5 Thoughts ...
2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl
LSU 38 ... Georgia Tech 3
GAME RECAP:
Jefferson shines for LSU
- 2008 CFN Chick-fil-A
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2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl
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1. I’ll be the
first to admit that I did not
see this coming. With a true
freshman at quarterback and
seemingly little motivation to
play in a December bowl game, I
figured LSU would be a no-show
in Atlanta. Oops. The reigning
national champs showed everyone
that they still have the
athletes on both sides of the
ball to play like a top 5 team.
Go ahead and give an extra
helping of credit to Les Miles
and his staff for preparing the
Tigers like this was a BCS
event, and for keeping the
players firmly focused on
Georgia Tech. Heaven knows,
there were about a dozen reasons
why this team could have
performed as if the season had
ended a month ago in Little
Rock. -
Richard Cirminiello
2. Welcome back, LSU. That was
the swagger, the athleticism,
and the talent that hadn't shown
through all season long. Now
come the two big questions: 1)
does this mean the team was one
of 2009's biggest
underachievers, and 2) does this
mean the team is back to
national title form going into
next year? Yes, and maybe. The
offensive line didn't play this
well all season long, while the
defense was disciplined and
swarming. With the time to
prepare for the option that most
teams didn't get, LSU was able
to quickly show that the
athletes up front were too much
for the offense. Yeah the team
had injuries, but everyone has
injuries. The biggest problem
was at quarterback, but the
defense should've been able to
help pick up the slack a bit
more. Going into next year,
Jordan Jefferson might seem like
the answer under center, but the
coaching staff has to quickly
figure out if it's going to be
that big a slam dunk. Will
Andrew Hatch and Jarrett Lee get
any real chances to work and win
the job? Les Miles has to at
least keep the competition open.
There's going to be a ton of
turnover on both sides of the
ball, so to be back to the
LSU-level, the quarterback play
has to be far, far better. -
Pete
Fiutak
3.
Virginia Tech won the ACC
championship, but Georgia Tech
was the league's best team over
the course of the regular
season. Tonight's result wasn't
reflective of the way the Yellow
Jackets conducted themselves
from September through November.
The same could apply to LSU,
which will be back to its
normal, high-powered self next
season with John Chavis around
to coach up the defense. What
this game did prove, beyond a
shadow of a doubt, is that the
ACC's haul of 10 bowl teams was
far more a sign of mediocrity in
the middle, rather than quality
depth. Boston College's upset
loss to Vandy earlier in the day
planted seeds of doubt; this
train wreck for the Rambling
Wreck confirmed that one of
America's six BCS leagues is an
Acutely Compromised Collection
of football squads. -
Matthew
Zemek
4. Ryan Perill-who?
Okay, it took the entire season,
but LSU looks as if it’s on the
verge of recovering from the
preseason dismissal of its
would-be starting quarterback.
No, I’m not about to overhype
Jordan Jefferson just yet, but
it’s hard not to be wowed by the
way he conducted himself against
a very talented Georgia Tech D.
Remember, the kid who completed
his first nine passes and didn’t
commit a turnover is just
that...a kid. That was a true
freshman in the Georgia Dome,
playing as if he was a
third-year starter. He certainly
looks the part, and with an
entire offseason to digest the
system and compete with Jarrett
Lee and Andrew Hatch, Jefferson
could be the answer to LSU’s
question mark at quarterback. -
Richard Cirminiello
5. Georgia Tech might have played over its head all
year long, and it was obviously overmatched by LSU, but Paul Johnson
spent his first year putting square pegs into round holes. Call it a
learning experience. This was one of the nation's youngest teams,
and now this should be a loaded 2009 team that can take this loss
and use it to keep the heads from getting swelled. While wins in
bowl games are usually used for positive momentum, for Tech, this
loss in this way might be the best thing that could've happened.
Winning the ACC title and getting to the BCS is more important than
winning the Chick-fil-A Bowl, and now the team has a rallying point.
However, for Johnson and his offense, the pressure will be on to
produce come next bowl season. One loss like this can be explained
away. It won't be so easy to do next year. -
Pete
Fiutak