Maybe LSU wasn’t that bad. Maybe

Published 7:28 am Thursday, September 8, 2016

Come on, Tigers, get your chins up. There’s some bad vibes floating around this great state, and it’s not good for anybody.

LSU loses a game that most everyone thought the Tigers should have won, and it’s like the whole state goes into a giant funk.

Worse than that, it seems all it took was Wisconsin 16, LSU 14, and the whole season was immediately written off and Les Miles was back squarely on the hot seat.

HALF FULL: In the overall scheme of the universe, it was just a football game and certainly not comparable to the really important things in life such as that pursuit of happiness thing, time with family and loved ones, three squares a day, continued good health and, most of all, getting those adorably cute videos of Fido posted on Facebook.

RUNNING ON EMPTY: Sorry. Silly me. I should know better than to float that one up there. Of course, it’s a full-blown disaster — Code 5 — one from which the state is unlikely to recover in our lifetime (or whenever LSU gets a serviceable quarterback — whichever comes first).

HF: But it was still just one game, and, as Miles said Tuesday, everything on the Tigers’ wish list is still there on the table.

ROE: Really. Did you even watch the game?

HF: I’m a half-full glass. I don’t have eyes.

ROE: Didn’t need them, really. Can you smell?

HF: No.

ROE: It was as bad a performance offensively as anything in the Miles era.

HF: The Tigers weren’t playing some pushover. Wisconsin is Big 10-certified, won 10 games last year and was basically playing at home.

ROE: True, and if you’d told me a week ago that LSU would lose by two points to Wisconsin, I’d give them a break and not sound any alarms. Move on with the season, get ’em next week. But it’s not about Wisconsin. It’s about the way LSU played, which was not only awful, it was predictably unimaginative.

HF: Teams make their biggest improvement from Game 1 to Game 2.

ROE: That’s an old wives’ tale. Especially for Miles’ teams, which normally come out of the gates roaring, especially if it’s an opponent that gets their attention. Beyond that, this isn’t a matter of tidying up this or that mistake. LSU learned nothing, changed nothing offensively from a year ago. They are doomed to repeat history.

HF: Miles said Tuesday that, although he still has faith in Brandon Harris, that he’d best show some urgency about coming around because they do have other options at quarterback, presumably backup Danny Etling.

ROE: True. Of course it’s quite possible that Harris has the starting job for a reason — like, maybe he’s the best they’ve got — and, at any rate, many coaches seem to be married to the depth chart ’til injury do they part. I wouldn’t hold my breath.

HF: They weren’t that far off. As Miles said, “I think if we had five more passes, I think if a couple of those runs were turned into touchdowns, I think that you would look at us and look at the (56-27 Texas Bowl victory over) Texas Tech and say, hmmm, a lot of similarities.”

ROE: And your point is? That’s dream world stuff. Fact is they didn’t complete five more passes, and I don’t know which runs he’s talking about that almost scored. But this wasn’t about having a bad game. That happens. The most alarming thing was that it was clear they made no off-season adjustments to an offense that wasn’t working against breathing defenses. There aren’t many Texas Techs in the SEC (or Big 10). If LSU had had some growing pains with new offensive wrinkles, that might have been understandable. That’s why the hand-wringing isn’t just an overreaction to one game.

HF: They did finally throw a pass to a tight end, 19 yards to DeSean Smith. That’s progress.

ROE: Only on the final, desperation drive and only after Wisconsin’s tight end had caught seven for 100 yards. That may have the been the tip-off that they’re eligible targets.

HF: Miles has always been stubborn. One of his charms.

ROE: No, it’s worse than that. This goes beyond stubborn. Saturday’s nationally televised announcement that “we ain’t changing nothing” graduated it to full-blown arrogance. All those fans who rushed to his defense at the bewitching hour last November had a reasonable expectation that he’d at least take a hard look at what they’d been doing on offense.

HF: Miles is such a nice guy and, in his Uncle Les sort of way, he was such a rock and a calming influence during all the trials and tribulations in Baton Rouge this summer.

ROE: Miles is a nice guy, great family man, pillar of the community. No question. But that’s not why he’s getting paid well north of $4 million a year. That paycheck comes with the expectation of winning football games, not being the state’s counselor.

HF: LSU’s defense, on the other hand, looks fine, much better than a year ago.

ROE: And in today’s college football world, a good defense is just enough to keep close losses close.

HF: It’s a little early to be putting a coach on the hot seat, don’t you think. Does LSU need a whole season of over-speculation like last year’s month of November?

ROE: Too late.

Maybe LSU wasn’t that bad. Maybe

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