LSU's schedule, defense enough to win title

Arkansas Business, July 30, 2007 by Jim Harris

It may be hard for Florida to repeat as national champion, but the Southeastern Conference still could have a representative in the Bowl Championship Series title game.

A favorable schedule for LSU means the Tigers and Coach Les Miles could finally live up to fans' insatiable desire for another championship, following three long seasons since the last one. Tiger fans are just that way.

LSU, with its running backs and most of its dominant defense back from 2006, meets its toughest SEC foes in Baton Rouge, including Florida, but the Tigers may have to play the defending champion Gators again in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta the first Saturday in December. However, the Gators must get out of the deep SEC East first.

LSU pins its offensive hopes on quarterback Matt Flynn replacing Jamarcus Russell, who opted early for the NFL, and Flynn will be searching for a whole new receiving corps that helped Russell excel.

The Tigers still have an experienced offensive line led by center Bret Helms from Stuttgart, while the defense will again be difficult to move the ball against.

LSU must travel to Alabama, where former Tigers coach Nick Saban, who took LSU to the '03 BCS crown, now resides. But the Tigers get Auburn and Arkansas at home, as well as Florida.

The last time an SEC team's schedule looked so favorable was last season, when Auburn let two home games slip away and went 11-2. Unexpected home losses to Arkansas and Georgia kept Tommy Tuberville's team from a perfect mark, or at least a date in Atlanta with Florida.

Florida must replace quarterback Chris Leak, but the Gators should manage that with a sophomore, Tim Tebow, whose brief moments in Leak's stead last year were usually brilliant, as the Gators went 13-1 and crushed Ohio State in the BCS championship game.

Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer has managed just 13 wins in two seasons--what Volunteers fans usually expect out of one year--and is likely the one SEC coach feeling the heat (outside of LSU's Miles with his unreasonable fan base). Hence, he's allowed offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe to experiment with a more wide-open, no-huddle offense.

Georgia let quarterback Matt Stafford endure a rough freshman year, and by the end of last season he seemed to have a handle on leading the Bulldogs.

The only problem for Tennessee and Georgia is that South Carolina under Coach Steve Spurrier and Kentucky under Coach Ralph Brooks and its exceptional quarterback, Andre Woodson, are threatening to break the stronghold on the No. 2-3 spots behind Florida. Spurrier still might be a year away, especially on the defensive side. Vanderbilt continues to prove lately under Bobby Johnson that it's no longer the Vandy of old.