When the LSU football team takes the field Tuesday at 2 p.m. against Notre Dame, many working Tiger fans won’t get to watch because it’s during most places’ business hours.
The bowl committee should apologize to these fans for making them miss what could be the beginning of something special in Baton Rouge.
Since the turn of the century, good things have happened for LSU every four years.
In 2003, then-LSU coach Nick Saban led the Tigers to the Sugar Bowl and National Championship game. LSU’s defense swallowed Oklahoma and grabbed the crystal football.
Four years later, it was Les Miles’ turn to hoist the BCS Championship trophy in the Superdome as the king of college football.
Miles and Saban matched up in 2011 to determine the national champion. The Tigers fell to Saban’s Crimson Tide, but the pattern still held true. Each of Miles’ national title game trips have been set up by a bowl win on a national scale in which next year’s heroes found their identity.
Following the 2006 season, LSU and Notre Dame matched up in the Sugar Bowl. In the game, freshman running back Keiland Williams ran wild on the Irish, and the Tigers rolled, 41-14.
Three freshmen — Tyrann Mathieu, Eric Reid and Tharold Simon — burst onto the scene during the Cotton Bowl after the Tigers’ 2010 campaign, helping LSU to a blowout win against Texas A&M.
Following the trend and looking at the amount of freshman talent that will return, LSU looks ready to make that championship run again, starting with the game against the Fighting Irish.
Miles will be sure to run out as many of his beloved seniors as possible to show those Tigers considering the NFL Draft how much he appreciates his fourth- and fifth-year players. But once Miles gets all his guys in, the Tiger faithful will get a glimpse into what could be, and should be, waiting around the corner.
Heading into a bowl game means the regular season is over, and freshmen are no longer freshmen. Players considered inexperienced in August now have a year of college football under their belts.
Though he’s not a freshman, quarterback Anthony Jennings went from one career start to a full season’s worth over the course of the year. Running back Leonard Fournette has been through the Southeastern Conference gauntlet. Receivers Malachi Dupre, Travin Dural and Trey Quinn have faced the SEC’s top cornerbacks.
Underclassmen Kendell Beckwith, Davon Godchaux, Jamal Adams and Rickey Jefferson have all faced the best of the best and have grown from it.
Everyone who steps on the field Tuesday gets a chance to show Miles and the coaching staff what he has learned and to stake his claim for the starting spot next year.
LSU will lose a few starters along the offensive line, but the Tigers have a number of young future stars to fill-in the gaps. Some are experienced like sophomore Ethan Pocic, who may start the Music City Bowl. Some are inexperienced like Will Clapp and Garrett Brumfield, but LSU has enough SEC-caliber lineman to be ready next season.
Whether the starting quarterback will be Jennings or Brandon Harris is still a question mark for the Tigers’ title hopes. But Miles faced the same question in 2011, and his team weathered that storm all the way to the title game thanks to its stifling defense.
Speaking of which, the Tigers will lose at least two of 11 defensive starters depending on how many more players declare for the draft early. I expect an increased role for defensive linemen Tashawn Bower, Lewis Neal and Sione Teuhema, as well as safety Rickey Jefferson.
If LSU’s once-every-four-years pattern holds true again, 2015 should be a big year for the Tigers. Instead of focusing on whether LSU wins or loses the bowl game, pay attention to the young guys and look for next year’s shining star.