LSU Deserved A Better Opponent
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by user Leslie Monteiro
It was an eventful Wednesday in the Bayou State. First, former LSU Tiger coach Nick Saban decided to weasel out of his contract with the Miami Dolphins and take the job at Alabama, LSU's conference opponent. Then, the Sugar Bowl made its return to New Orleans after an unfortunate hiatus over there last year due to Hurricane Katrina destroying the Superdome and the city. It ended with the hometown team beating an overmatched Notre Dame team. The LSU Tigers cruised through a 41-14 victory against the Fighting Irish.
No one should have been suprised at the outcome. Even Notre Dame fans had to be expecting that. LSU was heads and shoulders better than Notre Dame. They had better defense, better offense, and more speed players than their opponent. It makes one wonder why the Irish was even in there in the first place. The only theory to that is that the Irish fills fans in the seats and the network would get high TV ratings.
This is very sad in that regard because other teams deserve better. West Virginia should have been at the Sugar Bowl instead of Notre Dame. If the Mountaineers went to play at the Superdome, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights would not be forced to play in an undesirable bowl game called the Texas Bowl. The Scarlet Knights would have played on January 1st in the Gator Bowl, which would be more appealing since the game was on CBS and the attendance would have been much better.
Not only did those teams deserve better, but so do the fans. There is a myth going on that everyone is drawn to Notre Dame based on their successful history. Their successful history is ancient history. Most college football fans want to watch a good bowl game not a certain marquee team. There is a reason why everyone was in love with the Boise State Broncos the other night. They pulled off an upset for the ages by beating Oklahoma in a thriller. People love the underdog stories and a good game. Notre Dame provides neither of that anymore. Besides the state of Louisana and the Fighting Irish club, one has to wonder if hardcore football fans even watched the Sugar Bowl in the first place.
It is a disgrace that the BCS elitists frowned about Boise State being in a BCS Bowl bid. If those people had their way, Boise State would not be there. They were only there because the NCAA was facing a lawsuit if they were not invited. Everyone should be raising their eyebrows on the Irish selection. They should have never been there.
This was the Irish ninth straight bowl game loss. This is ridiculous. It is understandable that most teams have a two or three game losing streak in bowl games, but to lose nine in a row is hard to do. Their last bowl win was in 1994 in the Cotton Bowl. Lou Holtz was the last Notre Dame coach to accomplish that feat.
This is a back-to-back whooping that they received in a bowl game. This performance was a carbon copy of last year when the Ohio State Buckeyes put them in their place at the Fiesta Bowl.
NBC's college football team had no idea what to do with LSU's stud quarterback, JaMarcus Russell. He just shredded the Irish defense all night. He was throwing touchdown passes and running for touchdown. He had a complete performance, which was good enough to win the offensive player of the year. It is funny to see how Brady Quinn was being talked about by everyone all season. Russell upstaged him all night. He had a pretty good season so it was interesting that there was not much hype about him. This performance will no doubt raise his stock in the NFL Draft if he choose to enter, which could happen.
The difference in this game was the play of the quarterbacks. Quinn once again comes up lame in a big game. He can not play well when teams play upfront at him. He wilts against great defense. This can not be a great sign for him when he plays on Sundays fin future years. Everyone talks about how he is a high draft pick in the NFL. What does he do that should intrigue scouts and coaches? He is similiar to Giants quarterback Eli Manning. If he can not handle great defense, he will be a bust. It is funny how everyone expects 2006 Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith to not cut it in the NFL yet Quinn will be hailed as the next great hope for a bad franchise.
Russell got the party started by throwing two touchdown passes. He tossed one to Keiland Williams to give his team an early 7-0 lead. Then in the next possession, he starts running to the Irish 20 to be close to the end zone. He found his guy, Dwayne Bowe and Bowe scored for a 14-0 lead.
Notre Dame fought back. They got a touchdown with Quinn throwing the ball to David Grimes. They closed out the first quarter by cutting the deficit to 14-7.
They tied it when Quinn hit his favorite guy, Jeff Samardzija, who has blossomed under Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis.
This was Notre Dame's only moment because the Tigers took care of it from there. Tigers close out the half by taking the lead.
The big play of the game came from the Tigers 30. Russell threw a very long, on-the-mark pass to Doucet. He threw it from his own territory as Doucet was able to run and catch it. The Tigers were at the Notre Dame 5. The offensive player of the game ran to the end zone to give his team the lead that they would never relinquish. LSU led 21-14 heading to the locker room.
For all intents and purposes, this game was over in the third quarter. LSU head coach Les Miles came up with a very good game plan to shut down Quinn. Weis and his quarterback could never adapt and adjust. It became a frustrating night from there. Quinn was getting battered around along with his offensive line.
The Tigers got couple of field goals by their kicker, Colt David. The lead was extended to 27-14 in the third quarter.
Russell threw a baseball pass to Brandon Lafell to turn this game into a laugher. It was now 34-14. By then, the citizens of New Orleans was celebrating the night away at Bourbon Street. It might as well been Mardi Gras in January.
The Irish misery came to an end after Keiland Williams ran for a touchdown to end it at 41-14. This score could have been much worse than the score indicated.
It was just another blow to the ego of Irish fans, Weis, and Quinn.
Weis's reputation has to take a hit by now. He is a very overrated college coach. There has been talks about how the Giants are in love with him. They want him to be their head coach so he can help the troubled Eli Manning. Why would the Giants think he is an upgrade over the overmatched Tom Coughlin? Like Coughlin, he can not adapt to adjustments by the other team's coaches in the second half. He has zero answers when times go tough. He has gotten outcoached too. Why would any NFL team want to hire this guy? It is a fair question. Great teams need great coaching. Weis has proven that he can beat patsies, but when it comes to the real deal, he comes out as a fraud.
How about this? How is Weis any better than Bob Davie or Ty Willingham? This is an another question to ponder.
Weis should stop displaying his SB ring to the writers in his press conferences because it means nothing right now. He has to do something in the next two years.
This season has to be a colossal dissapointment for everyone at Notre Dame. They got 10 wins, but how are they different than the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Like Minnesota, Notre Dame inflate those wins by playing inferior teams which is good enough for the BCS wonks to put them in. Unreal, eh.
Instead of overhyping Weis, let's talk about coach Miles. The guy can coach. He did very well at Oklahoma State. His teams were tough and competitive in a tough conference. He has done a very good job sustaining the excellence that Saban built over there at Baton Rouge. He always gets a lot out of his players. His team just get the job done and his players do not talk to the media how great they are. It is a team that is rooting for. They earned this bid and they represented themselves well.
Fans should be educated by the media about teams like LSU, Boise State, Rutgers, Louisville, and other Cinderella teams instead of hearing about Notre Dame.
This football season has been a season of redemption for New Orleans. The city has gone through so much pain with the hurricane destroying a beautiful city. People dying and losing their homes from Mother Nature. While it may not bring those things back, the city can at least find something to be happy about as they continue their recovery. The New Orleans Saints are having a great season and they got a shot to go to the Super Bowl. The LSU Tigers completed a very good season by doing well in conference play and winning the Sugar Bowl.
The city was buzzing with joy from beginning till the end.
It was nice that the people from New Orleans got a chance to enjoy Wednesday night.
