So a quick recap of some of the games I watched today:
Florida 34, Miami (OH) 12 - The one time I noticed in this game besides the obvious blowout was the fact that every team comes into the season opener looking rough. This is the first game post-Tebow and there were plenty blunders in the Florida offense. QB John Brantley and his center need to spend the week working on snaps. There were too many missed ones.
Texas 34, Rice 17 - This was Longhorn QB's Garrett Gilbert's second appearance. His first since the famous start in last year's BCS National Championship against Alabama. And for the most part, he looked pretty good. I'm predicting that he will have a decent year under Coach Mack Brown. Texas has plenty of weapons this year and this young team will go just as far as their young QB will lead them.
Ole Miss 48, Jacksonville St. 49 - The first official upset of the season. Ole Miss came into this game with former Oregon QB sensation Jeremiah Masoli who transferred. This was your classic shoot-out. Touchdowns here, touchdowns there, touchdowns everywhere. In the end, it came down to who was motivated most and those Jacksonville St. Gamecocks pulled off one of the most gutsy plays in school history when opting to go for the 2-pt conversion in double overtime.
And finally, what I have looked forward to since January...
LSU 30, North Carolina 24
This game is a story of two halves and a story of the disaster that could had been. LSU lead by QB Jordan Jefferson (who's jersey I wear) jumped off to an early lead with two costly turnovers by the Tar Heels. We dominated that first half showing a various array of excellent play calling. Jefferson's 59-yd bomb to Ruben Randle. Russell Shepard's 50-yd touchdown run. Patrick Peterson's punt return for touchdown. We looked good going into halftime 30-10 against a North Carolina team decimated with suspensions. That was the story of the first half.
Second half, it felt like there was another team out there. I felt that the play calling was very conservative. Lots of runs and at moments, our defense looked lackadaisical if put politely. We pretty much let North Carolina back into the game. There was plenty of blame to go around but I like to say that we got complacent. We CANNOT make that mistake again. There are better teams who will kill us if we play like that again. The game ended up coming down to one play: North Carolina on our 5-yd line with 2 seconds left on the play clock. One missed pass to the tight end running an inside post route and the game was over. Tigers hold on to win by the skin of their teeth 30-24. Honestly, this game was too close for comfort. Last season, I experienced my fair share of games like that and I know what it is like to be on both sides. We have a never say die team; I just wish in this situation we played a full game instead of playing when direly necessary. We have a lot to things to work out for next week's game against Vanderbilt but I believe in this team, our coach, and our fan base.
Lastly, I would like to express my opinion openly. I hope you don't mind. Obviously, the LSU game was quite the roller coaster ride. I feel emotionally drained writing this post right now but please no matter the outcome of the game, I DO NOT appreciate all the hate shown towards how the game played out.
Examples from my facebook newsfeed includes the following statuses:
"What a sloppy game."
"Les can't coach period"
"We won on the scoreboard, yes. But we were severely outplayed and honestly do not deserve it."
These people will be left anonymous for the sake of their well-being. But I have one question for them: WHAT THE HELL KIND OF FAN ARE YOU!?!
Are you seriously saying stuff like that? I am realistic in my expectations of life and of LSU football. It is perfectly understandable to be disappointed. I am. But sometimes wins aren't pretty. Adversity brings out a team's true character. To know that we scraped and clawed our way to hold on to that victory means so much to me. We don't quit. And North Carolina has one hell of a team. I don't misjudge. Everyone is of equal playing field. Any team can beat any other team on any given night. Ole Miss is the perfect example. But to say we do not deserve to win? You are full of shit (sorry, for the profanity but I am irate about this). How about you stop being a fair weather fan? True fans stick with their team and always support them. You don't devalue a quality win because you are disappointed in the style that win was gained. You want to call yourself a fan? Love your team in all circumstances. Don't be a fair weather fan. You probably don't even know the meaning of disappointed. Try being a Cleveland sports fan. They have all the right to be disappointed. How about to show some pride in your team and your state? And not throw both of them under the bus for a WIN?
In the end, I hate fair weather fans. There is a difference between being realistic and being pessimistic.
-R.D.
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