I've been in a funk since Saturday---my, my how very, very, very, very, very, very, very freaking embarassing it must be to be an sad-ass Alabama fan right now, eh?--but I've decided to root for the one single, shining thing that, if it happens, I promise you will get us to where we want to go. Beat Georgia. Badly. Those dastardly Dawgs personify some very important and season-long criticisms many around the country hold about LSU. Here's my thinking: 1.-The "Georgia is the class of the SEC" argument: We've heard iterations ("too bad Georgia can't stay healthy" or "Billy Bennett just doesn't miss 3 FGs in a game") if not explicit affirmations ("Georgia is the class of the SEC") of this school of thought all year. Take the Billy Bennett argument: the kid's kicking stats (minus the LSU game) are amazing:--27 of 31 FGMade in 2K3. He doesn't fart and miss 3 against the Tigahs and LSU loses. A fair observation, to which I'd reply, "If you want to play that game and give Bennett a 4 for 4 day on field goals, you have to give us Mauck's fourth-quarter fumble back and assume we at least get a FG out of that drive.", which of course would make the score 20-19 and we'd still beat Georgia (but I digress). 2.-Georgia never gets blown out: An important observation here, actually. Going back 3 seasons now, the most points Georgia has lost by since Week 1 of the 2001 season is....drum roll, please...14 points to Florida in 2001. Sounds simple: blow them out. And why not? Who'd a thunk Miami would hang a beating on Nebraska in 2001's Nat'l title game, huh? Would it be easy? Not at all. But it'd be worth it and would end all "LSU is a paper champ because they've not done anything special, etc." talk, even among those SoCal lovers in the media. This would be the purest, most manly even way of deciding things. We don't "back into" a Sugar Bowl by way of a Syracuse or an Alabama win. We go out there, knowing what needs to be done since both the Syracuse and USC games will be final by then and all of America watching us since we'd be the only game on TV at the time, and dominate these people in front of their fans, God and everybody. Coach Saban talks often about dominating people and putting them away. Can you honestly think of a better time to do so than Saturday night? As Fred LeBlanc likes to say with so much passion, "Are you WITH ME?"
FYIs: last time Georgia loses by 20 or more: by 25 to Tennessee in 1997 Last time Georgia really gets blown out: by 40 to Florida in 1996. Some of us like to talk about LSU becoming this decade what Florida was last decade in this conference. Winning in Atlanta by 20 or 30 sure would help the comparisons a bit, I'd say.
This is a game where I hope that Saban forgets his "class" at the door and tries to annihilate Georgia if given the chance. None of this running the ball every play of a drive when ahead in the 4th quarter. Leave the first team defense in the game and let them gamble on making a big play that could go for a TD the other way. If we have the ability to beat them 77-0, then I say go for it. Richt would do the exact same thing if he were in Saban's position.
I think Tejas is right. While I would love for LSU to play OU is the Sugar Bowl, I would hate to have to listen to any more crap about LSU not really beating Georgia, and you know if we sneak into the Sugar, it will be relentless from the USC jock-lovers. Besides, a sound thrashing of the Bulldogs (and I do think it's more than possible), would shut them all up and just might get LSU voted #2 in the AP and ESPN. If not, then the Tigers did their best without relying on anyone else and go on to beat whoever in the Rose or Fiesta and finish #2 behind OU after they show the nation what a fraud USC really was.
Everyone forgets that we missed a FG as well. You could also ask that we get the FG that we missed put on the board. Give the UGA kicker 3 missed field goals and you should give LSU one measly little missed kick. That is the best argument against the pathetic UGA missed FG discussion.
One more remark about Bennett--know why he has kicked more FG's than anyone? Because UGA can't score TD's in the red zone. I would happily watch the Tigers trade TD's for FG's all night Saturday.
Soundly beating Georgia would possible/probably drop them enough in the AP and ESPN polls to the point they drop out of the BCS top 10. The question then is would LSU gain enough AP and/or ESPN poll votes to vault them to #2 (assuming USC beats Oregon State), thus making the loss of quality win points moot?
I'm just trying to connect the dots for us here, folks. If indeed there are a small contingent of voters in either one or both of these polls who are taking a "USC is #2 in my poll and I'll wait and see what LSU does versus Georgia" attitude into this weekend, a large LSU win makes us impossible to ignore to these guys. It's really not all an anti-Southern bias at work here, seriously. I think it's more of a "Who can give Oklahoma a fight so that we don't have a boring, blow-out of a Sugar Bowl?"-type thing. At the moment, because they have the name and prestiege, USC-Oklahoma looks good on paper and good for ratings (just like a Nebraska-Miami match in 2001 looked good on paper versus a Colorado-Miami match). If LSU hammers a very good Georgia team in Atlanta having already won once so far this season (that "it's impossible to beat the same good team twice" theory at work here), man, these folks will have to wake up and say, "Wow, maybe these kids are peaking at the right time and can give us a good show January 4th." Who cares what SC does versus Oregon St. if we dominate Georgia! People want to see the best possible matchup in the Sugar Bowl, and how can a big, big win over Georgia not change hearts and minds here?
