LSU News.....

Jordan Jefferson gains respect of LSU football team
http://www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/2010/09/jordan_jefferson_gains_respect.html

Junior QB more vocal, poised to lead attack

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LSU tops 12 tailgating spots in college football

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g5cqPkU0gSksiJ44H-42DXbneKVQD9I0K3IG1

It's not just a game in college football, it's a daylong party.

And out-partying the Southeastern Conference, with its passionate fans and mild weather for most of the season, is difficult.

But the SEC hasn't cornered the market on tailgating like it has national championships. If you're looking to go on a tailgating tour this season, here are the top 12 spots to hit.

1) LSU. It's all about the food. Hot dogs, burgers and brats? Please. Try spicy alligator, andouille sausage, gumbo, crawfish and maybe a little shrimp etouffee. Plenty of beverages to wash it all down, too.

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LSU's strength is in the secondary
Dave Moormann
Sports Correspondent

http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20100904/ARTICLES/100909686/-1/sports?Title=LSU-s-strength-is-in-the-secondary

BATON ROUGE – If LSU is to unleash an aggressive defense, as second-year coordinator John Chavis has suggested, it's only because Chavis and his staff believe the Tigers have the defensive backfield to make it work.

Rushing more players puts more responsibility on a secondary, which will have fewer people to help it guard an opponent's receiving corps. Armed with one of the country's premier cornerbacks in junior Patrick Peterson, the 18th-ranked Tigers are willing to take that risk beginning with Saturday's football season opener against No. 18 North Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game.

“The thing that we've talked about in the offseason… is being a bit more aggressive,” Chavis said. “We are going to have to make plays when we do blitz, but I enjoy blitzing. Our players do too, and certainly we will not blitz because we don't have the personnel to do it. We do have the personnel to do it.”

That extends beyond a line that includes senior right tackle Drake Nevis and redshirt freshman Sam Montgomery and into a secondary that should benefit from Peterson's presence. While Peterson's is the most experienced of the group, sophomore cornerback Mo Claiborne comes equipped with talent, promise and a tremendous mentor.

“I've taught him everything I know,” Peterson said.

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LSU QB Jordan Jefferson Has Aged More Than a Year in Past 12 Months

http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/09/02/lsu-qb-jordan-jefferson-has-aged-more-than-a-year-in-past-12-mon/

Jordan Jefferson might have been the youngest starting quarterback in the SEC last year and the youngest to start a season-opener for LSU since 1945. Talk about a long, long year.

Jefferson still sports a youthful appearance at 20 years old, yet he has aged considerably since last September. While the Tigers finished 2009 with nine victories, they suffered close defeats to Florida and national champion Alabama during the regular season and a deflating 19-17 setback to Penn State in the Capital One Bowl.

The season left the team, fans and administrators feeling like they had not accomplished much by LSU standards. Critics howled they were losing their faith in head coach Les Miles and believed certain Tigers were not fulfilling their potential.

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LSU CB Peterson relishing role as returner

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j7MQIvAcKHM5JoWLgWKeN5xZ3aCgD9HVEA002

BATON ROUGE, La. — Now that Patrick Peterson is getting his shot to return kicks and punts for LSU, he's scoring touchdowns in his sleep.

Recently, Peterson said, he woke from a dream in which he'd brought back "two kick returns and a punt return against North Carolina in the Georgia Dome — all the way."

That would have been an impossible dream last year, when Peterson focused primarily on his role as the top cornerback on the team, covering opponents' best receivers one-on-one.

This year, coach Les Miles figured Peterson needed the ball more, so he'll debut in his newly added role when the Tigers and North Carolina open their seasons against one other in Atlanta on Saturday night.

"I can't wait," Peterson said. "I just told my guys, as long as they (block) their man, do their responsibility, we'll have fun out there. I promised them that. I'm not going to break my promises. I just can't wait for the real deal to happen so I can get that kickoff under the lights and see how we're going to respond."

Peterson will now be more exposed to high-speed, head-on collisions during his returns, elevating his risk of injury.

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SEC Notebook: LSU can use Kickoff Classic to break out of post
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/sep/02/notebook-lsu-can-use-kickoff-classic-to-break-of/
 
LSU is the first SEC team besides Alabama to play in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic, which on Saturday starts its third year of matching the SEC and ACC in a season opener. The No. 21 Tigers play No. 18 North Carolina in Atlanta's Georgia Dome.

Much of the talk in Baton Rouge has been whether North Carolina will have its full roster because of possible problems with the NCAA. Yet, LSU needs to focus on what impact this game could have on its program, this season and beyond.

Two years ago, in the first Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic, the Crimson Tide, coming off a 7-6 season in Nick Saban's first year guiding 'Bama, steamrolled No. 9 Clemson, 34-10.

Alabama's dominant line play resulted in a 419-188 edge in total offense, including no yards rushing for Clemson. It was Alabama's first win over a top 10 opponent since 2005.

Since that night, Alabama has won 16 straight regular season SEC games, played in two SEC championship games (winning one), won a national title and played with swagger, discipline and purpose.

That's why LSU, which has gone 8-8 in the SEC the last two seasons after winning the 2007 national championship, needs not only to win on Saturday, but to look very good doing it to regain its mojo. No group of players knows that more than LSU's offense, which sputtered too much last season.

"We have to come out there and produce," LSU running back Stevan Ridley said. "LSU has always had the defense that has been pretty dominant, but our offense has been slacking the past few years."

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LSU's Season Begins Today: The Return of The "Mad Hatter"?
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/450981-lsus-season-begins-today-the-return-of -the-mad-hatter

Within hours, The Fighting Tigers of Louisiana State University will begin their 2010 football schedule.

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Leading LSU back to the 'promised land'

http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/13396/leading-lsu-back-to-the-promised-land

He's already demonstrated at LSU that when he gets his hands on the ball that he knows how to find the end zone.

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Research reps: Bama's discipline, NC's loss
http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/5916/research-reps-bamas-discipline- uncs-big-loss

21 LSU vs 18 North Carolina, 8 ET on ABC: Saturday's most-anticipated game will take place at the Georgia Dome, which suits LSU just fine. ...

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Randle finds home on defense, looking to LSU

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gBvyXM4SP89GGsnTF6pdmu4jR6ZwD9HURD600

LEAGUE CITY, Texas — At the beginning of last season, Trevon Randle appeared destined to become one of Clear Springs High School's top running backs. Except things didn't go so well in the first game.

"He fumbles the ball three times," coach Clint Hartman said. "About 4 in the morning, I made the decision he couldn't fumble on defense."

Nope. When Randle is at the linebacker spot, he wreaks havoc on the other team's offense, and that's what has him on the road to the Southeastern Conference. Randle has verbally committed to LSU after a tremendous junior season in which he had more than 170 tackles.

Randle has also impressed off the field.

"He's a December grad, so his grades are As and Bs and he's got everything taken care of," Hartman said. "Not a greater kid in the world, and that's just the truth."

Randle is speedy, and it's easy to understand why Hartman played him at tailback throughout the opener last season. That quickness, along with his 6-foot-2, 219-pound frame, helps him disrupt whatever the opposition might be doing.

"He runs a 4.5," Hartman said. "Long, athletic, rangy. I know he eats up space in the passing game. He's very physical."

Hartman expects Randle to get a little bigger after this season as he prepares for the SEC.

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Glenn Guilbeau: Can Miles reverse the Curse of Coker in 2010?

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20100904/SPORTS0402/9040343/1001/sports

Les Miles' LSU coaching career continued on the crooked Coker course for the second straight season in 2009.

2010 could be his last chance season to try to reset the GPS.

Miles was 34-6 with a national championship in his first three seasons at LSU after inheriting one of the elite programs in the nation going into the 2005 season. Perhaps no coach in college football history inherited more because perhaps no coach in college football history left more incoming, young and veteran talent in a program than Nick Saban did when he left for the Miami Dolphins after the 2004 season — one season after winning the BCS national championship.

Perhaps no coach, with the exception of what Miami Hurricanes coach Butch Davis left for Larry Coker when he left for the Cleveland Browns after the 2000 season, in which his team finished No. 2 in the nation with an 11-1 record and should have played in the BCS national championship game. A BCS malfunction instead put Florida State, which had lost to Miami, in the BCS title game, where it lost to Oklahoma.

Coker was 35-3 with a national championship in his first three seasons at Miami after inheriting one of the elite programs in the nation going into the 2001 season.

Miles replaced Saban, who had dramatically turned around a losing LSU program beginning in 2000 and built it into a national champion in the 2003 season. He left a wealth of talent and a strong winning blueprint after the 2004 season. Most of the players on Miles' 2007 national championship team — more than 30 — were recruited, signed and coached by Saban.