1)LSU Rank 3 - 274.9 yards/game - 2749 yds - 21 TD - 682 plays - 4.03 yd avg 2)Louisville Rank 18 - 307 yards game - 3387 yds - 25 TD - 735 plays - 4.61 yd avg I am just getting tired of seeing the typical post of I love Petrino's offense but his D scares the hell out of me. His D while not LSU caliber, is still a top 20 D. Yes it is in the CUSA and his opponents were not the greatest, but his D still showed up against them. I think it can improve further at LSU, especially if he would retain some of the current staff. With that said, I think we all expect a shootout against Boise, so no smartass comments after that game. These are the stats up to this point. The NCAA stats page: http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/Internet/national rankings/IA_teamtotdef.html
Important to note: LSU's D was on the field for 682 plays, UL's for 735 due to the quick-strike nature of the offense. Taking that into consideration, note that UL's play avg. is 4.61, compared to 4.03 for LSU. Also, UL gave up 25 TD's, LSU 21. All things considered, it looks like the Cardinals do indeed play some defense.
Louisville Defense Rush = 20th 110 yds/game Pass = 32nd 197 yds/game Total = 17th 307 yds/game Scoring = 17th 17.8 pts/game
No, he's not. He is just such an attractive candidate at a mid major with NFL experience that when the top jobs have come open over the last year they want to interview him. This whole thing is the biggest bunch of B.S. And, he would only leave LSU for a NFL head coaching job because we could pay more than anything else. If he got an NFL head coaching job, he would almost definitely take it, but so would almost any LSU head coach. Also, the only way he would get the NFL head job is if he was tremendously successful at LSU. Google Petrino back a week ago right after Saban announced. The news media and everybody loved him, but they didn't think we could get him. When we ask him to talk to us he does and that made Louisville fans upset, but if his team were to fall on its face the next two seasons they would fire Petrino, so where would be the loyalty there. The only reason we really have a negative impression of Petrino is because the Louisville media is roasting him for wanting to leave and we are looking for something negative about every candidate. He would have been unwise to have not expressed interest in the LSU job. This is whole thing is so silly. Coaches are just as loyal as any other person. If you were offered a better job making more money, you would take it too. He is not a Louisville fan or an LSU fan like we are. He is a professional who works for a school as the football coach, and he is great at it. My first choice would be Del Rio, but I would be very happy and excited if he is our coach. Hopefully, we would have a big buyout in the first year for any other job, and a big buyout thereafter for any job other than an NFL head coaching job, so we could put this whole episode to rest with him from the start. I would also hope that we would invest in a top defensive coordinator if we hire an offensive coach and vice versa. We could offer someone like Van Gorder from Georgia a big raise to come here or keep Muschamp if he would stay or get a former NFL defensive coordinator who is a great defensive mind.
Agree totally Max. Saban taught us the rules of the game... no matter how much you love one place you look out for #1. When Petrino said he loves Louisville, he could very well be telling the truth. After all Saban does love LSU. Many people in everyday life are damned sad when they leave one job for a better one. The fact of the matter is Louisville is a stepping stone to a big time college, while we are a stepping stone to the NFL. And if we do lose Petrino to the NFL it only means he kicked some serious *** while he was here.
If Petrino is hired, nearly any other college job would merely be a lateral move for him. As he only has 2 years at UL as HC, he would need several more successful years before the NFL comes calling. He is not that much of a risk for LSU, IMO.
