Think they can do it

Discussion in 'The Tiger's Den' started by William, Apr 13, 2005.

  1. TSdude

    TSdude Founding Member

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    LSU has tremendous amount of talent and potential offensively but the success of the offense will hinge upon the development of the quarterbacks. If JaMarcus Russell plays to his potential the Tigers could compete for SEC and National titles, but if he is inconsistent like last year then LSU will lose some games it shouldn't. Most pundits question how the Tigers will be defensively. I think the Tigers have the talent available to replace Webster and Daniels, but replacing Marcus Spears and Lionel Turner will be very tough. You just don't replace someone with Spears' talent, ability, leadership, instincts,..etc., but that being said I do believe that Williams, Wroten, Oliver, Pittman as a group will be very good and maybe better as a unit than last year. Replacing Turner's leadership and consistency will also be very tough, but there is a lot of talent in the LB corps, someone will just need to elevate their level of play - the proverbial "step up" and fill that spot. I'm anxious to see the Tigers' defense under Bo Pelini. Then there's special teams - I think Chris Jackson is set to have a good year placekicking. You can see his maturity level has risen and believe it or not I think his playing baseball will actually help his mental approach, which is so important to kickers. Punting - It's time for Patrick Fisher to elevate himself into the everyday punter. He was the big punter signee from DeMatha, time to show why. Return game - This should be a very strong facet of the game for the Tigers. Skyler is back, plus you have a plethora of backs and receivers with tons of talent who could assist in the return game. Coaching - I like Les Miles and his passion and fire for the game. I think he's also starting to fall in love if you will with LSU and all that being in Tiger Town entails. The players seem to enjoy him and hopefully that relationship will translate into lots of Wins.
    To finally answer the question - I think LSU wins the SEC West and will face Tennessee in the title game, which also means that one of those teams will have at least one loss. I think LSU wins the SEC Title but then gets caught up in a BCS mess as four teams have legitimate claims to play for the National Championship.:crystal:
     
  2. TejasTiger

    TejasTiger Founding Member

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    I don't think so, but then again I wasn't there that day. That was LSU's only loss in 2003, but I like to think we returned the shock with last year's comeback in The Swamp. :thumb:
     
  3. cajdav1

    cajdav1 Soldiers are real hero's

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    TSdud, your post reminds me of how easy it is for us to all look at the coming year so differently, including the media. Should we focus on the losses of key players or the returning key players. Which will have the biggest impact? We all know the play we get from our QB position will be paramount to our being a good or a great team.

    To me the biggest factor other than QB will be how the replacements for Webster, Daniels, Spears and Turner perform. I feel real comfortable about everyone on the offensive side performing even better than last season and think we will put a lot of points on the board no matter what. But turnovers do have be a little worried and hope we can do much better in that department next season on both offense and defense and have at least a +1 in turnover margin.

    For some reason I also feel good about our d-0line with Oliver and Pittman and the super talented young linemen. 2 LB positions worry me but Hollis play at the ned of the season has helped quell many concerns. I think Vaughan is going to have his best season ever.

    The corners are talented as well but until we actually see them against 3, 4 and 5 wideouts I will be a little nervous.
     
  4. Contained Chaos

    Contained Chaos Don't we all?

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    wow, all this D-line talk and no one mention GLEN DORSEY or KARL DUNBAR!

    dorsey will be one of the great ones, IMO. he's a machine, and played just magnificently as a true freshman.

    and we all know what dunbar brings to the table...unparalleled experience and roots as a tiger. he and pellini together could be downright frightening!
     
  5. cajdav1

    cajdav1 Soldiers are real hero's

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    Dorsey and Dunbar :rofl:
     
  6. cajdav1

    cajdav1 Soldiers are real hero's

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    Just joking Contained, I love Dorsey's potential as well and he is evidentally have a very good spring.
     
  7. TSdude

    TSdude Founding Member

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    Well the main reason media, pundits focus on the losses is because we all know the level at which they performed. It's total speculation on the level of play of replacements until they actually step on the field and perform. We can believe, speculate and talk till we're blue in the face that Sammy Joseph will easily step in for Travis Daniels or Corey Webster but until he does it, then it's all unknown. That's why there is so much focus on the losses.
     
  8. cajdav1

    cajdav1 Soldiers are real hero's

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    You're right it is easier to see who we lost and what they did in previous seasons as opposed to the replacements. But it's just as easy to look at who is coming back and see what they have done in previous seasons as well. I think many form their opinion of whether a team is going to be better or worse and than stress the players coming back if they think they are going to be better and the players who were lost if they think they are going to be worse.
     
  9. TSdude

    TSdude Founding Member

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    There's probably some validity to what you're saying. IMO I think overall this LSU team has a great shot at making a run at the national championship. I don't necessarily focus on who was lost, but the level at which they played and whether or not the replacement is the same caliber of player. For example: Travis Daniels - had a good year last year, but I thought he played better as a junior, Sammy Joseph - had to be pretty darn good to start at a Big 12 school as a freshman, so I truly believe there will be no drop off and likely an improvement in the level of play at that position. That's why in my original post I said I think it will be harder to replace Marcus Spears - he's a first round draft pick and you just don't automatically replace that level of play, but I will gladly eat crow if some DE can play at a higher caliber of play than Spears did.
     
  10. G_MAN113

    G_MAN113 Founding Member

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    I wouldn't be surprised, but it very likely wasn't intentional. We had about 6 inches of rain in BR that day...the field was gumbeaux to begin with.
     

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