By Scott Salomon
The LSU Tigers surprised their fan base and went 10-4 last season. They lost to teams such as Florida State, Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas A&M.
However, they did beat Alabama and won the SEC West. The year was deemed a success as they finished Brian Kelly’s first season in the Bayou ranked 16th in the final Associated Press poll.
Prior to Kelly’s arrival from Notre Dame, the Tigers went 11-12 over a two-year period following their National Championship season. While this team will be fairly good, they will not win the SEC West again, and Kelly will show, once again, that he cannot win the big game when it counts the most.
This year will be different. The Tigers face the 13th toughest slate of games in the country, according to college football guru Phil Steele.
Do not get me wrong. I do not think that LSU is a bad football team. I just think that their ranking is too rich and that they will not finish in the Top 10. I do not think they will beat Ole Miss and they will find a way to lose another game that they are penciled to win and finish in the lower half of the polls. Perhaps that game will be Arkansas whom they barely defeated last year 13-10 in Fayetteville.
Last season did not start so well. Against FSU, the Tigers scored a touchdown as the final whistle went off, but placekicker Damian Ramos‘ extra point was blocked and the ‘Noles escaped with a 24-23 win, setting the tone for a magical season for Mike Norvell.
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To make matters worse, Ramos also had a second-quarter field goal blocked. LSU’s special teams were so bad in 2022 that other teams would look at their film and teach their players what not to do, according to an undisclosed SEC assistant coach as told to Athlon Sports.
When Alabama came into Death Valley, the Crimson Tide found themselves on the losing end of a 32-31 game as Mason Taylor converted the two-point conversion after a Jayden Daniels game-tying touchdown.
Instead of kicking the extra point and playing for the tie, Kelly brought out some of the Luck of the Irish that he had from South Bend and went for two and the win.
The call and the play were hailed as genius because it worked. Kelly was enjoying the spoils of victory. However, if Taylor does not make the spectacular grab, the Tigers are sitting at 9-4 and would not win the SEC West and the right to get destroyed by eventual two-time national champion Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.
On September 3, the same LSU team, ranked No. 5 in the pre-season AP poll begins play with Florida State once again in Orlando. The Tigers will not win the opening game with Florida State this season either.
It was recently announced that defensive tackle Maason Smith, who sat out most of last season with a knee injury, will serve a one-game suspension against FSU for allegedly receiving improper benefits.
They also will not beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban will not allow his perennial playoff team to lose two games in a row to any team, especially at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
LSU is not without weapons on offense. Daniels had a fine season as he threw for 2,913 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also led the team in rushing as he ran the ball 186 times for 885 yards and scored an additional 11 touchdowns.
The key for Kelly is to run for at least 140 yards per game, as the Tigers went 10-1 when reaching that milestone and 0-3 when it did not.
LSU has to develop a ground game and they cannot depend on Daniels to bail them out with his legs and his arm every play. When your quarterback is your leading rusher, especially in a pro-style offense, it speaks volumes about the running backs that you do not have.
Wide Receiver Malik Nabers also returns and brings his 72 receptions from last season that were good for 1,017 yards, but only three scores.
LSU has its problems on defense and Kelly went to the transfer portal to assemble a decent secondary. Incoming transfer from Ohio State, J.K. Johnson, suffered a lower leg injury and is unable to start the season.
Denver Harris, a promising 5-star transfer from Texas A&M, has been suspended from the team indefinitely. This hurts the Tigers as Harris was projected to start at one of the cornerback spots.
That is three projected starters that are expected to miss the Florida State game. Smith will be back for Grambling, but the other two could be out much longer.
In other words, with a scotch-taped secondary FSU quarterback Jordan Travis and his 36.1 points per game last season must be licking his chops. Look for Johnny Wilson and Michigan State transfer Keon Coleman to have a big night on national television against inexperienced corners.
