LSU TIGERS O:6 D:5
The Bayou Bengals performed admirably in 2005 by posting an 11-2 mark overall, and won HC Les Miles his first bowl game as LSU head coach by simply blowing the doors off the Miami Hurricanes in the Peach Bowl. All this in the midst of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy, and the Tigers enter the 2006 season with high expectations. The one area on offense where the Tigers are loaded is at the QB position. Both JaMarcus Russell and Matt Flynn return, while Ryan Perrilloux hopes to get in some “PT” at some point. The RB corps is a huge question mark due to players coming off of injuries, and the O-Line loses a number of stud hogs that were multiple year starters. There’s plenty of untapped talent on hand, but it looks as if this unit will take some time to gel before it starts spewing out numbers like the offenses of years past. The defense loses a number of impact tacklers from a year ago within its front seven, but the secondary was tremendous a year ago and returns three of four that held opponents to 175 YPG and 47% completions. Look for those numbers to increase early as the defense finds its identity, but for this unit to only get better as its loaded with several top recruits.
The Tigers had to deal with a major catastrophe at the beginning of last season, and felt the effects of it throughout their entire ’05 campaign. Hopefully Mother Nature is kind to the South this hurricane season, and the Tigers can stick to their schedule as planned. That being said, their SEC schedule is brutal, and the Fresno State game on the 21 st of October won’t be a walk in the park. There’s just too many question marks throughout the entire roster, and the 11 returning starters are the third fewest in the conference. LSU will most definitely be bowling come December, but it won’t be of the BCS nature.
|
