Guice should know not to feed Gators

Published 7:07 am Wednesday, November 16, 2016

By American Press Staff

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">LSU almost got out of Arkansas with a complete and total victory.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Key word: almost.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Actually made it to the final horn with close to a perfectly dominant game.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But, oh, those youths. You know how they can be, especially in the heat of the postgame moment.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">LSU running back Derrius Guice, perhaps still feeling frisky after befuddling the Razorbacks for 252 yards rushing, had a few parting shots on the way out the door.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">He likely knew that his coach, Ed Orgeron, though a former defensive lineman and a scrappy one at that, is now 55 years old and not likely to corral him, wrestle him to the floor and hogtie him to insert a mouth gag of some sort.</span>

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<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">So, blatantly ignoring the time-honored “24-hour rule” before looking forward to a next opponent, he ventured an opinion on this week’s LSU game with the Florida Gators.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“They can’t run no more,” is exactly what he said, a clear reference to the fact that this week’s game was supposed to be played last month, in Gainesville, before Hurricane Matthew’s fly-by of Florida led to a lot of he said/she said bickering and posturing.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">A week of acrimonious negotiations later, the game — now referred to as the Postponement Bowl in some circles — ended up rescheduled for this week in Tiger Stadium.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Side note: Guice also said Alabama ?— yes, that Alabama — was scared of LSU’s running game, a curious suggestion considering the Tide held the Tigers to 33 yards on the ground the previous week. But he accused the Tide defense of stacking the line of scrimmage (a perfectly legal ploy in tackle football and a common tactic against LSU).</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The statute of limitations could run out on that blasphemy before young Guice sees the Tide again next year. The NCAA Bulletin Board committee may have to make a ruling.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But an actual player trash-talking the Gators is relevant because the idea that Florida was dodging LSU in October was a popular notion at the time— not an official stance, certainly, but a prominent theory on LSU-centric web sites and social media.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Even considering that this is much ado about nothing — boisterous advance comments tend to have little effect once the game starts — perhaps it would have been prudent for Guice to lay low against a really good defense.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But Guice mistook the actions of the full-grown adults in charge at Florida — most notably Florida’s then-Athletic Director Jeremy Foley — for the feelings of the Gators, many of his own age and gifted athleticism, that he’s likely to encounter in battle come Saturday.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">There was enough blame to go around.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">To recap the original quagmire, Florida botched the days leading up to the Oct. 8 originally scheduled game by not making alternative plans. The Gators thwarted several LSU concessions, including the offer to fly in and out the day of the game, even suggesting they could play on that Sunday, even Monday, if need be.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Florida would have none of it, and even though it turned out the game could easily have been played as scheduled, were able to pull out the “football is not important compared to a hurricane” card.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But the stubbornness the next week of LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva, didn’t help. He may have been grandstanding for his own constituency when he drew a line in the sand and flatly stated that LSU would have a home game on Nov. 19 come hell or hurricane.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">It greatly complicated Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey’s attempts to reschedule.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">So, finally, LSU bought out its game with South Alabama, Florida did the same with Presbyterian, and LSU didn’t lose a home game (Presbyterian and South Alabama will play each other Saturday; the world awaits breathlessly).</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">It was instant gratification for LSU, but the Tigers will have to pay the piper later. Whoever the new coach is next year will inherit an unbalanced SEC schedule with three home games, five on the road, because LSU will rightly have to make up the trip to Gainesville.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The Tigers might have been wise to suck it up and go to Florida this week.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Foley, one of college’s most respected athletic directors, retired on Nov. 1, so he no longer has to explain why that game couldn’t be played in October.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But, regardless of how little bearing it has on the game, Guice should have known that the Florida players themselves were never dodging LSU.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">That’s just not the way SEC teams roll.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The Gators, who were beat up back in October, are limping even more this week, expected to be missing as many as eight starters.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But at 7-2, 5-2 SEC they’re playing for the SEC East title because, well, because it’s the SEC East.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">They’re also getting on an airplane for what was supposed to be a home game.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">LSU didn’t need to give them any extra incentives.</span>

<span class="R~sep~AZaphdingbatdot7pt">l</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">Scooter Hobbs</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">covers LSU</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">athletics. Email him at</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">shobbs@americanpress.com</span>

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