June 14, 2018
COMING THIS FALL
DENHAM SPRINGS HS FOOTBALL
FAMILY RADIO 91.9 FM AND ON THE NET AT JON FINE PRODUCTIONS. COM. Josh Ward will call play-by-play with Jon Fine on color commentary for Coach Bill Conides’ team.
PANTHER POWER
BRUSLY HS FOOTBALL is on the air in 2018. The games will air on KBRS RADIO, 106.9 FM AND ON THE NET AT JON FINE PRODUCTIONS. COM. Hoff Schooler is in his second year as coach of the Panthers. More details to come in subsequent newsletters.
GET ARRESTED
ArrestedDevelopmentMediaGuides, our EBay store, sells media guides. programs and baseball cards. Please visit JonFineProductions.com and click on icon to get to the store. Check out a full array of New Orleans Saints media guides and LSU media guides and programs and publications from much of the entire sports world. Over 4,500 publications listed.
YOUR WORLD CHAMPION HOUSTON ASTROS BASEBALL BROADCASTS: Tune in on SportsRadio-1310-KEZM-Lake Charles.
ON HIATUS
SportsCentral is taking some time off. WE HOPE TO HAVE AN UPDATE FOR YOU SOMETIME IN THE NEAR FUTURE. AS SOON AS THE STATUS OF THE PROGRAM HAS BEEN CLARIFIED TO US, WE’LL PASS IT ON TO YOU.
BATON ROUGE AREA BROADCASTING SCHEDULE:
THURSDAY: SPORTSCENTRAL: ON HIATUS 5pm—6pm: Central First Facebook Page… … Les Bueche, Sid Edwards, Frank Fresina… ON HIATUS
SPORTSRADIO-1310-KEZM-LAKE CHARLES (AND KEZMONLINE. COM) BROADCASTS
HOUSTON ASTROS BASEBALL (RADIO ONLY
NOT ONLINE)
WE THANK YOU FOR DOING YOUR UTMOST TO PATRONIZE SPONSORS OF OUR PROGRAMMING. THIS HELPS US TREMENDOUSLY IN SUSTAINING OUR WEEKLY LINE-UP AND WILL ASSIST US IN ADDING MORE PROGRAMS IN THE FUTURE. KINDLY MAKE AN EFFORT TO LET SPONSORS KNOW YOU HEARD THEIR BUSINESS MENTIONED ON OUR BROADCAST(S).
THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
LSU is going to have a terrible football season. That sentiment started when LSU lost to Notre Dame in the last minute. It gained steam a month later when the top cornerback switched his two year commitment from LSU to Alabama on signing day, LSU did not sign a quarterback, and the signing class finished outside the top 10. Then ESPN said LSU would win 5-6 games and LSU’s quarterbacks were inconsistent in the spring game.
So what is the actual outlook for this football season as the summer begins?
Let’s begin by separating the hyperbole from reality. The first exaggeration is that LSU’s defense can’t possibly be any good because they don’t have any cornerbacks due to losing Patrick Surtain Jr. The problem with that statement is that implies that LSU would have been fine if Surtain had signed with LSU. In my mind, I would have been concerned that LSU was counting on a true freshman to possibly start against Miami.
LSU did end up signing a cornerback this class. Terrence Alexander signed a couple months after signing day. He was a four star recruit a few years ago. Recruiting services bashed LSU because they didn’t take a commitment from four star recruit Mario Goodrich. Now LSU has one with years of experience and most appear doubtful of his impact. I am not guaranteeing Alexander’s success. Instead, I am making the point that LSU has a position of weakness that would not have been fixed with one player, and almost all college football teams have that somewhere on their roster.
Last year Alabama was thin at linebacker, and then they had tons of injuries at linebacker. The Tide received good fortune in other areas. Florida State was not as good as expected. The rest of the schedule was weak. When Bama was playing its worst football, they lost to Auburn which turned out to be a lucky break. By virtue of that loss, they didn’t have to face Georgia the next week which in hindsight would have been a loss for certain and knocked them out of the playoff. In actuality, Alabama lost to Auburn, made the playoff, had a month to get healthy, and then needed some very good fortune and a backup quarterback to beat Georgia.
In summary, LSU’s situation at cornerback is not a death blow. Greedy Williams is projected to be a top 15 pick next year (which the last couple of years for LSU has been a sign of a disappointing year, but hopefully works out this year). Kary Vincent was a top 50 player in the country and the second ranked cornerback according to some. He played pretty well at the beginning of the year when LSU had 12 players suspended.
Terrence Alexander, Jontre Kirklin, Todd Harris, Kelvin Joseph, and Ed Paris are five players that could contribute at cornerback or nickleback for LSU. All are talented players and only Kelvin Joseph is a true freshman. Again, LSU could have a rash of injuries at corner or suspensions for positive drug tests. But, LSU could also be just fine. Only the season will tell.
Nobody is questioning the front seven for LSU. The Tigers are as deep and talented at linebacker and defensive line as they have been in years. That fact could also help cover up if there are issues at cornerback. That reminds me, safety should be a position of strength and Jimbo Fisher was going to pay Aranda a ton of money because he is pretty good. So the defense may be pretty good after all.
I will admit the offense has plenty of questions, but LSU has been in that situation for a long time now. Many predict doom for LSU because of their performances at the beginning of the year against Mississippi State and Troy. What people forget is that LSU was starting true freshman on the offensive and defensive line in those games. We have already talked about the defensive line, so let’s look at the offensive line.
The good news is that LSU only has one freshman in the two deep right now, and I doubt he will play even if the starting center gets hurt. There is some concern at tackle due to lack of experience, but as the Saints have shown, it is actually easier to scheme around a weakness at tackle than it is at center and guard.
Of course, the other reason for predicted doom is that LSU doesn’t have a running back predicted to be picked in the first round of the NFL draft for the first time in years and that will also lead to disaster. This concern is one that I would buy into if LSU planning on continuing to operate in the same style of offense. Considering the changes that are coming, I am not as concerned.
The fact is that running back and several other positions are areas where LSU has talented players that have shown flashes, but have not had the breakout season yet. Last year Devin White was that player. There were tons of questions after losing Beckwith and White had only had one good flash of greatness against Louisville in the bowl game. Players like Chaisson, Vincent, Monroe, Edwards-Helaire, Phillips, and others have the same potential but haven’t done it yet.
LSU has been in an interesting dilemma the past few years. Players that are expected to have All-American seasons seem to underwhelm, while players that are not expected to do much have great years like Greedy Williams last year.
I know it will seem like I am predicting a great season because I don’t have the same concerns as many of the experts. In reality, there is one concern that is the most valid. The schedule appears to be as difficult as the 2011 schedule when LSU faced Oregon and West Virginia in addition to the SEC schedule. Of course, LSU had the best regular season in school history that year.
The fact is that the SEC schedule has not been as challenging in recent years as Florida has struggled. With Georgia on the schedule, LSU will be as challenged as it has in years. Even years seem to be the year for challenging non conference foes. LSU beat Wisconsin in 2014 and lost to the Badgers in 2016. In 2015 and 2017, BYU and Syracuse were not as good as expected. Miami will certainly be a serious challenge in 2018.
As I have said before, LSU could be better this year than they were the last two years and still finish with a record of 8-4 or even 7-5. But we still aren’t there yet. The inevitable summer suspension season has just started. LSU and Miami players have plenty of time to get in trouble and impact who wins the first game of the year. I suggest enjoying your summer and keep an open mind on what is going to happen this year.
HEY REF
Dennis is taking this week off.
DENHAM SPRINGS HS FOOTBALL RADIO BROADCASTS ARE A JON FINE PRODUCTION ON FAMILY RADIO, 91.9 FM, BATON ROUGE and JonFineProductions.com. BRUSLY HS FOOTBALL RADIO BROADCASS ARE A JON FINE PRODUCTION ON KBRS, 106.9 FM and JonFineProductions.com.
OUR EBAY STORE, ArrestedDevelopmentMediaGuides, SELLS SPORTS PUBLICATIONS. YOU CAN LINK TO IT BY VISITING JonFineProductions.com.
JON IS PROUD TO WORK AS A MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE FOR SPORTSRADIO-1310-KEZM-LAKE CHARLES
AND WORKS AS A MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE FOR SPORTSCENTRAL ON THE CENTRAL NOW FACEBOOK PAGE.