20/20 Hindsight...

Stewart Mandel's August Prediction for this year's Tigers...

Who is going to be this year's Tennessee, a highly ranked team that falls on its face? -- Aaron, Dacula, Ga. I don't have the cojones to sit here and predict that one of the likely preseason top three teams (as Tennessee was last year) is going to wind up going 5-6, but there is at least one highly ranked squad that has all the makings of a big-time bust. That team, I'm sorry to report, is LSU. It's not hard to see why so many people are falling for the Bayou Bengals. They did go 11-2 last season, after all, and knocked the living bejesus out of Miami in the Peach Bowl. Seemingly their entire roster is made up of former Parade All-Americans (heck, their third-string quarterback was one of the biggest-name recruits in the country two years ago). However, the Tigers are also beset by at least three potential downfalls that most pundits seem to be conveniently overlooking.
1. A quarterback controversy: Matt Flynn's Peach Bowl performance may have been the worst thing that could have happened to the Tigers, because these things almost never end well. JaMarcus Russell is a proven, clutch performer (see last year's Arizona State and Alabama wins), yet the first time he screws up, people are going to be calling for Flynn. That's a huge distraction.
2. Depleted offensive and defensive lines: Besides having a proven quarterback, experience on the two lines is, to me, the most important criteria to consider when assessing a team's preseason prospects. Do people not realize that LSU lost three all-conference O-linemen (Andrew Whitworth, Rudy Niswanger and Nate Livings) and two All-America defensive tackles (Kyle Williams and Claude Wroten)?
3. Running back is a huge question mark: Joseph Addai never got much pub, but he was a first-round draft pick, leaving the Tigers dependent on two tailbacks, Alley Broussard and Justin Vincent, who are both coming off ACL injuries. If Broussard can return to his 2004 form, fantastic, but that's hardly a sure thing.

Of course, I myself overlooked all these when I ranked LSU No. 5 in my post-spring Top 25. But having had more time to think about it, I can't possibly see the Tigers losing fewer than three times in a schedule that includes road games at Auburn, Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas. The only question is whether there will be an all-out implosion, like last year's Vols. Anyway, sorry to spoil your party, Tigers fans ...


Stewart....You are TIGERBAIT!!!! JACKA$$