The SEC West is the Best

Midway through the season and not one SEC West team has a losing or even a break even record.  Collectively the 6 football teams of the SEC West (LSU, Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Mississippi State) have played 34 games and lost only 6 games.  Only one of those six losses came at the hands of a non-SEC team.  Eleven of the 34 total games played by the SEC West have been against ranked teams.


The six teams of the SEC East (South Carolina, Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt) have 17 losses but only 4 out-of-conference losses.  The SEC is arguably the best conference in the country and the SEC West is, top to bottom, the best of the SEC.  However, when South Carolina knocked off Alabama this last weekend, suddenly not one SEC team, East or West, could manage to crack the top 5 ranking of any major poll.  Eh, it is only halfway through the season.  There is plenty of time to move up.


What about Stevan Ridley for Heisman?
The SEC historically has great running backs and this year is no exception.  Much of Alabama's success has been attributed to running backs Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson.  South Carolina's Marcus Lattimore  has also correctly been given credit for much of South Carolina's success.  Stevan Ridley is the top rusher among an elite group of SEC running backs.  After his two fumbles in the season opener against North Carolina, Ridley has carried LSU's offense on many occasions, averaging 5.1 yards a carry and more than 100 yards a game.  Almost all of Ridley's carries have been between the tackles and he shares carries with 5 other talented backs and a quarterback who has averaged nearly 10 carries a game.  Ridley has not been mentioned for Heisman yet, but, he has to be at the top of most NFL team's list of running backs this year.  I think Stevan Ridley should be considered among the list of Heisman candidates.  Once again - Eh, it is only half way through the season.  Stevan Ridley will have many opportunities to impress NFL scouts and Heisman voters.  LSU still has Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Arkansas on the schedule giving Ridley the chance to shine against some very good defenses.  And with McNeese State and ULM still also on the schedule, Ridley's rushing yardage is also likely to go up.  Most teams have already played the easy "tune-up" games that lead to dominant performances and opportunities for Heisman hopefuls to pad their numbers.


So what does LSU need to do to prove themselves the second half of the season?
LSU needs to dominate McNeese State this weekend.  If the offense is still headed down the improvement path, they ought to deliver a dominant performance.  The defense seemed to give up the intensity some during the parts of the Florida game.  They need to prove that was a fluke.  For the next six games, LSU needs to prove that they can play for 60 minutes and the play calling needs to not become conservative once the Tigers prove their dominance in each game.
LSU needs to stay aggressive and play like the score is 0-0 all game.  Tiger fans are ready for LSU to blow out teams.  We have seen the potential, now bring it with a complete game on the field.