LSU is Everything Anyone Could Want in a College Football Team
By Kyle Koster
LSU went into Tuscaloosa and pushed Alabama around to win the most recent Game of the Century. The victory will vaunt the Tigers to the top of the College Football Playoff rankings and may be enough to guard against any future loss. All the hype was delivered upon as the thrilling shootout tantalized from opening kick to final whistle.
And while it's nice all established entertainment expectations were met, more pressing is the unavoidable reality that LSU is in the stretch run of a dream season. Make no mistake: they are the Alphas who look destined to become Omegas. They are a comet on a feverish track toward greatness. To watch them streak through the sky and through all opposing resistance is a joy for neutral observers.
They are everything a person could want in a college football team. They are dominant and exceptional in all three phases. There's the aforementioned showmanship, never letting the bright lights make them sweat.
They have a quarterback in Joe Burrow seemingly chiseled from past Heisman winners. He rode south with a compelling story and hope of a second act. His numbers are absurd and defy anything we've seen from legions of previous Tigers quarterbacks impotent to provide the complement of perennially suffocating defensive units.
They have a coach from Central Casting who sounds like Shawn Hunter's dad in Boy Meets World with a bit of Bobby Boucher's momma mixed in. He's folksy and affable, but no laughingstock.
They are gritty and gutty and destined to win. They are the Giant Slayers. Alabama is no longer king of the SEC West. Nick Saban looked equal parts perplexed and helpless at times as LSU kept the pressure on for four hours, never truly allowing the Tide to lift its head out of the water and regain oxygen.
This is not, of course, the first team to combine all these crucial, crowd-favorite elements. But it's the first time it's happened -- in recent history at least -- in Baton Rogue, which is a magical place known for sporting culture but not championships. At least since Saban left.
It may be an oversimplification to say: but damn, what an attractive and appealing team. Who could ask for anything more?