Stewart Rankings

LSU went down, yes I said down in Stewart Mandel's power rankings. LSU is now #5. Alabama is at 2, Oklahoma at 1. Mizzou and Texas round ou the top 5.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/stewart_mandel/09/30/power.rankings1/index.html?eref=T1

MIKE IS IN 4th PLACE!!!

YAY!!! Mike is now in 4th place. The rankings came out yesterday. He is trialing North Dakota (who I really don't get), Boise State, and Air Force. He is matched against Buster from Boise State this week so we really need to vote so he can beat him. In the rankings Mike is trial first place by 2,707 votes so everyone vote, tell your friends, parents, siblings, classmates, teachers, and garbage man.
http://www.capitalonebowl.com/vote/main

NEW!! MY OWN SEC RANKINGS!!!

By request of my brother and his friends who may be the only people who read this, I will now post SEC Rankings each Tuesday. Here we go!!
1. LSU- Now you can say I am biased, but I truly believe as of this week LSU is the best team in the SEC. See below why.

2. Georgia- Before you guys kill me, hear me out. Yes, this team was beat by Alabama, but the media is over shadowing the fact that this team came out in the second half and scored 31 points while they held Alabama to 7 IN THE SECOND HALF. This team though is bruised especially since I heard that praised tailback could be out for 2 weeks due to an elbow injury.

3. Vandy- That QB ain't bad for a smart guy. ESPN GameDay is going to campus this weekend. The team is very well balanced which could really help them in the SEC. They are undefeated, but that could change this weekend when they play Auburn.

4. Alabama- Yes, I completely went against the AP poll because of this. This is a very young team and most don't have the true SEC experience. This team did beat Georgia and they barely beat Tulane. The team has never trialed in a game, but also let Georgia score 31 points in 30 minutes. Nick Satan has never been a second half coach. When they come to Baton Rouge, that could bite them in the butt.

5. Auburn- This team held Tennessee like what 6 times in the 4th quarter to 3 and outs. That spread offense looks as good as Tubby in a dress, and the QB musical chairs is really getting old.

6. Florida- That lost was as ugly as it gets. Most of that I put on Urban Meyer. I respect that fact he tried to be like Les Miles and go for the 4th and 1 instead of the field goal, but Tebow up the middle? Really? LSU could pull it off because we had Jacob Hester and have Charles Scott now. Also the Gators have no real hard run game (hand off to Harvin doesn't count). And it just me or has Tebow lost his magic?
Go cry about it Tebow.

7. Kentucky- Ummm... this team is unbeaten but they have not played anyone. There was almost a Bluegrass Miracle Part 2 against umm Middle Tennessee State??? I am scared for this team.

8. Ole Miss- The only reason they get there is because they beat Florida. Otherwise a Congrats to Houston Nutt for learning how to coach a team without a Heisman Running Back. I bet he is thrilled.

9. Mississippi State- They put up an nice effort at LSU. That new QB didn't look too bad either. Is it just me or did they have some speed??

10. South Carolina- The O'Ball Coach is looking for a retirement plan, not really but seriously. This team doesn't have any big playmakers which kills the team's enthusiasm. and honestly I know nothing good to say about them.

11.Tennessee- Philly is another who needs to retire with his pride while it is still there. I watched that Auburn game, and that was pathetic. 4 times in the 4th quarter the offense went 3 and out. They didn't even need to get in the red zone just in field goal range and they couldn't even go 10 yards. The only good thing about this team is Fulmer is putting the QB job up for grabs.

12. Arkansas- Since McFadden and Jones left, this team is nothing. I am pretty sure that some high school team could beat them. Yeah, it is that bad.


That's all folks. Leave your comments for me!!! I need to know if these rankings will be worth my time.

Scott #3 in the Heisman Rankings

In Gene Menez's Heisman Rankings Charles Scott rose from #7 to #3. Menez writes for SI.com and is giving Scott some major recognition. Chase Daniel still clings to top spot regardless of the bye week for Mizzou with Sam Bradford behind him. Tim Tebow and Knowshon Moreno fell out of the rankings completely.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/gene_menez/09/29/heisman.watch/index.html?eref=T1

CBS Picks up LSU at Florida/ Lee Freshman of the Week

CBS announced that it will televise the LSU at Florida Game. The game will kick-off at 7pm in primetime. I am really surprised that it wasn't picked up by ESPN for Game Day.
http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1592383&DB_OEM_ID=5200

LSU's QB Jarrett Lee (say that 5 times fast) was named SEC freshman of the week. He is the first freshman since Herb Tyler to start at quarterback.
http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=27815&SPID=2164&DB_OEM_ID=5200&ATCLID=1592337

Shepard Attended the LSU-Miss. State Game

LSU star commit Russel Shepard attend this weekend's game. He talked to Tiger Rag about the team and the atmosphere of Tiger Stadium. I found it interesting.
http://www.tigerrag.com/?p=2632

LSU moves to #2 in Coach's poll, #3 in AP

After 3 of the top 5 teams lost this weekend, LSU moved up in the polls. LSU is #2 in the coach's poll with Oklahoma the only team ahead of them. Mizzou and Alabama were next. In the AP Alabama jumped to number 2 which in my opinion is stupid. Jumping an idle team and another team who still won is just crazy. Alabama is media team like USC and as soon as something good happens the media is the first to praise them. What about Alabama barley hanging on and beating Tulane in week 2?? They quickly forgot that.
http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1591983&DB_OEM_ID=5200

LSU 34 Mississippi State 24

I am not going to lie this was the win I was expecting from the Tigers. Yes, it is a win, but the defense helped make the Bulldogs running back look good, I mean pretty good. While we are on defense, what was up with the secondary. They yet again gave p some major big yardage plays. Also a major weakness was uncovered; the linebackers cannot cover the tailback. Hopefully in two weeks against Harvin, Chad Jones will become his best friend in nickel and dime packages. I was hoping for a little more blizing on the QB though. I guess (or hope) they are saving those plays for Florida. The offense though looked pretty soild. "Chuck the Truck" become the first player since Alexander to have 4 straight 100 yard games. If he can do that at Florida, I will start screaming Heisman. Major brownie points to that offensive line for those holes too. Jarrett Lee had some nice throws when he would step into the ball otherwise they were sub-par, John Parker Wilson throws. That is just another thing he needs to learn along with throwing to more than just LaFell. I still need to see those kick-offs to get to at least the 5 yards line. The defeners need time to get down there and kicking it at the 18 yard line just makes it harder.

Game Ball: Charles Scott- no explaination needed

Defensive Play: Pass this week. Nothing really stood out for me. Let me know if you disagree.

Offensive Play: Pass to Holliday. Good to see he actually can play the position he is listed as

Brownie Points: O-line- they parted the State D-line like Moses at the Red Sea

The Band is Dominating; Mike Climbing Up

In the Indiana Jones Contest LSU's Golden Band is killing everyone else. LSU has 63% of the votes with the second place Clemson Band having 13%. I am extremely impressed at the voting people. Keep it UP!!!
http://promo.espn.go.com/espn/contests/indianajones/voteTeam

Mike the Tiger is in 9th and the new rankings will come out next Monday. I added the Widget from the Capital One Bowl site to the blog. It should show up to the right. Someone asked me the other day how he got his 1-1 record. He lost to the Buffalo from North Dakota State and then beat Smoky from Tennessee. This week is up against BYU's Cosmo. Vote for Mike!!!!!
http://www.capitalonebowl.com/schedule/main/3

LSU has some of the SEC Best

Multiple LSU players are at the top of the statistically rankings in the SEC. There is alot to name so just check it out here.
http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1590101&DB_OEM_ID=5200

Special Teams Solution??

Last Saturday I am not sure if you noticed that some numbers were changed. Both of LSU's punters were wearing #30. Les Miles wanted to confuse Auburn's punt returner and no one is really sure if it worked. In the process though LSU might have found a new punter. Brady Dalfrey punted during the night and averaged 48 yards a punt with 4 of them landing inside the 20. Here is the article from 2theadvocate.com
http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/lsu/featured/29728744.html?showAll=y&c=y

LSU has Players on Most Exciting List

On the ESPN SEC blog yet again is some stuff on LSU. Chris Low, which if haven't figured it out writes the blog, made a list of the most exciting player in the SEC. His list had Trindon Holliday and Brandon LaFell. There was also a fan made list that has Charles Scott, Trindon Holliday, and Demetrius Byrd.
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/sec/0-1-472/Cody--Scott-show-up-on-your-most-exciting-list.html

I should just make a whole other blog for this guy

Charles Scott was again recognized. This time it was by Chris Low on the ESPN SEC Blog. You know the drill.
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/sec/0-1-462/Scott-off-and-running-in-LSU-s-deep-backfield.html

LSU moves to #2 in SEC Rankings

On the ESPN SEC blog, LSU moved up 2 spots to #2. Georgia is the only one ahead of them with Florida right below them.
Did anyone else notice how many initals are in that sentence??
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/ncfnation/0-2-486/Georgia-remains-on-top-of-SEC-rankings.html

Rome on LSU

The writer Jim Rome has a recent article about LSU that I loved. He talks about the win last Saturday and the spirit of the team. I really enjoyed this. BIG thanks to my brother RYAN for finding this and emailing it to me!!!
http://www.jimrome.com/home/articles/article_3.html

100th POST!!/ Stewart Mandel Rankings

First this is my 100th post on the LSU Football Blog! Yay!! Let's throw a party!!

Now for the news, my favorite writer, Stewart Mandel, has his power rankings out. LSU is at #4 with Georgia above them at #3 and Florida below them at #5. Alabama is at #10 and Auburn in the #11 spot. Vandy cracks in at #25.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/stewart_mandel/09/23/power.rankings1/index.html?eref=T1

Scott and a Heisman??

Tiger Rag put a really good article on their website. The article explores running back Charles Scott in the Heisman race. They talked to Les Miles and Sports Information Director, Michael Bonnette. I know it wasn't in the actual paper because I got it yesterday in the mail.
http://www.tigerrag.com/?p=2565

Tiger Band in Competition too

I received an email about the Golden Band being in the Indiana Jones Competiton. All the bands played the Indiana Jones Theme Song at a game and was recorded for the competition. They are up against Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Florida, USC, and Texas. The winner gets a cool crystal trophy and $25,000 for the band. The Golden Band is trying to build a new band hall so they could use the money unlike USC who would just use it to pay off players. LSU is currently in the lead but not by much. You can vote once a day.
http://promo.espn.go.com/espn/contests/indianajones/voteTeam

The Band is in first! Mike is now in 9th!!! Keep it up y'all!!!!

Foxsports- Five Thoughts

Foxsports.com's Five Thought seem to feature LSU and the SEC. With talk about Lee's turnaround and the awesomeness of "The Hat" (he should get that copyrighted) they make LSU look like a true title contender. Let's see how the year goes. If they go through Florida, Georgia, and Alabama with only one loss, then I will start the Les Miles for President campain. We could so take Obama down!!
http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/8594232/Five-Thoughts:-LSU-is-in-good-hands

Charles Scott Jumps into the Heisman Race

On Si.com's Heisman Watch, LSU's Charles Scott jumped to #7 on the Heisman Watch List. Scott is averaging 8 yards per carry this season which is crazy considering the depth at running back. I have been waiting for this. The Auburn run defense averaged 50 or so yards a game until they met Charles Scott who had 132 yards.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/gene_menez/09/22/heisman.watch/index.html?eref=T1

MIKE IS IN LAST PLACE!!!

C'mon y'all, we can do better. I vote everyday once I turn on my computer. Tell all of you friends. Which maybe only one. Just Kidding. But seriously VOTE!!! Do I need to make a shirt or something??
http://www.capitalonebowl.com

Scott gets SEC recognition

Charles Scott got the SEC Offensive Player of the Week award. Scott averaged over 6 yards a carry on a stout Auburn defense. This game marks the third straight week that the running back had 100+ rushing yards.
http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/lsu/29239354.html

Lee as QB = Possible National Championship??

Rivals.com thinks so. They compare LSU's quarterback Jarrett Lee to the National Championship quarterbacks of the past (Matt Mauck, Matt Flynn). It talks about Les Miles reaction to his performance in the game. Lee is a very young quarterback that needs to learn some things and he showed that last Saturday. As for the National Championship thing let's get through the month of October first then we will talk.
http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=853101

LSU has a secret

I won't tell if you don't. Foxsports did their week 4 wrap up with its focus around LSU's exciting win over Auburn. Don Borst says that LSU has that secret magic it did last year. I really liked the article except for the part where he says that USC will be in the title game and it is just week 4.
http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/8589692/Week-4-wrap:-LSU-just-knows-how-to-win

LSU moves up to #5 in the AP poll

After LSU's win over Auburn, the Bayou Bengals moved up one spot in the AP poll over Missouri. They remain #6 though in the USA/Coach's poll. Auburn dropped to #15 and Alabama moved to #8. Vandy broke the Top 25! (Between you and me, I kinda like them this year). They sit at #21. That puts 6 SEC teams in the Top 25.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/rankingsindex

LSU 26 Auburn 21

LSU passed its first major test of the season. This was a serious learning game.
A.) We learned that Jarrett Lee needed to get settled in the pocket before he could play to his fullest ability.
B.) The LSU run defense is alot better than the nation gave them credit for.
C.) The pass defense though has some holes. Yes, there were 2 interceptions, but also gave up two huge pass plays that either gave Auburn a touchdown or set them up for one.
D.) This one is just for me. Danny McCray really should become a linebacker. His pass protection is just not good enough for the SEC.
E.) LSU now knows that they can build their season around Jarrett Lee. Andrew Hatch did a decent job, but this ain't Harvard. In the SEC when you have a open receiver it is a touchdown. You can not over thrown people by five yards. Yes, Lee is guilty of this too, but not as much as Hatch.

With the start of the SEC season I will give out awards for each game.
Best Offensive Play: Keiland Williams Half-back pass to Demetrius Byrd for TD.
Best Defensive Play: Rahim Alem sack with 51 seconds to go.
Game Ball: Charles Scott. Anyone who averages 7 yards a carry, against Auburn deserves the game ball and an invite to New York (if he keeps this up).
Brownie Points: Jarrett Lee. After losing all faith in him in the first half, he comes out of the locker room a new man, literally. 0 for 5, INT then he goes 11 of 17 for 2 TDs. Dude, I will bake you a cake.

Tiger Rag's Game Breakdown

Tiger Rag does a breakdown of each game showing Offenses versus Defenses, Special Teams, Coaching, and Intangibles. Of course they predict the game's out come has well. I read this early in the week because I subscribe to the paper, but I didn't realize they put it on the internet as well. YAY!!!!
http://www.tigerrag.com/?p=2518

Cory McCartney's Preview

SI.com's Cory McCartney called LSU-Auburn the Game of the Week and made a cool preview. I actually like this one. It lays out things to look for and the pick. BTW: I really think LSU will break the home-field advantage curse. (Knock on wood.)
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/cory_mccartney/09/18/lsu.auburn/index.html?eref=T1

Alot of previews that I don't agree with but okay

These are a few previews that showed up, but I didn't really like them. Let I promise to post stuff so here it is.

Stewart Madel (who I love) has all the SEC showdowns for the weekend. Don't agree here.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/stewart_mandel/09/17/sec.showdowns/index.html?eref=T1

This is a Foxsports preview which I like. It gives some cool stats and what to look for. Still don't agree with the score though.
http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/8579120/Deeper-look-at-Week-4%27s-key-games

This one kinda of ticked me off because it was very unoriginal. The same the home team wins crap. That changes this season. Watch for it.
http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=851812

This is a alright article about the SEC and its teams. I liked it, but it is stuff I already know.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=fowler_chris&id=3594936

Beckwith out, Cutrera in

Senior Linebacker Darry Beckwith is out until LSU plays Florida. (This is what I have heard.) In his place this week is Jacob Cutrera. He is a junior from Lafayette who has started more than once. I have always had my eye on this kid and he is more than capable to fill in. Here is an article by the advocate someone told me about I haven't read it yet. Tell me how it is.
http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/lsu/featured/28492094.html

LSU is a cupcake???

LSU was named in the top ten of school with "cupcake" non-conference schedule. LSU wasn't the only SEC school to be on the list. Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Alabama all made it too. So hear is what I have to say about that. Early in the week I posted that 5 SEC teams are in the Top 10 in the AP poll. LSU plays all of them. So if we were to have a non-conference schedule that was like USC or Clemson, we would never make it out of November. When the Pac-10 or other conferences get teams like Florida, Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, or Mississippi State to play in their conference let me know then I will give them respect otherwise shut up about LSU's non-conference schedule.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=frightful/080905

UPDATE: Foxsports has now put out a similar list, but has LSU as #1 in cupcake scheduling. I am really getting sick of this. BTW: Does anyone remember who we played last year for our home opener? Yeah, I am sure they do. We played Virginia Tech last year and the next two years we play Washington. This year we played the team that beat the Golden unbeatable Michigan. Please people stop before this (or just me) gets ugly.
http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/pgStory?contentId=8568502#sport=COLLEGE%20FOOTBALL&photo=8568674

Holliday Named Special Teams Player of the Week

Trindon Holliday was named by the SEC as the Special Teams Player of the Week. Holliday returned 4 punts for 163 yards which in 6th in SEC history. He is currently the best punter returner averaging 40.6 yards per punt return. Holliday was given this award last year for his kick-off return against Ole Miss and the year before for his kick-off return at Arkansas.
http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=27815&SPID=2164&ATCLID=1582732&DB_OEM_ID=5200

LSU to be on TV again

LSU's homecoming game and SEC home opener will be shown of ESPN2 next weekend. The SEC announced this yesterday. Kick-off is at 6:30pm. WEAR GOLD!!!
http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1582543&DB_OEM_ID=5200

S-E-C! S-E-C!

The SEC became the first conference ever to have 5 teams in the AP poll at the same time. Georgia, Florida, LSU, Auburn, and Alabama are all in the top 10. Beat that USC! Don't you love how LSU still has to play all of them. Now that is strength of schedule.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-t25-collegefbpoll&prov=ap&type=lgns

ESPN's SEC Blog post

This guy Chris Low is alot better than I remember. I kinda abanddon him this summer. He has power rankings for the SEC on a week to week basis. LSU is #3 in this. He says a win at Auburn would give them a fighting chance for the top spot. He also gives out helment stickers like on GameDay wrap-up. His this week went to Trindon Holliday for his awesome special team performance. BTW: I need to make a correction on yesterday's post. His total Special Teams Yards was second in history. I can't find who is first if you can let me know. He also gave some respect to LSU for not being distracted by the Hurricane and taking care of North Texas. I am starting to like this guy.
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/sec

LSU moves up one spot in the polls

LSU moved to #6 in both major polls this week. Ohio State dropped to #13. USC took top spot followed by Oklahoma and Georgia.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/ncaa/09/14/bc.ap.college.poll.ap/index.html

LSU 41 North Texas 3

I should make this short because I have to wake up tomorrow. So a good game for the Tigers, but I had some problems with it. The running game was awesome. I am starting a Charles Scoot for Heisman campaign. It will be huge. The defense on paper was good, but watching it was pretty sloppy. North Texas was killing Chris Hawkins. He was tackling people, but after they caught the ball. I would start focusing more on breaking up passes though. Trindon Holliday gets some serious kudos for his game tonight. I loved the fact that they finally used a offensive player as the punt returner, and when they did the kid had the most punt return yards in one game in the history of LSU football. Not to mention he tied the longest punt return in school history. The kicking game still bugs me. the longest kick-off (which there was a few) hit the 15 yard line. This will be bad for teams like Georgia who have a Heisman candidate for kick off returns. He gets it high gets the coverage down field which I guess could make up for its distance. It still bugs me though.

Tonight also marks the first thing I have wrong in my season predictions, but in Ohio State's and my defense we were both banking on Beanie Wells playing.

TigerVision to be Free to Cox Customers in Baton Rouge

The LSU-North Texas game is be televised on TigerVision across the state. In Baton Rouge the game will be free to all Cox Customers. There is a bunch of legal stuff about ESPN and SEC, but you read it if you want to. Otherwise if you have Cox Cable but no tickets to the game Saturday watch Channel 4.

http://www.businessreport.com/news/2008/sep/11/tigervision-be-available-free-baton-gnit1/

Better late than never...

I'm sorry that I am late posting information today. I have had quite a day.

Now to the football stuff, it will be "Saturday Night in Tiger Stadium" for the LSU-North Texas game Joe Allvea annouced today. This puts to rest questions on the damage to Tiger Stadium. Kick-off will be at 7pm.
http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1578613&DB_OEM_ID=5200

This is a few days old, but still valueable info. The LSU-Auburn game will be on ESPN next week. The network makes the game kick-off at 6:45pm
http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=27815&SPID=2164&DB_OEM_ID=5200&ATCLID=1577606

Finally, LSU stayed put in Stewart Mandel's rankings as well. The Tigers are #7 there too.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/stewart_mandel/09/09/power.rankings/

VOTE FOR MIKE!!!

Voting for the best mascot started yesterday at www.captialonebowl.com. You can vote once a day so get yours in daily!!!!

Also the only word about Saturday is that the game will be played just no decision on where.

LSU remains at #7

After the Tigers' forced bye week, they remain the same in the polls. LSU received 1 #1 vote in the AP and 2 in the Coaches' poll. Other entertaining movement: Ohio State drops to #5 after struggling with Ohio and East Carolina came into the polls at #14 after beating Virgina Tech last week and beating West Virgina yesterday.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/polls/ap/

Also the damage is still be worked on at Tiger Stadium. If the work isn't finished, the LSU-North Texas game could be played at the Superdome or Texas Stadium. I'll keep you posted.

LSU- Troy Game Postponed

Hello Everyone!!! I am back!!! Power came back on yesterday at my house. I am backed up as bad as USC's player payroll. I will try to find all the info I missed in the past week.

LSU- Troy game was pushed back to Nov. 15th due to damage to Tiger Stadium. The windows in the Stadium Club were blown out, hundreds of seats were damaged, they are testing the scoreboard and lights, and debris tore up parts of the field. I was on LSU's campus today and there didn't seem to have too much major damage besides stop lights blown and trees down.
http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1574472&DB_OEM_ID=5200

LSU remained at #6 in most major polls while USC jumped Ohio State and Georgia for the #1 spot. (HUH???) There is a power ranking from Foxsports along with Computer based that puts LSU at 4 ahead of USC.
http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/powerRankings?type=whatIfSports

Alot of shifting in the Position Power Rankings. I will let you check on that.
http://collegefootball.rivals.com/viewCFSE.asp?selposition=5

LSU also picked up anohter commit. The 18th verbal was Rantavious Wooten, a wide receiver out of Belle Glade, Florida. He is a four-star that reminds me of mini Percy Harvin.
http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=82876