LSU Football: 5 Things the Tigers Learned from Last Year

Have you ever been in a relationship where everything is going absolutely perfect and then your girlfriend dumps you on Valentine's Day?

Neither have I, but that is what it had to feel like for LSU's football team last season.

The Tigers completed one of the most memorable regular-season runs in college football history, followed by one of the most forgettable national championship performances in college football history.

Les Miles' team looked and played like an unbeatable force last season, completing a perfect 13-0 regular-season record while outscoring their opponents by a score of 500-137.

But make no mistake about it: not everything was peaches and cream for the LSU Football team last season.

The Tigers were embarrassed in a 21-0 loss to Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game. It marked the first time that a team had been shutout in the national title game in the BCS era.

With that said, let's take a look at some important lessons that the Tigers should have taken away and break down five things that LSU learned from last season.

Bleacher Report style!

You Can Win the SEC Regular-Season Title with a Run-First Mentality on Offense

No disrespect to Jordan Jefferson or Jarrett Lee, but neither of the two were the reason LSU went undefeated in the regular season in 2011.

The reason LSU went unbeaten in the regular season is because they had a dominant defense, and they were able to run the ball successfully on offense.

LSU didn't necessarily have one particular dominant back last season, but instead, Les Miles relied on a running back-by-committee system which worked to perfection.

The foursome of Spencer Ware, Michael Ford, Alfred Blue and Kenny Hilliard cumulatively rushed for an eye-popping 2,338 yards and 30 combined touchdowns last season. The four-back combination carried the ball a total of 444 times last season, compared to Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee's combined 267 passing attempts.

Some SEC teams such as Arkansas and Georgia shy away from the run at times, but it clearly seems to be working for this LSU football program as of late.

You Can't Win a National Championship Without a Capable Quarterback Under Center

I had to make it a point to word these past two slide titles correctly.

Clearly, the Tigers proved they could win an SEC title while relying so heavily on the run. But this past season's 21-0 loss in the BCS championship was as much on the poor play of Jordan Jefferson as anything else.

Jefferson was invisible in that game, completing just 11 passes for a lousy 53 yards and a costly second-half interception.

A.J. McCarron, Alabama's starting quarterback, certainly wasn't the best quarterback in college football last season either, or even in the SEC for that matter. But he is a game manager who did just that and led his team to victory on the biggest stage when it mattered most.

If the Tigers find themselves back in the BCS picture in 2012, Les Miles better make sure that his starting quarterback is capable of managing the game (and at least moving the football past the 50-yard line).

The Honey Badger Is Special, but He Can Only Do so Much

Was there a more exciting player in all of college football last season than LSU's Tyrann Mathieu?

The answer to that question should be pretty simple for all you college football fans out there. No, there isn't anyone in the game who can light up a crowd—or a scoreboard, for that matter—like the Honey Badger.

Mathieu had two huge punt returns for touchdowns in back-to-back games against Arkansas and Georgia to close out the SEC season for LSU. Both of those returns ignited LSU and really got them going on the offensive end of the ball.

But perhaps the Tigers relied too much on Mathieu's return ability, and when one of those big punt returns didn't come in the Alabama game, the offense continued to crumble and failed to show any sign of life throughout the contest.

The lesson learned here is that while Mathieu might electrify your team with his big-play return ability, that is not something that you can rely on every game if you are LSU.

If You Want to Be the Best, You Have to Beat the Best

What made LSU's undefeated regular season so impressive last year was not necessarily that they won 13 straight games, but who they beat during that time.

Les Miles made it a point to challenge his group last season, and that became apparent right out of the door when the Tigers opened the year with a game against then-No. 3 Oregon at Cowboys Stadium.

After defeating Oregon 40-27 in one of the most hyped-up regular-season openers in college football history, the Tigers then went on to beat two more ranked teams—Mississippi State and West Virginia—in two of their next three games. This all came before getting into the meat of the SEC conference, which we know is the most challenging conference in college football.

But with that challenging schedule came big rewards. After defeating the likes of Oregon, Mississippi State and West Virgina, the Tigers moved to the top of college football polls, and stayed on top until the conclusion of the season.

If you want to become the best, you have to beat the best.

That is exactly what Les Miles' team did in 2011.

Defense Wins Championships

Perhaps this is the most important lesson of all that LSU learned from this past college football season.

The old saying certainly held true last year, as the two best defenses in all of college football were right there to play for the national championship when it was all said and done.

LSU had a dominant defensive unit last year, led by arguably the best secondary duo over the past decade in Morris Claiborne and Tyrann Mathieu. With Claiborne now set to move onto the NFL, the Tigers will have to find a way to replace the former All-American and Jim Thorpe Award winner.

But expect LSU to reload this season and again be one of the strongest defenses in America.

The only problem is...the same can be said for that team down in Tuscaloosa as well.

If this statement holds true, then we could be looking at a rematch of last year's BCS National Championship in 2012.