Lonn Phillips Sullivan
Sep 25, 202011 min
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You made it through the gauntlet of Tell The Truth Monday, Competition Tuesday, (No) Turnover Wednesday, "We Will Repeat" Thursday...yet victory is still a shade away:
Here at LSU Odyssey, we've written 74 pieces on 2019 LSU's kingsmanship / "12 month-long UltraGawd trip" and now 143 articles defending our underrated, disrespected 2020 team before they've even taken a live snap on the field....such is the level of intrigue, anticipation and pre-destined criticism attached to Ed Orgeron's 2019 encore.
It hasn't just been curiosity stemming from myself or Tiger fans, LSU beat writers etc, this has been a college football-wide obsession....after all, LSU stole last season away from every single team in America like Nicolas Cage hiring Bernie Madoff for financial advice, taking pieces of their fanbases in the process: whether they'll ever admit this or not, 2019 LSU was the team every football fan dreams of...and yet many still fail to realize most of the fabled squad is still intact!
Now, many of those 2019 bandwagon fans have taken off, returning to the closet for their Crimson Tide gear, yet I feel once again the entirety of college football fails to understand what's really geauxing down at Louisiana State University...and for the second year in a row, we will watch as elitist "sportswriters", cagey wonderbread hosts and bullshit analysts are forced to change their pants midway through the 1st quarter of many Tigers games this fall.
We've been following this ride the entire way....though we'd always been a Tiger. we first began writing our LSU material beginning at the cusp of the 2017 season...back when we all thought Myles Brennan's future as a 2018-2020 starter was sealed, Clyde Edwards-Helaire was returning punts and kicks on special teams only, Ja'Marr Chase was almost committing to Florida and LSU were still coughing up Bowl games to Notre Dame....
So much has changed since that time, but many of the same people who started this Bayou run still remain. Becoming an LSU Legend has always been more about opportunity thank skill level and those 2019 players found theirs and took it with both hands....and now there's another squad chockful of crossover 2019ers who want another set of rings.
Because there's an established culture here....and it's never stopped, the mentality never ended. On January 14th, Coach Orgeron looked over at Derek Ponamsky, Cody Worsham and Michael Bonnette and said "Let's geaux get anotha one!"
Now it all comes down to this...no more questions, no more wondering....no more in-depth analysis based solely on opinion...
1 day away from the opening at Death Valley...you can smell the pigskin, the bloodshot eyes of the sleepless fury inside so many among LSU's staff and squad, all of these guys desperate for some football to finally be played.
We've arrived upon the penultimate FOCUS FRIDAY...where everyone's mental A game is needed as playbook jousting begins in earnest. Friday isn't about how tough you can be, the intense practicing of Monday through Wednesday has tailed off... FOCUS FRIDAY is all about how ready you are.
These players are more prepared due to the high profile events like the players protest, the Tigers United event, the intensity of the media scrutiny (even 60 Minutes came to town)...not only have the bulk of these players been tested on the field previously, many just experienced an off-season no other collegiate athlete has ever dealt with:
Navigating through an unusually scrambled off-season which began as LSU, personified by Coach Ed Orgeron, stalked every corner of the college football world, becoming an inescapable Kingmaster rolling the dice and challenging anyone fearlessly in spite of Burrow and 19 other world class players' departures....and then Covid-19 hit the globe, paralyzing college football for an entire spring and summer.
Littered with situations and terminology we've never seen, heard or conceived of prior, we were now in uncharted waters as a global population, a country and as a sport...
We watched as everyone made it up on the spot as they went along...certain media outlets grasping at anything sellable they could find (an interview with Joe Burrow's used jock strap from the title game)...but LSU rode these storms and turned their hellfire into waves of great recruiting and fantastic coaching hires, repping themselves as the best program around. We called LSU "recession proof", infallible...too big to fail.
Then, opt outs, players opting back in, transfers and Covid's presence threatened everything, and still...every interview Coach Ed Orgeron echoed "we will be playing football, whether it's in a pasture at 3am call us and we'll be there...." and his players followed suit, strengthened by their leader's resolve in the face of such uncertainty and scrutiny.
Because of these turbulent events, LSU have already been battling against the "Die college football! Die!" Turbine Machine for months....Orgeron, Ponamsky, Joseph, Ensminger, Raymond, Pelini and the rest of their Grade A staff have already been in the foxhole alongside these young men for months...and they're about to finally be unleashed.
Don't you worry, Orgeron's men will be ready to geaux on Saturday....when it comes to manufacturing sideline energy, nobody does it better than Tommy Moffitt, Bo Pelini, and of course Coach Ed Orgeron's heavy metal intensity.
The 2020 Tigers won't just be rearing to geaux due to their National Championship defense or Ed's 6-0 record during openers, there really is no better head coach or staff prepared to lead a team through the uncertainties and tragedies of a global pandemic than Coach Ed Orgeron.
Standing tall as LSU's Cajun Godzilla crossed with some Norman Schwarzkopf clone, the iconic Tigers' head coach may be larger than life, but he's also no stranger to adversity.
Young Ed was bowled over by the mere mention of Death Valley aka Tigers Stadium....and now he's enjoying the best seat in the house, tomorrow becoming his 4th season opener as LSU's head coach and by far the most important of his career.
Most Tiger fans feel LSU's 2019 run was a hellish gauntlet through college football's best teams...a tough ride made easier by Joe Burrow, however 2020 will feature no freebies or easy blowouts...we'll be privileged if we can substitute our starters for even one 4th quarter this fall...that's not a knock on our current group, it's actually my respect for our 10 game all-SEC schedule.
There is no University of Texas San Antonio or Rice on the schedule anymore, and while many feel the loss of these non conference games could doom Orgeron's inexperienced 2020 unit, we feel the new SEC schedule has only assisted these young Tigers.
LSU were handed a mini cushion at the start of the all-SEC run, opening at home vs Miss State, followed by a trip to Nashville to play Vanderbilt and facing Missouri at home for Week 3, all before having to make the trek to the Swamp for a run-in against eternal enemies Florida.
There is a microscopic window for error at the front of that comfortable outset (100% of serious college football fans would gamble on LSU finishing the stretch 3-0)... however there are legitimate concerns heading into an intense battle vs Mississippi State.
Miss St's Mike Leach will enjoy his SEC debut vs the Tigers, and yes we dig Mike Leach, he's a good guy...
Sure, the whole hire is an intriguing deal, but if you wanna read about Mike Leach, go somewhere else: we're talking LSU and how victory can be achieved.
Still, there are some extreme game-changing prospects for Miss State heading into Saturday:
First off, this Mississippi State defense created 25 turnovers during 2019, sacked Joe Burrow three times, almost stripped the Heisman-winner naked in front of 75,000 (nearly emasculating Big Dick Joe in the process) and held the high flying Tigers to the second fewest points of the campaign (36), 10 fewer than Alabama, 6 less than Clemson and nearly half the points Oklahoma's pathetic unit allowed (63).
They held Clyde Edwards-Helaire to 53 yards rushing, didn't allow a single 100+ yard receiver from LSU's 2019 corps, only the second team to achieve that titanic feat last year (the other??? Georgia Southern!!!).
Leach's offense does contain a few weapons for Pelini's defense to be wary of:
QB K.J Costello transferred from Stanford to the SEC, cast as another Joe Burrow wannabe who has a slim chance for Heisman success within a crowded SEC West.
Costello will consider himself lucky if Miss State finish with 6 wins...and yet I can't stop the worried feeling I get whenever I think of his name...
During his junior year at Stanford, Costello started 13 games and threw for 3,540 yards (8.6 per completion), 29 TDs and 11 INTs total, leading the Pac 12 in passer rating, finishing second in TDs & passing yards as David Shaw's team finished the season 9-4.
But he's never faced an SEC team, a day inside Death Valley, or a Bo Pelini defense.
PREPARE TO BE DEFACED ALL OVER DIS PLACE.
Running back Kylin Hill will require nonstop attention from LSU's front seven, while corners Flott and Stingley must keep contain on the edge, preventing the speedy Hill from busting a big play loose. Also, watch for Hill's catching ability out of the back field exposing our sack-greedy edge rushers...we'll see if Andre Anthony can use his experience as a 3-4 outside LB / B.J Ojulari or Ali Gaye's towering length in order to contain the short passing game, specifically using the backs.
#1 WR Osirus Mitchell looks poised to fly this season, though his wings will be clipped and his flight plan grounded by Derek Stingley Jr for the duration....almost too boring for Derek.
Instead, Miss State's WR depth have a big responsibility to make critical plays against the #1 secondary in the country.
Whenever Miss State uses 4 or 5 wide sets, we will see freshman CB Eli Ricks deployed on the outside while Cordale Flott will move over to cover the slot.
Making his Tigers debut against Costello and Leach's "air raid" offense, Eli Ricks has a spotlight opportunity to raise his stock ever higher.
His mother Shauna tells us he's "ready" and "prays all goes well" as she'll be in attendance for her son's first collegiate game.
With his friend Korey Foreman (2021's #1 colossus) in the house, look for "Pick Six" Ricks to create havoc for Mike Leach while Stingley will be all over Osirus Mitchell; more on Ricks below....
So, ok....we discussed Mississippi State...we understand this Week 1 meeting could be a brutal harvest of pain as both teams attempt their first live in-game tackles.
If LSU doesn't block out the noise or focus on solving their own issues, they'll be blasted by Mississippi State...no team can be taken for granted in the SEC and we feel there's just no way the Tigers will let their focus slip.
Saturday's game isn't just about Week 1...it's about setting the entire tone for the season right then and there in a blistering, frenzied display full of medieval physicality, relentless effort and incendiary playmaking.
If Orgeron's Tigers focus firmly on themselves throughout 2020, there's a strong chance they could take this 16-0 unbeaten streak to 26 by the end of the regular season.
We feel the entire college football world are being far more disrespectful to this current crop of Tigers than they ever were to Burrow and co...the core of this 2020 team were some of 2019's best players and most important contributors.
FOCUS on the fact these Tigers returned 66 players from the National Championship team....I thought all our title winners were gone?
FOCUS on the world class coaching staff who's #1 success has been the development of 1-2 star guys into NFL 1st Rounders...while hardly any of our guys on roster are that poorly ranked.
FOCUS on the Tigers' intensity coming into this game...the team who wanted to play football during 2020 more than any other...
FOCUS on the facets of this LSU team which are being too easily ignored: our unruly running game under Kevin Faulk, James Cregg's under the radar O-line, Corey Raymond and Bill Busch's #1 secondary, Pelini's defense looking capable of being the best in the country, Myles Brennan, Terrace Marshall, Kayshon Boutte and Arik Gilbert poised to take control of Ensminger's transcendental passing attack, the D-line possessing seven top options on the interior while boasting a rotation of world class edge rushers bookended by senior Andre Anthony and top freshman pass rusher B.J Ojulari.
Many think of LSU and they see a burning building....some sense promise for 2021 but little else...others simply say "Orgeron will be exposed! The ride is over!"
When I look at this current squad, I feel there's a large amount of experience:
As we pointed out in our articles this week, most of LSU's sophomores had sensational freshman campaigns and started during the biggest games (Stingley, Flott, Hampton, Ika, Ward, TDP, Curry, Emery, Marshall etc).
Combined alongside our existing 2017 class representatives (Myles, Jacoby, Andre, Racey, Jontre, Glen, Neil, Ray, Micha, Austin etc) these Tigers have more big game experience than those G.O.A.T '19 Tigers.
Most of the returning 66 appeared in at least one College Football Playoff game, half took the field during the National Championship Game...without question, this psychological and physical victory remains a towering monolith propelling this 2020 unit forward.
On January 13th, 2020 Orgeron's Tigers won the most highly anticipated, eagerly awaited game in Louisiana football history...no matter what anyone from LSU will tell you, the 2020 National Championship's result had far more pressure and "do or die" / "hero to zero" scenarios at play than we can account for...
The Superdome atmosphere may have been electric that night, but a hush crept over the crowd once WR Tee Higgins scored a long rushing touchdown, taking a 17-7 lead....the G.O.A.T squad were close to throwing a crowning title away.
Though Myles Brennan didn't have to answer Clemson's mounting threat or survive the unbelievable tension in the air, he definitely felt every fibre of the moment...fully ready if his moment arrived.
75% of our current 22 starters also felt the suffocating pressure but withstood its trappings, faced Clemson and their destiny head on, and conquered the hellish ordeal while displaying overwhelming heart and bullish intensity...showing the Eye of The Tiger for all to bear witness.
Forget the 16-0 winning streak or the title defense: on the 2020 schedule, there isn't a single game with more anxiety or intensity attached to it than that title game....this crew already survived that history-making test and far more challenges over the summer than any other college football program....
They're still standing...they don't blink.
The pressure isn't on LSU: it's on everyone else to stop 'em....
by Lonn Phillips Sullivan
Copyright 2020 Uninterrupted Writings INC LLC
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