Great Expectations: LSU Tigers Begin New College Football Season with High Hopes

It is the beginning of fall. College football teams throughout the nation are preparing for the new season with dreams of bringing home a championship to their beloved school and fans.

For the Tigers of Louisiana State University, that dream begins Saturday night in the Georgia Dome versus a talented North Carolina Tar Heels team.

Many questions abound for both programs entering Saturday night, but none larger than the ongoing NCAA investigation involving up to nine players for the Tar Heels, including star defensive tackle Marvin Austin.

There is ongoing speculation that some, if not all, of these nine players from North Carolina will be suspended for the game against the No. 21 Tigers of LSU.

If this prospect comes to fruition, this certainly does not bode well for the No. 18-ranked Tar Heels.

Although a new season, the Tar Heels should still be listed as underdogs due to an abysmal offense that ranked 102nd in passing yards and 79th in rushing yards during 2009, led by quarterback T.J. Yates, who threw a total of 14 touchdowns to 15 interceptions in 2009. 

Although not an offensive juggernaut in 2009, LSU, which ranked 97th in passing and 90th in rushing, has reloaded at the skill positions, especially at wide receiver. This group features the likes of senior Terrance Tolliver, sophomore Reuben Randle, and the dynamic sophomore Russell Shepard.

With the addition of former Florida passing game coordinator Billy Gonzales, junior quarterback Jordan Jefferson, who threw for a respectable 2,166 passing yards with 17 touchdowns compared to seven interceptions, should grow through some of the poor decisions that plagued him in 2009.

That being said, I fully expect LSU to be victorious come Saturday night in Atlanta. The Tigers offense is too deep, too quick, and too talented for North Carolina to contain.

Couple that with North Carolina having a quarterback who has thrown for 39 touchdowns to 37 interceptions for a career, facing a young and hungry LSU defense, led by all-world cornerback Patrick Peterson and tackling machine Kelvin Sheppard, and it seems to spell doom for North Carolina. In fact, I personally, believe LSU will win by at least 14, but this article is not about my personal predictions.

LSU is a dark horse candidate, to say the least, in the race for the SEC West. The SEC West contains 2009 national champion Alabama and improving Auburn and Arkansas teams, which is why I was slightly surprised to see Scott Hotard's article in today’s Baton Rouge Advocate.

In the article titled "UNC Woes May Cloud the View of LSU," Mr. Hotard goes on to describe the fact that an LSU victory by a depleted North Carolina team may cast a negative shadow on LSU.

The truth is, Mr. Hotard is exactly right. Media pundits will scream that it wasn’t a fair contest, and LSU would probably not receive much recognition nationally for their early season victory over a No. 18-ranked North Carolina.

Although it was an excellent article, I would make several observations, with the first being that an SEC team does not need an out of conference victory to make a statement.

The SEC is the home of the past four national champions, and as much as everyone outside the SEC hates to say it, has earned the national media’s respect. I do not believe in putting the cart before the horse, but an SEC championship would garner plenty of BCS respect with a definite possibility of a national championship experience.

Do I believe LSU is destined for the national championship this year? I would have to say no. However, they are as much of a possibility right now as every other team in college football, and with every passing day LSU’s chances at a national championship game appearance become greater, as the road to the national championship game runs through the SEC.

Within the past week word has risen that 2009 Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram will at least miss Alabama’s first game and possibly more. I say possibly more simply because Nick Saban will not divulge any significant amount of information on this subject, nor would any coach.

News has also broken that former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli has been barred from playing for Ole Miss by the NCAA, which is a detriment to the Rebels, as he was sure to be their starting quarterback.

As the season progresses, more news will break, as prominent players unfortunately fall to injury, an unavoidable circumstance for such a physical sport.

Of course, LSU does need a victory over North Carolina to stay relevant in the national scene, as a loss could be damning, but the true test of this team will come in the form of No. 1 Alabama, No. 4 Florida, No. 17 Arkansas, No. 22 Auburn, and the rest of the unrelenting SEC schedule.

Winning the SEC championship will garner as much national attention as needed, regardless of whether a victory over a depleted North Carolina team was tainted by their looming NCAA investigations.

The beauty of a new college football season is that every team starts anew. The previous year’s statistics and awards do not mean much, as even the lowest teams start 0-0.

For the LSU Tigers, and every team in college football, the first game is a chance to show where you stand, but it is the season as a whole that will define a team. For the first game though, each team’s expectations are great, and the possibilities are endless.

To all LSU fans, and to the fans of every team, enjoy, as college football has officially returned, and hopes of championships run wild for all programs and fans.