I'm a chick, so I'm not gonna "man up" about anything. In my opinion, we didn't play well. Clemson did. They won on a last-second field goal. Shit happens.
It's a fact that bowl games have A LOT to do with "Who's happy to be here." Look at Bama/Utah, so many others. Teams looking to play for all the marbles- as we were- and landing in a 2nd tier bowl...if you don't think it matters, you're clueless. LSU was one play away from playing in the SEC Championship for a National Title shot. Clemson was never even in the dance. You WERE definitely the better team last night. Congrats on the win.
Oh no doubt. I posted that last night. It's a gift receiving, last hurrah for most. For some, an exhibition for NFL scouts but I think there's more made about that- in relation to the bowl game- than is factual. I'd tend to think the body of work (season and career) has much more weight than one bowl game.
Following that line of reasoning, then, is it possible that the Alleva and the adminstration, TAF, etc., don't really care about the result either?
Just to be clear, I'm not a Clemson fan. I'man FSU fan who recognizes that Clemson would probably also beat FSU on a neutral field. FSU was fortunate to meet them in Tallahassee,this year. Clemson has one hell of an offense-----and last night they did it even without their star receiver, Watkins. Very puzziling , though, as to how a pretty 'leaky' ---to be kind---Clemson defense was able to hold LSU to under 10 first downs. I'll leave it to LSU fans to discuss what's up with the LSU offense, as per the many other threads on this topic. The purpose of my post was to give due props to the Clemson team. They deserve full respect of the LSU community. To downplay the loss as 'just not being up' for the game is poor.
Because LSU's offense sucks Nole. There is nothing more to be said, our offense is terrible and we struggled against everyone this season save MSST, Washington, and Ole Miss. We struggled against Towson, we struggled against Arkansas who's defense was one of the worst in the country. Our offense sucks, and we know it.
I agree, teams should always play their best but there's no way around it. I'll give you the other side of the coin. I've had undefeated teams. (Basketball/softball) and when you beat a team 2 or 3 times (multiple match ups through tournaments, playoffs, etc.) it's hard to make the undefeated team get up for the game. One year we won a National Title in softball and the first time we played teams we ran through them. We'd let them out of the inning on purpose (hesitation rule). The second time still smashed 'em but the third and/or 4th time the girls did pretty much just what they had to. It's human nature.
I taped the game; was in a restaurant with the family and saw the 2nd half on the bar's tv. Crikey, but when I saw what was happening, I told my BIL that we showed all the usual signs of being unable to get 1st downs, hold onto the ball for 90 or so seconds more, and would "allow" Clemson to run the field--and win by a fkn FG. And to my horror--but not to my surprise--that's what happened! I nearly lost my expensive New Years' Eve dinner. It is such a sick feeling.
