The Tide Rolls Out

The perfect season ended this afternoon in a tense, defensive struggle as LSU beat the Tide in overtime. I'm not shocked that we lost the game, given the way the offense has been playing, but the way we lost was pretty discouraging. Just a few observations:

1) We have the best defense in the country hands down. Without a really squirrely pass interference call, LSU probably never scores a touchdown.

2) We really do miss Tyrone Prothro that much. There's just no other conclusion at this point.

3) All the games Brodie missed in high school and college due to the injuries mean he's really about a sophomore in terms of experience, and it shows in crunch time. That said, having 6 or 7 dropped passes doesn't exactly help either.

4) How in the name of all that is right and holy did Tennessee beat LSU in Baton Rouge?

5) The chances of us beating Auburn next week are less than 1 in 10.

6) The coaching staff curled up and died in the second half. The defensive calls were too conservative, and the offense...well, the things that worked in the first half were never used in the second.

And yet with all of that, we still almost won the game.

Human nature being what it is, it's hard not to be disappointed, even though we're now 9-1. Of course if you'd told any of us at the beginning of the year that going in to play Auburn that's where we'd be, we'd have grabbed it in a heartbeat. It's been a good year, but it's the specter of "what might have been" that grips the heart.