LSU Tigers

Now that we’ve seen Edward’s Christmas wish list for the Eastern Division teams, let’s see what might be under the tree for the Western Division teams:

Alabama: Another crystal trophy. Is there anything else that could possibly be on Alabama’s wish list? The Crimson Tide already have two crystal footballs in their trophy case courtesy of Nick Saban. Winning a third national championship in the past four years would make this one of the greatest runs in college football history.

Arkansas: Case of amnesia. Really, one of the best things for the Hogs and their fans would be to have their memories zapped going all the way back to April 1 when Bobby Petrino crashed his motorcycle. It’s been a long nine months in the Ozarks, starting with Petrino’s ouster and ending with a 4-8 season that was a huge disappointment. But with Bret Bielema now running the show, the focus is squarely on the future.

Auburn: Gus Malzahn’s offense of old. Any offense would do after this past season, which saw Auburn finish 115^th nationally (out of 120) teams in total offense. The Tigers were shut out in each of their last two SEC games and scored 13 or fewer points in six of their eight league contests. Malzahn has proven he can put a dynamic offense on the field. Of course, given how hard the Tigers were to watch this season on offense, Auburn fans will take points any way they can get them in 2013.

LSU: Redo of Alabama’s last drive. If not for the final 1:34 of the Alabama game, LSU might be the one playing in the Discover BCS National Championship Game. The Tigers would love to have that last drive back. They were dominant defensively in the second half of that game, but gave up too much cushion on Alabama’s game-winning drive and then got caught in a blitz on the screen pass for a touchdown.

Mississippi State: Defensive line help. The Bulldogs could use some more muscle in the interior of that defensive line, not to mention a game-changer or two on the outside. They’re 11^th in the SEC in rushing defense and next-to-last in sacks with only 18 in 12 games. In their four losses this season, they gave up an average of 223 rushing yards.

Ole Miss: More depth. Nobody expected the Rebels to be in a bowl game in Hugh Freeze’s first season, so this is a team that definitely overachieved after coming into the season dragging around a 14-game SEC losing streak. What the Rebels need now is more depth, especially more quality depth. It’s a big reason they had such a hard time finishing games this season. They ran out of gas a lot of times, but that’s going to happen when you take on the teams in this league with 60 scholarship players.

Texas A&M: Top juniors to return. Maybe it’s one of those wishes that’s a bit unrealistic, but imagine this Texas A&M team next season if offensive tackles Luke Joeckel and Jake Matthews, and defensive end Damontre Moore all decided to stay in school. All three are projected as first-round picks. Joeckel and Moore could be top 10 picks.

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Leading up to the Chick-fil-A Bowl, we'll take a daily look at a key LSU player. We'll examine how he has done and what his challenges are for the Clemson game.

Sam Montgomery, DE, Junior

Accomplishments: Part of one of the most-feared pass rushes in college football, Montomery led LSU in sacks with seven. This came after a sophomore season in which he was an All-American with nine sacks. A character on and off the field, Montgomery gets crowds going with his sack celebrations and is a fun quote in the locker room. He'll likely take that act to the NFL after this season, considering he's generally projected to go somewhere in the middle of the first round of the draft.

Shortcomings: For all the hype surrounding Sonic Sam and LSU's defensive line in general, Montgomery actually saw his production go down during his junior season. He didn't always collapse pockets. Many of his sacks were of the second-effort variety and he sometimes gets out of position in the running game. Combined with Barkevious Mingo, he was supposed to be part of one of the top defensive end tandems in college football. But they combined for only 11 sacks, a figure many thought both would approach individually.

Against Clemson: Montgomery and the Tigers defensive line will have to step up against Clemson's high-powered passing game. If Tajh Boyd is able to sit back in the pocket, he'll likely be able to pick LSU's secondary apart; if they can pressure him, however, Boyd tends to rattle easily and could struggle. Montgomery is going to need to have a big game in what will likely be his last college football game.

BATON ROUGE, La. -- When LSU signed junior college tight end Logan Stokes of Northeast Mississippi Wednesday, it wasn't surprising.

Junior college players have become a trend in the SEC as academic restrictions have made it tougher for players to get into schools initially out of high school and teams look for immediate help from talented players. Players all over junior colleges in Mississippi, Kansas and Texas have been "placed" there by SEC schools who couldn't get them the first time around because of academics, but are willing to wait two years.

And Stokes likely won’t be the last this year. Wide receiver Quantavius Leslie of Hinds CC is an LSU commit, though academic issues kept him from signing on Wednesday. He will likely still be part of the LSU class come February.

Whether or not Leslie or Stokes makes an immediate impact remains to be seen, but here are a few recent juco players who became good players for the Tigers.

1. DT Claude Wroten (Mississippi Delta CC, 2004-05): He formed one of the nation's best defensive tackle tandems with Kyle Williams, getting 12 sacks and 22 tackles for loss in his two LSU seasons before moving on to the NFL. He was second-team all-American and all-SEC his senior season.

2. WR Demetrius Byrd (Pearl River CC, 2007-08): He filled a need for a big-play threat on LSU's 2007 national championship team, leading the team in touchdown catches in his first year out of junior college. He caught 72 passes for 1,134 yards before injuries from an auto accident curtailed a would-be professional career.

3. QB Zach Mettenberger (Butler CC, 2011-): After a year as LSU's third-stringer, Mettenberger took over the starting job this season and passed for 2,489 yards. A former Georgia redshirt freshman who played one year at his junior college, Mettenberger looked like a much more confident, able quarterback in the last third of the season.

4. DE Kendrick Adams (Copiah-Lincoln CC, 2010-11): A solid, two-year starter on teams that reached the BCS national championship game and the Cotton Bowl, Adams had 49 tackles and four sacks. His effectiveness wasn't best measured by statistics. The fact that he started ahead of Barkevious Mingo for most of his senior year speaks volumes.

5. P Derek Helton (Fort Scott CC, 2009-10): A two-year starter, Helton was second in the SEC, averaging 45.7 yards a punt as a senior. He averaged 42.5 yards per punt over two seasons, at the time, the third-best career punting average in school history.

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Leading up to the Chick-fil-A Bowl, we'll take a daily look at a key LSU player and examine how he has done and what his challenges are for the Clemson game.

Tharold Simon, CB, Junior

Accomplishments: At the beginning of the season, opponents weren't willing to throw at Simon, the only experienced returning cornerback for the Tigers. Teams generally threw at the other starter, Jalen Mills, and nickelback Jalen Collins. As the season progressed, however, teams did finally start challenging Simon, who used his unusual height and length for a cornerback to intercept a team-high four passes to go with eight passes broken up and 12 passes defended.

Shortcomings: Despite his numbers, teams did have some success throwing at Simon, which is part of the reason why he wound up with so many passes to defend. There was an assumption that he'd follow recent LSU cornerbacks Patrick Peterson and Morris Claiborne to the NFL, but there is some question whether he had the dominant kind of junior season that would make it worthwhile for him to leave school early.

Against Clemson: With speedsters DeAndre Hopkins and Sammy Watkins on the other side, Simon will see plenty of action. LSU gave up 979 yards in their last games so look for ACC Offensive Player of the Year Tajh Boyd, Clemson's QB, to go right at the Tigers corners, including Simon. If Simon's really ready to move on to the next level, he'll have a chance to prove it against perhaps the best pass offense LSU will see this season.

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Leading up to the Chick-fil-A Bowl, we'll take a daily look at a key LSU player. We'll examine how he has done and what his challenges are for the Clemson game.

Barkevious Mingo, DE, Junior

Accomplishments: One of the most feared pass rushers in the SEC, Mingo has done well despite smallish size for a major college defensive end. He still consistently brought pressure up the field grabbing a team-high 12 quarterback hurries. He also had 33 tackles and finished the year in position to be a top-10 NFL draft pick if he chooses to leave school after the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Shortcomings: Despite the reputation, Mingo's production was a bit disappointing. He had just four sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss. He applied pressure, as his quarterback hurries suggest, but often he would just miss a bit play. He's small for an end and part of the reason his draft stock remains high is many believe he'll be much better as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense, rather than his current role as an end in a 4-3.

Against Clemson: Mingo's ability to put pressure on Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd will be a key for LSU’s defensive approach. Mingo and the LSU defensive front can't allow Boyd to get good looks down the field, otherwise the ACC Player of the Year might pick the young Tigers' secondary apart. In what could be his last game, Mingo's going to have to bring it.

 

 

BATON ROUGE, La. -- On bowl selection Sunday, some LSU fans were fighting mad.

LSU, they felt, was one rival program and two games away from being the dominant program in college football right now. Yet, a loss in the BCS title game to Alabama in January and a last-minute, game-winning drive by the Crimson Tide this season combined to have the Tigers in the SEC's No. 5 bowl (Chick-fil-A) and just another team not in the BCS.

Never mind that the Chick-fil-A Bowl deserves to be much better than No. 5 in the SEC bowl pecking order (really No. 6 when you consider SEC is usually a lock to get two teams into BCS bowls). It's one of the best-run bowls out there, it's played in an NFL stadium and could well end up as host site for future national championship playoff games.

LSU fans get that. They honestly appreciate that a bowl matchup with Clemson is one of the best ones in the bowl season. And they are well aware that the SEC had six teams with double digit wins, all deserving of solid bowl matchups.

That's not really why Tigers fans were a little miffed about going to Atlanta and why there's a bit of a lethargy among them.

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