Don’t worry about how LSU beat Flordia

Published 8:05 am Monday, October 19, 2015

BATON ROUGE — Every now and then I feel the need to whip out this sermon as a friendly reminder to LSU fans.

We’ll eliminate the lead-up fire and brimstone and cut to the chase: Mainly, don’t be afraid to just enjoy a victory every now and then.

LSU’s 35-28 win over Florida Saturday night was as good an example as I can think of.

LSU’s players were still celebrating like crazy, still trying to semi-compose themselves for a satisfying get-together with Tiger Stadium’s student section for a passable run-through of the alma mater.

Maybe they got it. Maybe they knew they’d been in a knock-down, drag-out, war with a talented opponent that wanted to win just as much as they did.

They seemed pretty pleased with themselves.

But in the tangled web of another massive, close-game, snarled-up traffic jam, there were nay-sayers aplenty, all of them with ready access to the Internet and talk radio and carrying a list of gripes and grievances.

Among them:

LSU’s special teams could have lost the game.

A head coach who called a fake field goal in a tie game on fourth-and-13 was accused of going too conservative in the second half (after finally seeing the light in the first).

Way, way too many breakdowns in the secondary.

Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes.

Yeah? And your point is?

Let me repeat: Football was never meant to be played perfectly; it would likely not be possible even if robots were carrying out computer-generated orders.

Coaches are partly to blame for this misunderstanding.

They preach, stress it, as if that pristine game is one more wind sprint away.

Les Miles, in particular, likes to give a weekly update, label his wards‚ miscues as “easily correctable” and “look forward” to that pristine performance the next week.

News flash: It’s not going to happen. Not hardly ever. Never.

Winning football teams are not the ones that eliminate mistakes — that’s a pipe dream — they’re the ones that shrug them off and get on with the business of overcoming them.

It takes a certain attitude.

And LSU did a pretty fair job of that against Florida.

Besides, this is the Southeastern Conference. When you win a battle of top ten teams, you don’t ask how.

Worry about style points all you want when playing an Eastern Michigan or Somesuch Tech.

This, mind you, was a game LSU won against an undefeated and respected conference opponent.

Don‚t worry about how.

Do you really think Florida showed up just for LSU‚s entertainment? The Gators hand out some pretty coveted scholarships, too, hand them out randomly to big, fast guys and coach them up with million-dollar tutors.

Who know what was up with LSU‚s untimely secondary breakdowns (mostly on third-and-forever).

I just know that, with the game on the line, Florida, even with nothing to lose by that point, completed only 2 of its last 12 passes.

Not that the school that fashions itself DBU shouldn‚t try to work out the kinks.

But somebody in that LSU secondary did something right with the game on the line.

Quarterback?

I don‚t know if Brandon Harris can beat Alabama ˜ and, rest assured, he‚ll have to do far more than hand off to Leonard Fournette if LSU is to pull that off.

But I know he‚s come light years over the first half of the season.

The coaching staff looks almost ready to trust him, but perhaps there was a plan to bring him along slowly.

It seems to be working ˜ although don‚t be surprised if he doesn‚t throw a couple or three more incompletions along the way.

Point is, if this is LSU‚s finished product, the Tigers are probably no threat to the College Football Playoff.

But if this steady progress of this season continues, if this attitude and chemistry is maintained, there‚s no reason not to dream.

Mainly, listen to LSU‚s Heisman candidate, Leonard Fournette.

„At the beginning of the season I thought we were all right,‰ Fournette said afterward Saturday‚s game. „But we are better than what I thought.‰

Enjoy it. It could be interesting.