LSU was clinging to its Sugar Bowl hopes right as Les Miles joined an ESPN broadcast at the Michigan vs. Indiana game.
Who called that Sept. 3 besides nobody?
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Miles brought in Danny Etling from Purdue, where he now is viewed as a top candidate for a vacant head-coaching job. Etling, LSU’s quarterback, was the one under center as the Tigers faced a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line against Florida, in a game rescheduled and moved from The Swamp to Death Valley because of Hurricane Matthew. One botched toss and a fumble later, the Tigers left with a 16-10 loss.
Who called that with 3 seconds left besides everybody who watched LSU under Miles for the past decade?
LSU fans have been through enough of that with Miles in the past. Now Florida is a better bet to get that Sugar Bowl bid after clinching the SEC East. Miles might very well go to Purdue, and LSU is stuck answering the Ed Orgeron question, one that would have had a much-different answer had Derrius Guice crossed the goal line.
If Guice scores, then LSU probably goes to the Sugar Bowl. Orgeron, who has done an admirable job as an interim coach, gets a hard look for the full-time job. LSU barrels into 2017 with the same expectations as usual. It feels like what we’ve watched under Miles since the Tigers lost to Alabama in the 2012 BCS championship game.
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That’s how LSU has to think heading into the offseason. Is Orgeron the coach who can lead that always-talented team with high expectations, or was Saturday’s result as microcosm that whole thing feels just like Miles?
Oregon remains an interesting candidate. He’s a Louisiana native, and the Tigers without question played better under his watch after Miles was fired. Yet they still lost to Alabama and Florida in big-time spots.
That’s why the Jimbo Fisher rumors have weight. He knows Nick Saban, and he knows beating Florida. Fisher is a top-five FBS coach with a national championship. In fact, Fisher and Bob Stoops are the only active coaches not named Nick Saban or Urban Meyer who have national championships right now. If LSU goes outside Orgeron, then Fisher is obviously the best answer. He’s the best bet to face off against Saban every year.
Everybody else is a question mark, and would face the same questions that kept LSU from winning the SEC. That coach must develop a quarterback. That coach must revive the offense didn’t win a SEC championship with a one-of-a-kind-running-back in Leonard Fournette. That coach must uphold the standard that Miles set, which entailed winning 77 percent of his games with the Tigers.
The coach has a lot of work to do to get LSU back to the Sugar Bowl or better, but Saturday proved the Tigers will be close no matter what.
They just need less real-life drama with the next one.
