LSU Football '08: No Repeat, No Surrender

3) Late game heroics

It’s been an LSU specialty over the last few years. The Tigers dropped close ones to Kentuckyand Arkansas in six total overtimes and won in heart stopping fashion against Florida, Auburn, and Alabama.

LSU made many mistakes during the season and penalties were public enemy number one. LSU showed resolve by looking terrific in the second half in ’07.

LSU scored 291 second half points to opponents’ 119. That’s a pretty wide gap.

In fact, LSU outscored SEC opponents 162-88 in the second half.

Referring back to No. 1, if the Tigers have rely on late game heroics again, the quarterback is usually the guy leading the charge. That might not be a good thing this year.

4) Inexperience at CB and OLB

When Nick Saban was here he suffered through some bad play at corner before he finally got the type of guys he needed in this defense in order to blitz effectively. LSU has been pulling in quality cornerbacks ever since.

LSU is not low on talented corners this year, just experienced ones. LSU may not be able to leave these guys on their island as much as before. Having strong corner play really does affect what your entire defense can do.

The future looks bright at corner for the Tigers but ’08 will showcase two newbie starters.

Also with only one returning starter at LB in Darry Beckwith, LSU may lose a small step at backer.

A little known bright spot is LSU’s depth on the defensive line where even though there’s no more All World tackle Glenn Dorsey, the Bayou Bengals are still stocked with talent and won’t miss a beat in ’08.

But injuries were a factor last year especially on the defense, and refer back to No. 2 when you talk about the offense converting third downs to keep the defense off the field.

5) Even year schedule

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