LSU has talent but maybe not schedule to repeat

For the first time in a long time LSU has a chance to follow up a highly successful season with a team that has the ability to successfully walk in it's predecessors footsteps. Even losing big game players on both sides of the ball the biggest obstacle is not the roster but the schedule. Georgia at home and Florida, Auburn and South Carolina on the road may leave the Tigers a little short of making a return trip to the BCS Championship or even the SEC Championship.

On paper the Tigers lose quite a few starters but in reality the “new” starters all played heavy minutes last year. An example of this is at tailback where Jacob Hester departs. Any of this years backfield group made major contributions to the Tigers championship campaign. Keiland Williams, Richard Murphy and Charles Scott combined for more than 1ooo yards rushing and and 11 touchdowns. The same is true at wide receiver where LSU said goodbye to the likes of Early Doucet but hold on to Brandon Lefell, Demetrius Byrd and Chris Mitchell.

On Defense the Tiger secondary is retooling but with some big play makers in Jai Eugene, Curtis Taylor, Harry Coleman and super sophomore Chad Jones they should be up to the task. Up front LSU may have lost a lot in Glenn Dorsey but Rickey Jean-Francois, Tyson Jackson and Marlon Favorite anchor what will once again be the heart of the Tiger “D”.

Les Miles is the gambler in the SEC but a trip to the plains of Auburn may be the beginning of what could be a rough stretch in conference. Auburn and Florida will both be tough wins to come by on the road, and with an inexperienced quarterback taking snaps this fall, 9-3 might be the best the Tigers could walk away with this year.

The most telling storyline of the year might be Les Miles as coach. His first few years have been in the shadow of Nick Saban. Whether fair or not, justified or not the perception is that he won with someone else's talent. Last year Miles played fast and loose with his strategy. Miles is a good coach who gets maximum effort from his players and puts them in position to win. This year as his team faces new challenges, Miles best coaching yet may be what makes the difference in his teams success on the field and his reputation off of it.