Some college football teams grow complacent with success.
When placed on a pedestal for all the country to marvel at, it’s easy for a group of 18- to 22-year-old athletes to lose focus and shout at the top of their lungs, “Hey everybody, come see how good we look!”
After handing out a 41-3 drubbing to Washington, sending the Huskies back to Seattle, Wash., with their tails between their legs, it’s a mentality that you couldn’t blame Coach Les Miles and the LSU football team for having.
With the win, the Tigers tied the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision record with 39 straight non-conference wins in the regular season and also tied the school record of 19 straight victories in Tiger Stadium.
The offense was balanced. The defense was suffocating. To anyone outside of the football program, it appears the Tigers are running on all cylinders.
Not so fast, my friend.
The Tigers “can’t get no satisfaction.”
“Every week we’re not satisfied,” said junior defensive tackle Bennie Logan after the game. “Even though we held them to three points and 26 yards rushing, coach expects more of us.”
What more can you expect if you’re Miles?
The Tigers would have shut out the Huskies had it not been for a fumble by Odell Beckham Jr. on the opening kickoff. The turnover gave Washington the ball in LSU territory and led to the Huskies converting their only three points of the night on a 34-yard field goal from Travis Coons.
LSU has been nearly perfect in its first two outings, outscoring its opponents 82-17.
Despite the initial success, Logan and the rest of his LSU teammates know regular-season accomplishments can only take a team so far.
“We went undefeated last year and lost in the championship. We have to take it one game at a time, but our goal is that national championship,” said junior running back Alfred Blue.
The members of the 2011 team who lost to Alabama in the BCS National Championship game will never want to settle for runner-up.
Every time a player like Logan or Barkevious Mingo becomes content with his performance, the memory of walking off the field while the scoreboard read 21-0 in the Crimson Tide’s favor makes them strive to play mistake-free football.
“There’s still missed assignments, still missed tackles down the line. Correcting those and getting as close to perfect as possible is our goal,” Mingo said.
Miles has molded a focused and motivated team that won’t rest until it raises the crystal football in Miami, Fla. When faced with the adversity of Tyrann Mathieu being dismissed or losing offensive tackle Chris Faulk to a knee injury for the remainder of the season, this team just rolls with the punches and keeps putting together top-flight performances.
It’s not about individual accolades. It’s about winning and leaving no doubt to who was the best team on the field any given night.
Having teammates who will never turn it down a notch and never let a good performance distract them from the ultimate goal of a national championship make this LSU football team a special collection of athletes.
There’s always room to get better. If holding a formidable PAC-12 foe to a field goal doesn’t get LSU full of itself, nothing will.
The Tigers still feel like there’s work to do in order to reach the level of play they can be pleased with. If that’s the case, I can’t wait to see what the finished product will look like.
I feel sorry for Idaho if the Tigers figure out that formula by Saturday.
