LSU Football: Why it’s not time to freak out about the Tigers
By Zach Ragan
LSU football lost their season opener to Mississippi State on Saturday.
Look, there’s no way to sugarcoat this — LSU football‘s loss to Mississippi State is not a good look.
The Tigers were the way more talented team on Saturday. They should’ve left Tiger Stadium with a win.
But at the end of the day, this is an unusual season for a team that is essentially starting over. It wasn’t a complete surprise that LSU didn’t win the game.
And it’s definitely not time for fans to freak out.
LSU football fans shouldn’t worry too much about the loss to the Bulldogs
I get it. It’s tough to steamroll through the SEC in 2019 and then look mortal in 2020.
Back in January, when LSU was fresh off its victory against Clemson in the national championship game, it felt like the good times were never going to end.
But eventually, everyone knew that Joe Burrow would be off to the NFL. Everyone knew Joe Brady would leave for a better job. Then you add in the loss of a player like wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase (who opted out of the season) and you have basically a brand new team that looks nothing like the championship team from 2019.
Add in Derek Stingley Jr — the best college football player in the nation — not playing on Saturday not (due to a non-COVID illness) and you have a recipe for disaster.
The Tigers were never going to be the national champions again in 2020. Fans need to relax. This year is all about building for next year. It was Myles Brennan’s first start. Arik Gilbert’s first game. And Stingley didn’t even play.
Next. Arik Gilbert is going to be more important for LSU than anyone realized. dark
LSU is still a juggernaut in college football. And they’re going to return to the top of the sport. Nothing about Saturday’s loss to the Bulldogs changed that.