SEC game of the week: LSU @ Georgia (1 Viewer)

[st dude]

st Dude, have you watched any Auburn games this season? I fail to see how anyone thinks Tennessee is a good bet. .

Apparently nobody has been watching Auburn games. They are in for a rude awakening, this Auburn team is very good.

Auburn is playing very well. It is hard to understand how a struggling LSU is #4 overall and Auburn, who gained almost 600yds on Miss State, is unranked.

I think its all about the equity you earn. Auburn was bad last year and a disappointment the year before. Most folks thought Chizik was a bad hire. Auburn has to win a big game or two for people to believe they are really back.

Tennesse wins more games at home than most any team in the country. They were a bad team last year too, just like Auburn(and LSU). I guess the reason they are favored is that they are at home and some think their loss to Florida was an "impressive" loss, showing just how far their star has faded.

Auburn might well win, its a toss up game to me. I picked Tennessee because historically if you pick them in Knoxville you will win more than you lose(see below).

As for LSU, they are #4 based solely on the equity they have built up from their national championship season. The voters still think LSU is better than they look. That equity is starting to erode. Auburn is building equity with their wins.

Should Auburn beat Tennessee and LSU lose to Georgia, both distinct possibilities, I would rank Auburn over LSU. While you guys might think beating Tennessee in Tennessee is no big deal, I do. I think beating Georgia between the hedges is a big deal too. I think the home teams will win both games and will be delighted to be wrong.

The Vols play at historic Neyland Stadium, the second winningest home-field in college football history. Tennessee has won 422 all-time games at Neyland Stadium. That is the second highest win total for any school in the nation at its current home venue.

wiki

 

[Loose Cannon]

I can't explain it, but I have a pretty strong gut feeling that LSU beats UGA this week. No idea why.

 

[JimEverett]

Georgia's defense is horrible.
At the beginning of last year I thought their defense might be one of the best we had seen in a while - but it just didn;t happen. I think they are worse this year. What the hell happened?

As for Auburn-Tennessee - I have not seen Auburn this year, so I do not know what to think. But Tennessee is going to have to get better in their passing game. And the problem goes beyond Crompton - our WRs just aren't cutting it right now.

 

[PurpleBlack&Gold]

Georgia has won shootouts with their passing game. They have been shut down by teams with good defense. Cox will struggle against the Tigers secondary. Can LSU score enough to win, that's the million dollar question.

I saw improvement last week in the passing game. Jefferson had a career high in yardage. I think they are improving and I just get the feeling they are holding back. All of their games would not have been close without stupid mistakes. If they can have a mistake free game they should be able to beat Georgia.

People say they should have blown out Washington but if you take away the TD in garbage time they win by two touchdowns. Much like our Saints the score was not an indication of how the game went. That game was over after Tolliver's second TD.

I think this team is going to hang their hat on defense this year. Two goal line stands in consecutive weeks breeds confidence. I am hoping the D can carry them until the run game comes around. If they find that run game, watch out.

 

[st dude]

I can't explain it, but I have a pretty strong gut feeling

Sure its not gas?


I hope you are right.

 

[Crzycjunx76]

Georgia has won shootouts with their passing game. They have been shut down by teams with good defense. Cox will struggle against the Tigers secondary. Can LSU score enough to win, that's the million dollar question.

I saw improvement last week in the passing game. Jefferson had a career high in yardage. I think they are improving and I just get the feeling they are holding back. All of their games would not have been close without stupid mistakes. If they can have a mistake free game they should be able to beat Georgia.

People say they should have blown out Washington but if you take away the TD in garbage time they win by two touchdowns. Much like our Saints the score was not an indication of how the game went. That game was over after Tolliver's second TD.

I think this team is going to hang their hat on defense this year. Two goal line stands in consecutive weeks breeds confidence. I am hoping the D can carry them until the run game comes around. If they find that run game, watch out.

Our Defense has not been that great though, outside of the goal line stand we have not been very effective at stopping the run and even though our pass defense has looked good so far we have only really played one team capable of passing in Washington and while they had a good QB their receivers were awful ... That and I have seen some disturbing trends on third and medium-long, have you ever heard the Vol phrase "third and Chavis" apparently this is a trend and it has something to do with soft zones and no blitzing.

 

[ROUSTER]

Agreed, we haven't really played a passing team yet.
Also, we lack pressure up front.
While this D is better than the cluster that we had last year. I still wouldn't consider this a good defense. PP is a stud. Hawkins seems to be playing pretty good. Coleman is a baller. But, we still seem to have problems at DT and LB. And our Safeties are a work in progress. One thing I did notice against MSU is that Chavis looks to be getting more aggressive.

Offensively, we look as lost as we did on defense last year. This offense really seems to be fighting some kind of internal battle. Not sure what that is, but they simply look dazed and confused. I believe that comes from 2 things: The OL not playing together and JJ still learning the speed of the game.
What's helped the offense is that it has some incredible athletes. JoJo Lafell looks really good. TT appears to be progressing, although he still drops a few too many for my taste. RS appears as good as advertised also. KW looks more consistent, although he's not getting a whole lot of running room. If the line comes around in a hurry, this O would look alot better.

All that being said, LSU does have some talent. This weeks game will be interesting. Not to put down the teams we've play, but Ga is the best team LSU will play to date. Let's see if they rise to the occasion.

 

[crosswatt]

Georgia's defense is horrible.
At the beginning of last year I thought their defense might be one of the best we had seen in a while - but it just didn;t happen. I think they are worse this year. What the hell happened?

As for Auburn-Tennessee - I have not seen Auburn this year, so I do not know what to think. But Tennessee is going to have to get better in their passing game. And the problem goes beyond Crompton - our WRs just aren't cutting it right now.

Willie Martinez is really struggling as a coordinator. To be honest, Mike Bobo is not doing much better with the offense.

 

[PurpleBlack&Gold]

I don't expect a miraculous turn around and suddenly we will be dominant. I do see improvement though. If they can limit the mistakes that kept the lesser teams in the games then they should have a good shot against GA. I guess its just wishful thinking on my part.

Honestly though, we had a down year last year. Any improvement over last year is a successful season in my eyes. I think we will end up losing 3 or 4. If they get through this season with 3 losses or less I will be thrilled.

The sad thing is, if this team losses 4 games people will be calling for Miles' head. These are the same people that can't remember what it was like before Saban got here. At that time if we lost 4 a year people would have been thrilled, I know I would have.

Miles is a great coach and we can't forget it will take a while for Chavis to get this defense right.

 

[st dude]

IHonestly though, we had a down year last year. Any improvement over last year is a successful season in my eyes. I think we will end up losing 3 or 4. If they get through this season with 3 losses or less I will be thrilled.

The sad thing is, if this team losses 4 games people will be calling for Miles' head. These are the same people that can't remember what it was like before Saban got here. At that time if we lost 4 a year people would have been thrilled, I know I would have.

Miles is a great coach and we can't forget it will take a while for Chavis to get this defense right.

I think thats life in the big leagues. If you coach at Florida, Alabama, Texas, LSU, USC and a few others, 8-4 records will get you fired eventually.

Its unfair in one sense and not in another. With LSU's schedule and their recruiting advantage they play about four gimmes a year. An 8-4 record for them is almost a .500 record in meaningful games.

Miles got a lot of points built up with his national championship. He can lose four or five games this year and still be coach, but the buzzards will be out. If he loses four or five games three years in a row his job will be in jeopardy.

Personally I like Miles and think when you look at the total package of recruiting, representing the school and coaching he does a good job. He can show over the next few weeks if he can really coach. He can not really claim that any team has a huge talent advantage over the Tigers. I would be very, very happy with a one loss Tiger team. I would be very happy with a two loss team(which might win the West depending on who the losses were). I kind of expect a three loss team. I will be disappointed with a four loss(or more) team.

Oh yeah, I would be in total disbelief of a no loss team.

 

[ROUSTER]

Miles is a great coach and we can't forget it will take a while for Chavis to get this defense right.

I'll be interested in your answer here. But, what makes Miles a GREAT coach?

Nick Saban is a very good coach (I won't label him great just yet). One thing he did, was leave a FULL cupboard when he left LSU. Miles walked into a great position. We won the NC in 2007, but got beat by 2 inferior teams that year and had to back into the NC game.
Last year we were 8-5. I don't think anyone in America believes that LSU had 8-5 talent last year. I think many people (including myself) give Miles a pass last year, mainly because he finally kicked RP off the team and left the team with a huge hole. But, he also promoted the 2 headed monster of Malvetto. That turned out to be a terrible decision.
This year he went out and hired Chavis. But, to this point (even with an undefeated record) the team has looked VERY Vulnerable against perceived lessor opponents.

Personally, I thought this was a 3 loss season going in. At this point, I see a 3 or 4 loss season on the horizon. Will that make me want to fire Miles? NO. Will that put Miles' backside squarely on the Skillet next year? You bet ya.

The fans have the taste of "crystal" in their mouth. Expectations are high, because of where Saban brought us. Now Miles has to keep this program as a Top 10-15 team year in and year out. If we have a good season this year, it will start to numb the taste of last years horrible year.

All that being said, Miles has in no way shown me that he is a "great" coach. At this point, he really hasn't shown me that he's a good coach. This year, Miles needs to earn that Huge Paycheck. If not, fans will be ready to stamp a NSF on that check.

I truly believe that win or lose we will find out a whole lot about this team the next 2 weeks. Maybe it's a team that just plays to the level of it's competition. Now that the schedule is getting tougher, so to may our Tigers. Or maybe the poor play that we've witnessed is truly the team we have. We will start to find out on Sat. on the road in Ga.

 

[NPs6724]

In CFB, if you don't have a good QB it almost doesn't matter how good everyone else is. A QB on his own can carry a CFB team. With Miles getting rid of RP, that left us with a huge hole with only freshmen who were nowhere close to being ready. I want to see how Miles does with at least another experienced junior QB. Not too many SEC teams can win with a freshman QB.

 

[PurpleBlack&Gold]

I'll be interested in your answer here. But, what makes Miles a GREAT coach?

Nick Saban is a very good coach (I won't label him great just yet). One thing he did, was leave a FULL cupboard when he left LSU. Miles walked into a great position. We won the NC in 2007, but got beat by 2 inferior teams that year and had to back into the NC game.

Personally, I thought this was a 3 loss season going in. At this point, I see a 3 or 4 loss season on the horizon. Will that make me want to fire Miles? NO. Will that put Miles' backside squarely on the Skillet next year? You bet ya.

All that being said, Miles has in no way shown me that he is a "great" coach. At this point, he really hasn't shown me that he's a good coach. This year, Miles needs to earn that Huge Paycheck. If not, fans will be ready to stamp a NSF on that check.

I truly believe that win or lose we will find out a whole lot about this team the next 2 weeks. Maybe it's a team that just plays to the level of it's competition. Now that the schedule is getting tougher, so to may our Tigers. Or maybe the poor play that we've witnessed is truly the team we have. We will start to find out on Sat. on the road in Ga.

I think any coach that has won a NC is a great coach. So it all comes from your definition of great. The recruiting has been there. To say Miles won with Saban's players is fine but the recruiting has not dropped off at all. So that argument does not hold water for me.

Like I said, its wishful thinking on my part and I think expecting a 3 loss year is about right. We just need to stop making stupid mistakes and everything else will come around, hopefully.

 

[NPs6724]

To say Miles won with Saban's players is fine but the recruiting has not dropped off at all. So that argument does not hold water for me.

Personally, I'm sick and tired of hearing that BS. Saban brought some of those players here, but they were mostly freshmen backups when he left. The majority of that 2007 team was coached for 2 or more years by Les Miles and were only starters under Miles. And since it's rare for freshmen recruits to be studs on Signing Day, I think Miles' staff had a lot more to do with the development of Dorsey and Flynn and Hester and Dickson and Doucet and Scott and so on.

 

[Loose Cannon]

I think any coach that has won a NC is a great coach.

Most definitely not.