Our countdown of the Top 10 teams on the Crystal Ball Run takes a trip to Baton Rouge to visit the grass-eating, riverboat gambling, hat wearing son of a gun Les Miles and his LSU Tigers. Can LSU make its third trip to the national championship game in New Orleans in the last decade?
Crystal Ball Run Preseason Top 10
No. 3 – LSU Tigers
LSU in a Word: Unpredictable
If Notre Dame is “America’s Team,” then over the last few years, LSU has gained a cult-like following as “Everyman’s Team.” Led by everyone’s favorite grass-eating, fake-punt-calling, zany head coach, Les Miles, LSU is stacked again.
But could they win a National Championship? It’s not crazy to think, especially when you remember this: The last two times that the BCS National Championship Game was played in New Orleans, LSU has come out on top. Could three times be the charm?
Why LSU Will Live Up to Billing:
Say what you want about Miles, the man can evaluate and coach up talent. As always, whoever ends up at quarterback will have plenty of skill-position help. Spencer Ware had a monster spring game at running back, and appears in line to take most of the departed Stevan Ridley’s carries. Meanwhile, Ruben Randle and Russell Shepard return to spread things out at wide receiver. Miles has said that Shepard isn’t expected to miss any time after a housing snafu made headlines this offseason.
On defense, despite losing Patrick Peterson, a strong case could be made that LSU has the best set of defensive backs in college football. Tyrann Mathieu, Ron Brooks, Eric Reid, Craig Loston and Morris Claiborne (five INT’s last year) return with plenty of talent and experience. Not to mention they all hit like trucks.
Stefoin Francois leads the front seven after starting all 12 games at linebacker last year. Don’t be surprised to see Anthony Johnson – the No. 1 defensive tackle in last year’s high school class – see time up front.
Why LSU Will Disappoint:
To quote Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother, “Havvvvvvvve you met Jordan Jefferson?”
The senior is back for one more year on the Bayou after a junior season that’d best be described as, umm, “inconsistent.” At times he looked great (the second half against Alabama), at others competent (North Carolina), and still others nothing short of abominable (Tennessee, anyone?). Yet despite that, and despite the presence of junior college transfer Zach Mettenberger, Miles insists that Jefferson is the Tigers quarterback. End of discussion.
LSU doesn’t have much time to screw around to see if Jefferson can figure it out. They might have the toughest September of anyone in college football. Within the first four weeks of the season, the Tigers play Oregon at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, travel to Mississippi State, and go to West Virginia, which got about 40,000 times tougher when Bill Stewart was sent to the slaughterhouse and Dana Holgorsen took over. LSU could be in the National Championship race all season, but could just as easily be out of it by early October.
Key Game: at Mississippi State
While Oregon will get the headlines, and the combination of LSU and West Virginia fans in Morgantown may make Milan-Puskar Stadium a war-zone, Mississippi State is the most important game of the fall. If LSU falls behind the eight ball with a loss in the conference opener, they’ll be playing catch-up all year.
The last time LSU went to Mississippi State, it escaped on a Chad Jones miracle.
On the Spot: Steve Kragthorpe
Miles encouraged offensive coordinator Gary Crowton, a man reviled among the LSU fanbase, to seek new employment in the offseason. The Hat replaced him with Steve Kragthorpe, a coach even less popular when he left his last gig than Crowton was in Baton Rouge. Louisville’s former head coach has a solid track record developing quarterbacks, though, so maybe he’s the guy to bring Jefferson along.
***Update: In news breaking this afternoon, Steve Kragthorpe stepped down as LSU OC within the last hour due to Parkinson’s Disease. Greg Studwara will take over as Offensive Coordinator while Kragthorpe will remain on the staff as the Quarterbacks Coach. Best wishes for Steve Kragthorpe and his family and more as thsi story develops.
Final Verdict:
LSU has plenty of talent and a head coach who lets that talent just go out and play football.
But looking at the schedule, and knowing what we know about Jefferson, doesn’t a trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game seem like a long shot, let alone playing for a title in New Orleans?
Best Case Scenario: 13-1, SEC Champs, BCS National Champions
Worst Case Scenario: 10-3, Capital One Bowl
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