Ed

It's a huge coaching gap. Last week when some on this board were touting an improved running game, I said wait to see if MU can run the ball against a real defense. Well the Tigers couldn't. Drinkwitz is clueless. He played an injured quarterback most of last year, and posters on this board were making Bazelak the scapegoat when the kid was beaten up. Drink is overmatched coaching in this league (and against other proven coaches like Klieman) and needs to be cut loose ASAP.

I am optimistic, too; however I need to see good productivity against a much tougher K-State squad next week before I become too excited. If MU can run the ball well in Manhattan on the 10th my expectations will increase significantly.

You hit the nail on the head. Holtz cheated everywhere he went and bailed out on the school(s) just as the investigation was getting hot. Kelly might not have the the warmest personality but he puts a premium on discipline and doing things the right way - and he has won big everywhere he's been and LSU will be no exception.

Rightly so, my friend.

Bazelak was less than 100% for the nearly all of the season; consequently his performance was sub-par. He started looking spooked at times. A good deal of the blame falls on Drinkwitz, though- if the QB's performance is holding back the offense, Pull the trigger! Drink has to show much more this season as in-game adjustments have been weak at best.

No argument here, Dawwgie Style. The sieve-like defense was painful to watch a year ago.

God I hope so. I look around at some of these hires... Remaining cautiously optimistic.

Don't understand the reason for this inane article, except as filler. Musselman is doing a terrific job and is probably the best tactician in the conference. Give him credit and leave it at that.

Agreed 100%. I don't get Herbstreit to begin with, he isn't the brightest bulb in the ceiling. This was out of line; "friendly fire" is not a good look. But ESPN has effectively made him their College Football spokesman. Maybe it's because I'm not so young, but in my opinion there are several analysts or "color men" on ESPN who provide much better analysis.

Terrific season by the Hogs, and they were fun to watch. They acquitted themselves well against an excellent Baylor squad when a team with less heart could have easily packed it in. I agree that Moody could use another year; for much of the Baylor game he was in a fog.

Not happening. He's taking the DC from the Washington Huskies who some believe was screwed out of the HC job when Chris Petersen "retired".

Lou Holtz seemed to have that effect pretty much wherever he went (i.e. successor or the administration cleaning up his mess or probation.)

More useless drivel from O'Gara. Stop perpetuating the perception that a guy has to be from, or have coached in the SEC previously to have success. His performance at Auburn will stand on its own merit. FYI O'Gara's brother on the Big Ten site is just as informative.

I don't know why anyone would complain about this matchup; Iowa's really good. They basically gave away their first two games before stifling everyone the rest of the season and could easily be 8-0. Maybe it's just that I'm an old timer and still appreciate defense but there is nothing wrong with having to earn your points. A victory here would be our best win of the season, irrespective of the win vs LSU-(they still can't stop anyone.)

I wish Bret luck as he seems like a good guy; however, if anyone assumes he's going to start winning immediately back in the B1G-not so fast. This is not Wisconsin where he took over from Barry Alvarez who won three Rose Bowls and the previous two years went 10-3 and 9-3. This situation appears closer to Arkansas when he took over.

The block "M" remains my favorite and would look terrific against the all white uniform.

I agree 100%, aubforlife. You can see the results of firings similar to this in programs all over the country and it rarely works out well. Steele had one shot as an HC and it was an absolute disaster- one conference win in 4 years-even if Baylor was bad when he took the job. God help the Auburn Tigers if this is the end result.

I agree. Danielson understands the game and in my opinion provides excellent insight. Most of the complaints I've heard previously have been that he's too critical. As far as being a homer for anyone, I think he appreciates good, sound fundamental football and is partial to those teams that play it. People may dislike his personality or delivery, but it's hard to fault his understanding of the game.

About a month ago, I commented that I would be shocked if Bazelak wasn't the starter by mid-season. He can throw on the run, throw an accurate deep ball and showed pretty good poise for his first meaningful action in a tough situation, playing from behind. The INT was unfortunate, because the Tigers could've pulled within 10 (or 8 with a two-pointer.) Drink shouldn't have gone for two after the first TD, because it would've been 28-13. It was too early.

4 wins will be acceptable for me. Other than 4 probable losses, I think the Tigers have a decent chance in the rest of the games. They should beat Ark and Vandy, and if they win two of Tennessee, Kentucky, SC and Miss State, that's four wins. I think the quarterback situation will be stable by mid-October.

We've got 12 players out for the opener against Alabama. Give the guy a break. Anybody in that position would be sweating bullets about his own situation let alone teams who still aren't playing for another month.

The overall rankings won't look anything like they should until the end of October, after all the teams in question have a least played a couple of games. Who knows how many games each team will play by the end of the season? If the totals are within 1-2 games of each other, the rankings will be legitimate.

Imagine ol' Jimmy Harbaugh if the Big 10 plays and the Michigan schools don't?

I think seeing Notre Dame, which sits within four hours of 8 B1G schools, play on Saturday with 11,000 fans in attendance really embarrassed them. Even if they get eight or nine schools to play 7-8 games it's a huge plus for College Football as a whole. Wisconsin needs to play, though, because there's no one else to challenge the Buckeyes as far as I can tell.

He can play, and he will do a fine job in Starkville. He is a tough, smart experienced quarterback.

This must explain why Disney made Herbstreit their number one analyst and "leading college football expert". It certainly isn't his brilliant analysis or articulation.

Looks like Pollack had to straighten out Herbstreit, again. I have no idea how "Herbie" is considered a leading authority on college football, nor how he became the #1 analyst. His commentary is barely literate. There should be no centralized decision-making as the NCAA has done a splendid job of bungling everything they get involved in. The only thing they got correct was extending an extra year of eligibility to the players based on the uncertainty of this fall.

I'll be watching- I can't even count the number of "SEC Rewind" games I've watched over the past couple of months- better than nothing even with the inane sportswriter comments they intersperse with the games. I just saw Georgia-Florida from 1980- I watched that telecast live!

No way. Something is missing with Guarantano; he played in one of the toughest high school football conferences in the country (I know I live up here) and should have been able to make the transition with much less difficulty and drama. Now is the time to develop our team for beyond this year with a new coach and new optimism.

Up here in NJ we're actually having a HS fall sports season, which considering everything they still won't let us do, is pretty amazing. Football season starts October 2; six regular season games plus the playoffs, which can last a month. Interesting comments on the board here because not one college in our state is playing in the fall.