-13. But they are in a very dangerous situation that could be the school's most embarrassing loss since LSU fell to Miami of Ohio in 1986.

LSU has a game on its hands

BATON ROUGE - No. 11 LSU took a punch in the mouth and appeared stunned at first, but it has recovered with a flourish and took a 10-7 lead over Washington with 5:49 to play in the first quarter on a 24-yard interception return by middle linebacker Jacob Cutrera.

There were seven interception returns for touchdowns in LSU games last season, but they were all by other teams. Cutrera, a senior from Lafayette, returned the favor to help LSU start the 2009 season by picking off Washington quarterback Jake Locker.

The Tigers drew within 7-3 against 18-point underdog Washington with 6:03 to play in the first quarter as Josh Jasper kicked a 24-yard field goal after a 62-yard drive in 12 plays. LSU had reached the UW 4-yard line but could not punch it in. Fifth-year senior left tackle Ciron Black was called for offsides on a third-and-goal play. Black appeared to be yelling at quarterback Jordan Jefferson after the play as Jefferson looked confused throughout the drive.

Washington, meanwhile, looked like it was capable of a mammoth upset on its first drive. The Huskies charged 85 yards in 10 plays to take a 7-0 lead with 10:35 to go in the openng quarter on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Locker to James Johnson.

LSU may have a game on its hands.

"That Husky dog may have its bite back," ESPN announcer Bob Davie said.

"Game on," LSU sideline reporter Jordy Hultberg said.

Washington converted a third-and-12 play on its first drive with a 51-yard Locker completion that totally shredded an LSU blitz. Locker has found other gaping holes in LSU's new defense of new defensive coordinator John Chavis, who gave up more than 100 yards of offense in the first quarter.

In case you missed it

The Seattle Times had a good read on University of Washington athletic director Scott Woodward. The link is here.

Not only does the story talk about Woodward's LSU background, but also offers some insight into how this game came about for two schools more than 2,000 miles apart.

Interesting that Mark Emmert would bring him with him.

Miles remembers Gustav

BATON ROUGE – Hurricane Gustav hit Baton Rouge one year ago Tuesday and left thousands without power and with tree and other damage for weeks.

LSU football coach Les Miles lost power at his home, and a tree landed in his swimming pool. He was lucky. He also grew closer to his family and staff.

Miles’ family and all of his coaches’ families and other staff members and their families all lived in the LSU football facility together for nearly a week after the storm.

“It was a sad time certainly for the community and for all of us,” Miles said, “but there were some real positives derived - having your family in a meeting room that you also would sleep in that night for one. Really, it was kind of easy, to be honest. You weren’t worried about what was going on at home. Everyone’s electricity was out. And so, focus was pretty good.”

No time was wasted driving to work through any traffic.

“You were at work all the time,” Miles said. “And all you had to do was get up, shave and put on some flip-flops and go into the staff room.”

LSU’s season opener on Aug. 30 was moved from 4 p.m. to a 10 a.m. kickoff so as not to cause any traffic problems with hurricane evacuees and contraflow. After Gustav hit on Monday, Sept. 1, LSU’s Sept. 6 game against Troy was postponed to Nov. 15. LSU played its next game against North Texas on Sept. 13. LSU also had to change its schedule in light of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

“There were a lot of fond memories with a team that handled change and adjustment as well as they did,” Miles said.

So far, hurricanes have not affected LSU’s 2009 season. After practicing Wednesday afternoon, the Tigers will leave for Seattle on Thursday for their season opener against Washington at 9:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN.

LIVE CHAT TIME: LSU beat reporter Glenn Guilbeau will answer your questions about the upcoming season from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Friday. Go to LSUbeat.com or your paper's website and follow the prompts to join in and ask a question.

For the rest of the season, the chats will be on Monday mornings from 10 to 11.

Get Ready for Miles to Michigan Again

BATON ROUGE - Rich Rodriguez is not long for Michigan. He will not make it to 2010. Some great reporting by the Detroit Free Press has uncovered that Rodriguez has been breaking NCAA rules regarding the 20-hour rule and off-season workouts. Yes all you apologists, most schools do break these rules, but the schools who historically get caught by newspapers and the NCAA are those doing it so blatantly that one does not have to be an investigative reporter to find out. This is why Alabama has so often gotten into trouble with the NCAA since the early 1990s.

Rodriguez was already a troubled coach before this happened. Unhappy Michigan power brokers may seize this opportunity. Rodriguez had a disastrous, 3-9 first season in 2008 as did his offense. He's a bit of a rough hick from West Virginia for the blue bloods of the maize and blue.

He was a bad fit at a place where fit probably means too much in this day and age. Unless he has a miraculous season of something like 9-3 or better, he may be gone.

Should that happen, Michigan will try again to consider LSU coach Les Miles, who would be a perfect fit. Miles loves LSU, loves being here, loves living here. But he is Michigan through and through. Unlike less honest coaches. Miles speaks lovingly of Michigan whenever he gets a chance. He refreshingly did that when his name was up for the job in 2007. Had Michigan handled its coaching search more prudently and discreetly two years ago, it would have had a better shot at Miles. Miles didn't want to go to Michigan in late 2007, but he wanted to at least listen. He felt he owed his alma mater and his former teammates that. He said he wanted to talk to Michigan the day before the SEC championship game at a press conference. LSU officials heard that and quickly finalized a deal with Miles that night - a deal that LSU officials and Miles' people had been working on for weeks.

The deal was not struck on the morning of the SEC title game, which is what ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit said happened when LSU got "proactive" after Herbstreit's initial horrendous mistake on GameDay that morning in which he had Miles already going to Michigan. Still waiting for ESPN to run a retraction for Herbstreit's reporting at that time, by the way.

Miles got not one penny more for his dance with Michigan in his next LSU contract that was signed early in 2008. All the money that brought Miles from $2.2 million in 2007 to $3.75 million in 2008 was from built-in bonus clauses having to do with winning SEC and national championships, which Miles won. Miles didn't use Michigan to get LSU to bring the money truck by his house. He would have gotten all that money had Michigan not made a coaching change. There are still national media members out there who don't know this.

As a proud Michigan alum, Miles felt like he owed it to Michigan not to dismiss any interest immediately. Miles, an economics graduate, also is smart. The Michigan dance made Miles look good to LSU officials, who were upset with the loss against Arkansas that season. Miles wanted some assurances from LSU if he lost to Tennessee in the SEC title game, and he got them.
Miles still loves Michigan. If athletic director Bill Martin wants to talk to Miles late this year, he'll be able to, and Miles deserves that opportunity to listen to Michigan. Martin might be wise to hire a search firm this time around for discretion, though reputable search firms with their clients' wishes and not theirs at heart, are hard to find.

If Michigan comes after Miles, my feeling is Miles will say no to Michigan, but both sides should have the chance to talk about it without ESPN and Detroit newspapers making mistake after mistake.

If Miles is rolling along to another 10- or 11-win season this December and Michigan realizes his worth, it could get interesting. Former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville will be in the picture as well.