Written by Chris Abshire at Bloguin
Unlike many sports that feature more scheduling balance or overall parity, college football reveals itself in November, the denouement of a season that can vary wildly month to month. While some teams seize on that truism and find an identity after early setbacks (see: Oklahoma, Washington State), the month often exposes as much as it elevates.
Teams like Baylor, with its exceedingly thin non-conference slate, and Iowa bore the brunt of early-season skepticism in 2015. However, it turns out that a bigger brand-name program, buoyed by a Heisman contender, was perhaps the sport’s finest illusion.
Yes, LSU was No. 2 in the CFP rankings all of 10 days ago, and now there’s talk in Baton Rouge of Les Miles’ tenure going the direction of Mack Brown after a dispiriting 31-14 home loss to Arkansas.
While there’s a lot to digest in the details — and hindsight is certainly easy here — the Tigers ultimately ran over mostly middling competition for two months, only to run intoteams hitting their strides come November. That’s a fundamental aspect of the college game with league titles and national championships increasingly going to teams that build rather than sustain. Ohio State in 2014 and Auburn of 2013 are proof enough, and the Sooners are primed to be the 2015 version.
Miles’ LSU squads haven’t been known to gain steam within the course of a season. Outside of 2006, all of his teams have lost a game after Nov. 1, bowl games included. Even his 2007 national title bunch lost to, that’s right, the Hogs at home in the regular season’s final game. It’s a fair criticism. It also doesn’t fully fit with a complementary narrative that’s sprung up over the past half-decade.
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