This Louisiana Saturday night under the lights at Tiger Stadium, LSU Football will be having a celebration of pride and hope. The LSU spring game is usually more exciting than most college football spring games because it is an SEC school with irrational expectations. That is usually enough to grab your attention. This year however, not only are there the normal irrational expectations, but hope will fill the air as dignitaries of the program will be in attendance, potential future Tigers will be taking it all in along with thousands of students and supporters. It will be a great day to be a Tiger indeed.
Coach O is having this game take place on a Louisiana Saturday night to make this thing as big and as real as possible. LSU is going into this season with so many question marks surrounding a new offense, a defense that lost a handful of pros, and the start of a new non-interim regime under Ed Orgeron. This team cannot afford to feel like expectations are being lowered with all of that going against them. Coach O knows this and holding this spring game at night and making it a big event puts it into the players and fans heads that LSU does not expect to have growing pains.
With that said, reality is that nobody knows how this thing will play out. I tend to think this will be an average team next season but there are factors that tell me not to sleep on the Tigers. Factors like Dave Aranda’s masterful tactics and Matt Canada’s offense being a mystery to everyone in the SEC give LSU hope and hope is what this night is all about. There is not place for reality at an LSU spring game, especially this year.
The reality is we won’t see much of what Matt Canada has up his sleeve, but the sneak peek we do get will be more than enough to convince thousands of Tiger fans that this offense is headed in the right direction. Sure reality tells us this is Danny Etling’s team, but why not try to get excited about Justin McMillan and Lindsey Scott Jr.? Arden Key is LSU’s most important player and won’t be in there; a very harsh reality, but Saturday is all about the hope of another playmaker emerging on defense. Maybe Rashard Lawrence gets that hype? Maybe it will be Kevin Tolliver? I don’t know who will be the talk of the spring, all I know is that there will be buzz and newfound hope.
Spring football games are not based in reality or true analysis. This is supposed to be a night of fantasy. So when you watch, listen, or even attend the LSU Football spring game, lose yourself in the fantasy world of a Louisiana Saturday night. A reality that you should keep in mind is that sometimes a spring game is the best and happiest night of the year. They are some of the most entertaining infomercials too; selling the world on a program and the hope of being 0-0 heading into another college football season. And if Coach O is selling, I am buying.