LSU

The coaching staff was supernaturally confident seemingly the entire offseason and right up to first big kick. Every practice was another chance for either the head man or a coordinator to positively call out a segment group.  Weaknesses highlighted in the past few seasons melted away by mid-August and this arrogance permeated even into the beat writers, who sounded more like fans than neutral observers. Sure there had been big tests in the past but this was real. A top five team away from Tallahassee is an appaloosa of a different color. In the last decade and a half, the above scenario has happened three times and the first two had ridiculously differing results. The first was 2010 when Jimbo in his first full season took all that Fisher arrogance into Norman and watched his boys get wrangled into the Oklahoma dirt in a 30 point drubbing that was way worse than the final score. Then 3 years later, it was more than the coach who owned the swagger. James Wilder Jr led a WWE flex entrance into Death Valley. Those kids knew - I mean they knew - that Clemson was about to get an ass whooping. Mission accomplished. 

So, when the last four months was a repeat of the above, there was some obvious question marks about which year was going to be recalled. It was a different feel, because the Norvell culture is not the same as the current Aggieland ranch hand. The player confidence was there, but the trash talk and the bicep bumps were left in the locker room. Sitting right behind the bench, when the Tigers went up 14-7, our current head man was not lighting up the refs (which would have been more than justified), he was quietly clapping and looking Jordan and Jared in the eye with a nod of "It's ok, we f'n got this..." And the kids looked right back, and went out and delivered their own second half Tigers redux ass whooping. 

What was so unusual about this entire game - even in the middle of a second half rout - is that it never felt like the Noles were playing even close to their best. Let's start with a group of linebackers and safeties that if any LSU receiver went in motion froze like tweens when Taylor walks by. And it must have been as loud as night 3 on the floor during Karma, because there was zero communication on our back end. Backs and TE's were open like a 2 am refrigerator all night. Yes, DJ Lundy has improved a ton from the freshman who started in the ice box against Notre Dame but asking he and Bethune to cover sideline to sideline is a tough ask. They both had some special moments inside as DJ killed the first drive by eating a running back on a blitz and Tatum took a flying Tiger QB in a suplex dirtnap. But, we need the safeties to take the crossers, and Fuller needs these kids to be able to talk more than a geriatric married couple.  AZ, Fentrell and especially Renardo held up their end of the bargain, but the other 5 back there have some room for improvement...

On offense, I would not be surprised if we just witnessed the roughest stretch of Jordan Travis' senior season. While we were watching a fab F-15 flyover, Jordan apparently was kegstanding Red Bulls. He was high, he was low and his feet were pattering like drunk Thumper. Destin Hill missed a block on the first pick, but that was still an uncharacteristically terrible decision. Only after the end zone jump pass that two Tigers fought over to an incompletion did he settle down. The next drive, he tossed an absolute dime from the goal line to a sprinting #4 (who we might mention later) and from that point on, was the Jordan we should expect for the balance of this Heisman campaign. The staff also adjusted at halftime to run the counter with a snowplow in front. That plow was named Jaheim and he rang a bunch of Tiger Bells leading the backs after a mess of a first half with the running game. Granted, LSU has the best pair of linebackers in the country outside of Clemson, so we will give the guys with the headsets a hall pass there. 

So, we saw the big mole on the face and guess what - the girl is still Cindy Crawford. That second half was a clinic. The murderer that is Brian Kelly was once again outclassed in a big matchup and the Noles scored on 6 straight possessions. The defense found a way to get a few stops - cuz you only need a few with this juggernaut - and it was a melatonin Monday for the visitors from Baton Rouge. We might have found an ok wideout with that Coleman kid. Holy smokes does he make it look easy. NFL body and every ball in the zip code is his. I am not all that worried about red zone corner routes with Johnny and Keon, but every team we play should be very, very, concerned. The LSU db's were not even mad when they got whipped, they just jogged back to the sideline looked at BK with a "What do you expect against those two freaks" on their face. If Trey hits the right hole more, he may have had a much better night, but Rodney Hill showed some real jets to go along with a sideline shiver. But's let talk about how LT seems to rise to the occasion in big games with massive plays. 

Toafili was jogging off the field with 15 seconds on the play clock on the most crucial 4th down call of the night. Coach flipped him around, called the drag to our hero on the spot and 41 yards later, we were on the doorstep of a blowout. He just comes up big in big moments. Love that kid. We played 7 lineman last night and they continued their sack free streak against LSU (Jordan being a jackrabbit does not hurt), but maybe more impressive was the ability to run out the clock when we needed it late. If two starters went out in the last few years, we would have been in real trouble, but these guys are just years away from claiming social security and there is still a bunch of extra old men on the porch waiting to contribute. 

However, maybe my favorite harbinger from this contest last evening was what Odell's group did to stuff the ground game. This group controlled the middle and with minimal contributions from Lovett and none from the NFL tackle that the NCAA is holding from us. If we have this kind of success against the run, and teams have to throw against Verse and Payton, look out. Dennis Briggs was as good as he has ever been as a Nole and with Farmer, Fiske and Ray effectively plugging gaps, this is a stupidly deep group.

If you have ever played in a charity golf outing, you know that you can buy mulligans. This win just bought us a 2023 mulligan. A loss to LSU may have meant we had to run the table to accomplish all the goals in the Norvell novella. But that is awesomely off the table now, and who knows what this level of 2023 arrogance will lead us now...Can't wait!