Game week at last

Hard to believe, but the regular season is here for LSU football.

And when you think about it, the season opener between LSU and North Carolina is like a mystery date.

On one side, you have LSU with all of its well-documented questions -- quarterback play, play-calling, a new passing game coordinator. On the other side, North Carolina has a team with a potential five first-round draft picks. Of course, the mystery is how a pair of investigations into the UNC program will affect the Tar Heels.

I guess it's because of these uncertainities that the line on the game has looked like a tennis match.

It started out as a pick 'em. Then LSU went up to a 4-point favorite. Now the Tigers are down to a two-point favorite.

While there may not have been quite the same anticipation for this season, there is certainly more mystery.

Would you be happy with 9-3?

The Sporting News' College Football preview issue has LSU pegged at 9-3 overall and 6-2 in the SEC. They have the Tigers third in the SEC West behind Alabama and Auburn.

They also project LSU to face Nebraska and former LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini in the Cotton Bowl?

Here's the question: Would that be good enough for you as an LSU fan? Think about it. A nine-win season. A Cotton Bowl trip. But also a third-place finish.

What do you think?

A healthy dose of skepticism

So now Les Miles says Zach Lee would have played in a mop-up role had he stayed on the team.

That may be the most honest thing Miles said during Lee's whole time at LSU. He raved about him the whole time he was in Baton Rouge. It almost got to the point where you thought MIles was trying to convince Lee to stay through the media.

The big tip off, though, was this: There were no Zach Lee stats to be found from Saturday's scrimmage. Jordan Jefferson stats, yes. Jarrett Lee stats, yes. Zach Lee stats, no so much.

What's the point? Everything a football coach says should be taken with a grain of salt and a healthy dose of skepticism.

So long, Zach

Zach Lee will go down in LSU history as the best quarterback who never played. At least that's the feeling you would get fro the LSU football practice reports each day.

Anyway, no one should be surprised that Lee signed. First of all, first-round picks are usually pretty much locks to sign with major league teams. Throw in the fact that he was drafted by a big-market team (the Los Angeles Dodgers) and LSU's best hope was a messy divorced between the Dodgers owners.

The problem here isn't with Lee. After all, who would tell their child to turn down $5.25 million over five years?

The bigger problem is with Les Miles who ran off one quarterback (Chris Garrett) and lost another one (Lee) to baseball leaving him with Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee.

This will need to be a great offensive line or Miles will have some explaining to do about being so thing at the quarterback position.

On Les Miles and oversigning

Les Miles finds himself the target of a national rip job after oversigning and then asking Elliot Porter to take a grayshirt.

Gregg Doyel takes apart Miles in this CBSSports story .

While Doyel has some points, a bigger issue is the fact that scholarships are just for a year and are renewable when parents and student-athletes are led to believe they are four four years.

Anyway, Doyel's commentary makes Miles' job with high school coaches a little bit harder.

For what it's worth

So I'm looking at The Sporting News' position rankings in college football and I notice something missing.

LSU.

Yep, the Tigers are nowhere to be found among the top five units at each position.

What's really bad is you'll find Arkansas (quarterbacks), Alabama (running backs), Georgia (wide receivers/tight ends and Georgia), Florida (offensive line and defensive backs), and Ole Miss (defensive line).

Which brings us back to the chicken and egg question. Is LSU's talent overrated locally? Or is LSU's talent underdeveloped by Les Miles and his staff?

Enough to make an LSU fan gag

So I get this release from ESPN today and I can only imagine the reaction of LSU fans across the state and country.

Here is an excerpt:

"ESPNU and ESPN will showcase the defending national champions, the Universityof Alabama football program, the hour-long College Football Special: Alabama All-Access Wednesday, Aug. 18, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU (re-air, midnight) and Thursday, Aug. 19, at 8 pm. on ESPN.''