LSU Tigers rebound
Week after upset, team stuns Florida
Someone asked Ed Orgeron to elaborate on what he’d already described as “a tough week,” but the LSU football coach wasn’t ready for anything approaching more self-reflection.
“Listen man, every day I’m a Tiger is gonna be a great tiger,” he answered.
We’re pretty sure his tongue slipped, that he actually meant a great “day.” Whether it’s going to be a great tiger remains to be seen. But it was a good Saturday, at least, for the Tigers. A 17-16 victory at Florida was important, perhaps even critical for a program that seemed in flailing disarray during that tough week.
After a loss Sept. 30 to Troy in which a bunch of warning lights that had been blinking all season finally melted into a smoking wreck, a notoriously impatient and expectant fan base seethed. While the Tigers said they tried to block out the noise, “Everybody knew what was at stake,” sophomore linebacker Devin White said. Last week, LSU players met with coaches. Players met with players. Athletics director Joe Alleva met with Orgeron and the team’s offensive and defensive coordinators.
Beating this Florida team doesn’t wash away potentially systemic program issues or suggest Orgeron will ultimately be successful. Six games into his tenure, the signals are mixed.
After being criticized as disinterested and soft, it sounded nice to hear Oregon say, “We got back to playing Tiger football.”
The Tigers showed a toughness and energy they’d seemed to lack earlier. Yet if it “shows the kind of football team we can be,” as Oregon also said, then we shouldn’t expect too much, at least not yet.
Up next, No. 11 Auburn brings a hot offense and a very good defense. A trip to nemesis Alabama looms in a few weeks. These Tigers won’t come anywhere near the championship expectations of the program. But if Saturday was an indication — again, let’s not overdo things — the alarm sirens can be shut off in Baton Rouge, at least for now ( but what’s that sound in Gainesville?).
IOWA STATE FINALLY BREAKS THROUGH
Until Saturday’s shocker, Iowa State had not beaten Oklahoma since 1990; before that, there’d been a tie, but the Cyclones’ last victory over the Sooners was in 1961.
On Friday, news broke that the Iowa State starting quarterback was out indefinitely for what was described as “personal health issues.” The Cyclones countered with a fifth-year walk-on who’d thrown two passes and a former starter who has played linebacker, too
Yeah, a 38-31 victory against the nation’s No. 3-ranked team was all sorts of surprising, unless you’d been watching the pro- gram’s development under second-year coach Matt Campbell. There’d been some near-misses.
“The reality for us is we’ve proven we can play with everybody in college football,” Campbell told USA TODAY Sports on Sunday. “What we hadn’t proven yet is that we could beat ’em. Sooner or later I knew we’d put it together.”
It turned out to be sooner — or Sooner.
MIAMI TURNS CORNER AGAINST FLORIDA STATE
Things appear to be different at Miami (Fla.) — and no, we’re not talking about how Mark Richt got upset when he observed his players dancing at midfield Saturday on the Florida State Seminole head. With a 24-20 victory, achieved on a touchdown pass with six seconds left, Miami notched its first win in the rivalry since 2009.
The Hurricanes’ early schedule wasn’t exactly daunting, especially after the game with Florida State was postponed from Sept.
16 because of Hurricane Irma. But even though Florida State fell to 1-3 — not quite the team from the preseason predictions — at
4-0 it’s time to begin taking Miami seriously in the Atlantic Coast Conference race.
“It’s great for morale, it’s great for momentum, it’s great for recruiting,” Richt told reporters. “We want to get back to where when we hook up with anybody, people know that we’ve got a chance to be one of the better teams in the country. … We’re not there yet, but we’re getting there.”
THE FOOTBALL FOUR
Clemson — The Tigers rolled past Wake Forest, but pay attention to quarterback Kelly Bryant’s ankle injury. Clemson is playing at a different level than its ACC competition.
Alabama — It is not so much about winning at Alabama as how the Crimson Tide win. Nick Saban was unhappy with a 27-19 victory at Texas A&M — which doesn’t bode well for upcoming opponent Arkansas.
Penn State — Things are about to get more difficult for Penn State. After a bye week, the Nittany Lions play Michigan and at Ohio State. But so far they’ve lived up to the hype.
TCU — The Horned Frogs overcame a challenge from West Virginia. Gary Patterson’s bunch becomes the Big 12’s best hope for the College Football Playoff.