An eerie silence surrounded the LSU football team as it approached the 2012 season opener. A No. 1 ranking in the USA Today preseason poll, no senior quarterback making infamous bar appearances and no off-the-field distractions poised the team for its first kickoff. Until now. After being dismissed from the LSU football team, Tyrann Mathieu – one of the most highly publicized and scrutinized college football players in recent years – can no longer call Tiger Stadium home.  Mathieu’s Twitter handle might remain, but the TM7 Era in LSU football history is over. Is it a huge loss for LSU? Yes.   Let’s get one thing straight – Tyrann Mathieu cannot be replaced. He was easily the most instinctive player in college football last season.   Mathieu was the epitome of a play-maker.  From his strip-and-score against Oregon in the 2011 season opener to the seemingly impossible punt return he took back to the house versus Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, the Honey Badger consistently made plays that caused onlookers to shake their heads in amazement.  Defensive coordinator John Chavis can put freshmen cornerbacks Jalen Collins or Micah Eugene in the same spot on the field where Mathieu stood, but there’s no guarantee anyone can read the field or make the same plays the Honey Badger pulled off.  The biggest hole to fill with Mathieu’s absence might not be on the defensive side of the ball.  Mathieu made his name on special teams as a true freshman on kickoff coverage, and last season he became one of the nation’s most explosive punt returners.   However, the dismissal of Mathieu isn’t a catastrophic event that will eliminate the Tigers from national championship contention.  The Honey Badger isn’t the only reason LSU is ranked No. 1. Almost any college football team would be crippled by the loss of a Tyrann Mathieu-caliber player in the defensive backfield – but LSU won’t. While Mathieu has unparalleled defensive instincts, junior All-American safety Eric Reid possesses one of the highest football IQs in the nation.  He will rally the secondary around the loss of Mathieu, and have them motivated to prove LSU still deserves to be called “DBU.”  Reid doesn’t lack the ability to alter the outcome of football games, either.  His interception of Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron in the fourth quarter of the Tigers’ first meeting with the Crimson Tide on Nov. 5 stopped what was a sure scoring drive that would have most certainly tipped the scales in the Tide’s favor. Mathieu might have been the most outspoken member of the LSU football team, but Reid was and still is the leader of the defense.   Junior cornerback Tharold Simon could also help to ease the pain inflicted by the Honey Badger’s exit. His 2011 statistics may not stand out, but that can partially be attributed to the fact that every opposing offense threw to his side of the field in order to avoid Thorpe award-winner Morris Claiborne. Simon will have a breakout season in 2012. With several young defensive backs seeing increased playing time, Reid and Simon will have to set an example and make sure they don’t lose focus. Veteran leaders Drew Alleman, Josh Dworaczyk and Sam Montgomery won’t let the distraction of Mathieu’s departure change the team’s mindset of national championship or bust. The last thing those guys are looking for is an excuse they can give for why their ultimate goal wasn’t reached. So before LSU fans frantically call Expedia to cancel their flight plans to Miami in early January, they should take a breath and realize losing Mathieu isn’t the end of the world.   Micah Bedard is a 22-year-old history senior from Houma.  Follow him on Twitter @DardDog.