LSU squeaks by Washington, makes Tiger fans nervous

Last season, the Washington Huskies were one of a handful of teams to go winless. Because of injuries to quarterback Jake Locker and freshman running back Chris Polk, the Huskies were just as bad on offense as they were on defense. It was time for a change in Washington, as former Notre Dame coach Ty Willingham was quickly destroying a program that used to be one of the very best in the Pac-10.

Enter Steve Sarkisian. He was partly responsible for the USC offensive attack since 2001. This is Sarkisian's first head coaching gig, but having Pete Carroll as a mentor is definitely not a bad thing. The Huskies' newest head coach inherits a team that returns 8 offensive and 10 defensive starters, so my pre-mature expectation of stomping the Huskies in Washington was a little unreasonable right? Or was it?
LSU entered Saturday's game with a #11 national ranking (which I thought was kind of high for a team that lost 5 games last season) and as 16 1/2 point favorites. Washington hasn't won a game since November of 2007, while LSU has won a National Championship in that timespan. I couldn't wait to take a seat and watch our offense just run all over this weak Pac-10 team.
So then I sat. And waited. And waited. Until I realized, we're getting outperformed by a much inferior team.
I probably should refer back to Herm Edwards' famous postgame press conference when he says angrily to a reporter that "YOU PLAY. TO WIN. THE GAME!" And yes, a win is a win. But what I saw as a Tiger fan last night was discouraging when you consider the much better talent we'll soon be playing on a weekly basis.

3 EYE OPENING STATS:
1) Washington was 11 for 19 on third down while LSU was just 5 for 10. This showed that the Huskies moved the football better and more efficiently than the Tigers did.
2) The Huskies had more rushing and passing yards than the Tigers did. What is even more disturbing is the fact that the Tigers gave up a total of 478 yards.
3) If you take away the 2 TD completions to Tolliver, Jordan Jefferson threw for 88 yards. When you have Brandon LaFell and a tight end as talented as Richard Dickson, you have to get the ball in their hands. LaFell had 4 catches, Dickson only had 1.

Last night's game tells me this about our beloved Tigers so far. As of now, we no longer win the battle at the line of scrimmage on a regular basis, as Washington proved that they can hang with our line on both sides. Jordan Jefferson can not and will not be the QB under center for every snap this season. (Look forward to seeing Russell Shepard and Jarrett Lee get more snaps in the near future) There's no doubt that Jefferson is a heck of an athlete, but he isn't there as a passer yet.
Let's hope that Les can figure this out because Vanderbilt isn't just gonna lay down to us. (Vandy beat Western Carolina 45-0 while rushing for 433 yards)
GEAUX TIGERS!