After all of LSU’s hiccups following big wins in the past six years, it would be understandable if Tigers fans were skeptical about Saturday night’s game in Starkville, Miss.
The Tigers defeated the seventh-ranked team in the country the week before the Mississippi State game, and pure human nature might cause LSU to take the Bulldogs lightly or just plain forget about them.
Just putting together the Georgia win and the downright ineptitude of Mississippi State, which lost eight straight games before Saturday dating back to last year, might give any team a hangover. LSU, which has heard nothing but how great it is from the local media and fans the past week, were especially vulnerable.
But that is why Nick Saban makes the big bucks and for good reason. Saban is not trying to simply put together a successful season, he is trying to build a dominating program. The 41-6 LSU dominance of Mississippi State is an absolute must if a team wants to make noise nationally.
All week long Saban talked about paying full attention to the Bulldogs and how this game was more important than the Georgia game.
For some reason, it did not just sound like coach speak, and obviously it was not.
LSU took Saban’s advice to heart, thoroughly dominating a Bulldog team that’s offense is not exactly chopped liver. The Tigers sucked the air out of MSU from the get-go, never allowing the Bulldogs to have any hope except for a first quarter drive cut short by a fumble recovered by defensive end Melvin Oliver.
Speaking of Oliver, Saturday’s game marked another encouraging trend for the future of the LSU football program. Oliver replaced an injured Marquise Hill in the starting lineup while Cameron Vaughn replaced injured started Adrian Mayes at linebacker. Mr. Everything Travis Daniels moved from safety to start at cornerback, while freshman Laron Landry made his first start at safety.
What does it all mean? It means the LSU talent level has reached a point where second stringers can not only replace injured starters, but can play at just as high a level as the starters.
Football powerhouses like Miami and Florida State have always had great depth, which is absolutely key to becoming successful on a national scale. A team rarely can go through a season without losing a key starter to injury for at least a little while, but if a team can replace that starter with an able backup, it will usually be in good shape.
Unfortunately, all was not well Saturday night.
Rising star Shyrone Carey, who scored twice Saturday from the running back position, hurt his left knee on a run in the fourth quarter with the game seemingly out of reach. The prognosis has not been announced, and probably won’t be until later today. But it bears resemblance to Matt Mauck’s situation last year, when he was hurt running a quarterback draw against Florida with the game out of reach.
Fortunately for the Tigers, Saban can just send in another one of his horses. Ah, the luxury of depth.