LSU barely hangs on to beat UNC, 30-24

I don’t know what to say about LSU’s win. I think the most impressive thing is the tenacity of UNC with 13 players not playing because of NCAA violations, seven defensive starters out; and there secondary had all new faces for this game. As many football pundits will tell you, you cannot win if you turn the ball over, whether in the pros or the collegiate level. However, LSU did. They hung on to a prayer and were rewarded, just barely. Everyone glued to the television sets saw how dominant The Tigers were in the first half. Jordan Jefferson looked very efficient, Russell Shepard displayed how dangerous he is going to be this year (wherever he lines up), and Patrick Peterson was phenomenal with 257 all-purpose yards. I did not know how special Peterson is but now I know, and he can flat out fly. At halftime, the score read 30-10 LSU but the second half was a different game and different team. The Tigers only generated 78 yards of offense in the second half, yikes!! This is a major problem and it’s only going to get tougher for them when they play their conference games. If you cannot beat a depleted team in UNC, what does that say for your team going forward against the likes of Florida, Auburn, Alabama and Arkansas?! Turn the ball over against these teams and you will pay. I like what I saw from Steven Ridley in the spring game, but you have to secure the ball. Two fumbles in the same game. After the first fumble in the third quarter, he would have been benched for the rest of the game. Maybe LSU thought they had the game all wrapped up going into the second half and all they had to do was coast and not take care of the ball but they were sorely mistaken. I tip my hat to T.J. Yates who passes for 412 yards with 3 touchdowns and no picks but he does have a fumble to his name though, a super effort by the entire team. Les Miles has to figure out how to keep his team motivated and focuses when they are leading big. Jefferson is not an elite quarterback, nor will he ever be, but he has weapons and can play when he makes the right decisions. That boneheaded pass, he threw up before halftime that was picked off, was so ill-advised. Its one thing to struggle against a team at full strength, and everyone has heard about how tough UNC’s defense was going into this season. But to barely hold on against a team down thirteen players is not good. Let’s hope the Mad Hatter can turn his team around in the right direction after this performance.