News
LSU, everything about LSU, is our college football star of the week
Marianna Massey
The oddsmakers told you Florida had no chance against LSU in Death Valley on Saturday night when the line closed around -13.5 points. Coming off an emotional home upset of Auburn, to go on the road against any ranked team was going to be a tall task for the Gators. To go to LSU at night against a Tigers that has been rolling and win was basically impossible.
But that's why they play the games. Florida was still going to give LSU their best punch, and if you told head coach Dan Mullen that the score would be 28-28 with under five minutes remaining in the third quarter, he would have asked where to sign. Ultimately though, just like the oddsmakers predicted, the Gators couldn't hang until the end, and LSU scored 14 unanswered not only to win but to cover, improving to 6-0 and jumping to No. 2 in the country in the process.
That's why LSU, everything about LSU, is this week's college football star of the week. We start with Coach O, who set the tone for the whole night prior to kickoff:
Coach O has become college football's best character, in addition to sneakily becoming one of the best coaches in the sport. How's this for a graphic:
It's incredible to see what he's done with this program, one that was stuck in the "three yards and a cloud of dust" offensive routine for the last decade-plus. They're now one of the most high-powered offenses in the country, which sets up another potential "Game of the Century" against Alabama in four weeks time. Remember the last GOTC between these two teams? LSU won 9-6. This year's game could end 63-56 at the rate these offenses score.
More from Coach O:
The man is a national treasure. And to think, this is the same guy that went 10-25 in three seasons as the Ole Miss head coach. This is also the same guy that LSU fans had legitimate concerns about after his first full season as head coach in 2017. Think they're glad they stuck with him now?
Coach O wasn't the only star of the night though. The LSU band did the damn thing, playing the extremely NSFW and infamous "Neck." Actually, I'm not sure they even played it Saturday. The crowd may have just sang it on its own:
Yeah, that's not the actual song, probably because the band still isn't allowed to play it. That's not going to stop the fans, who also had themselves a HUGE night:
I need to go to a LSU game.
Honorable Mentions
Wil Muschamp
As a closet Georgia fan, this loss was painful, not going to lie. Will Muschamp tried to give it away but Kirby Smart didn't feel like taking it, furthering the theory that he's a world-class recruiter and a horrific in-game coach (see: the last two times they've played Alabama). Muschamp is not much better in-game, but it didn't matter when Rodrigo Blankenship missed that field goal Saturday, securing the upset for the South Carolina Gamecocks, who were a three-touchdown underdog.
Zac Thomas
For those who don't know, Zac Thomas is the starting quarterback at Appalachian State. How has Thomas fared in that position?
Not bad company to be in. Thomas helped lead the Mountaineers to a 17-7 victory over Louisiana Lafayette last Wednesday night, and the highlight of the game was the final drive, which went 19 plays (!!) for 97 yards and took 10:11 off the clock. It was of course capped off by a Thomas rushing TD on a bootleg that allowed him to waltz into the end zone. App State is now 5-0 on the season and ranked No. 24 in the AP poll. If they win their next three, they'll be 8-0 heading into a massive game at South Carolina, where a victory would put them in UCF territory, AKA a nice story but not getting anywhere near the College Football Playoff. For now, we can dream. Unless you're a Michigan fan who is still having nightmares about App State.
Pat McAfee
If you missed Pat McAfee's Bagel Boss reference on Thursday night, you should listen to it right now:
Just give him the MNF job already, ESPN.
CeeDee Lamb
Two of Lamb's three TDs from Saturday should be enough to get Texas' defensive coordinator fired:
Nice tackling!