Take a deep breath, and calmly back away from the ledge.
LSU lost to Georgia. But as hard as it may be for fans to realize and accept this, Saturday was a game the Tigers could afford to lose.
Teams almost never go undefeated in the Southeastern Conference anymore, and with the last seven BCS National Championships belonging to the SEC, a one-loss conference champion is almost guaranteed a trip to Pasadena.
So in effect, nothing has changed for the Tigers. If they beat Alabama, Texas A&M and Ole Miss and avoid any potential upsets, they will go to Atlanta for what should be a de-facto BCS semifinal game.
An SEC West loss is devastating, but since Georgia is in the Eastern Division, the loss can be absorbed. In fact, if LSU wins out, it will more than likely get another chance at the Bulldogs. Georgia already beat South Carolina, and Florida is the only ranked opponent left on its schedule.
Two seasons ago, Alabama proved there’s no penalty for needing a second shot at someone.
The Tigers’ biggest problem going forward is not that they lost, but how they lost.
The LSU defense was exposed by Georgia. The Bulldogs marched up and down the field to the tune of 44 points and almost 500 yards. Quarterback Aaron Murray had receivers wide open behind the Tigers’ secondary, and even with Todd Gurley injured for the entire second half, Georgia ran for 196 yards.
The pass defense is more troubling. The defensive line couldn’t get any kind of a pass rush on Murray, and the secondary was lost in zone coverage. Georgia receivers caught touchdown passes without an LSU defender anywhere in sight.
No one was entirely sure how the defense would hold up against Georgia. There was concern because of a few quarters of poor defense, but those were at least partially chalked up to complacency after LSU jumped out to big leads. Athens was pegged as the first true test of the LSU defense.
Needless to say, it failed.
On the positive side, the LSU offense was great. The Tigers went on the road and matched the Georgia offense score for score until the last drive of the game.
Zach Mettenberger put to bed any reservations about his ability to play on the road. He was masterful in his return to Georgia, casting aside any distractions and throwing for a career-high 372 yards with three touchdowns.
Equally as impressive, Mettenberger stood calm in the pocket and didn’t turn the ball over when Georgia got a rush on him. He looked like a guy who could lead this team to victories in Tuscaloosa and Oxford in the coming months. He’s easily the biggest reason for optimism among LSU fans going forward.
The running game had some issues, especially when Jeremy Hill wasn’t in the game, but that was more a product of an underrated Georgia run defense than anything else.
The bottom line is that LSU still controls its own destiny going forward and has the offense to win every remaining game.
Saturday’s loss didn’t kill the Tigers’ chances at winning the SEC, but if the defense doesn’t drastically improve, it won’t be their last defeat.
James Moran is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Beacon, N.Y.