Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

You start to see how silly this is.  There's not much to back up any claims.  Hell, there's more substance to this year's Ohio State vs. LSU debate, and even that is rampant speculation. 

Doesn't really matter because there is no comparing across eras, even the way OAM is suggesting to do it.  Forget '71 Nebraska, even the '95 version is significantly behind modern teams in terms of athletic training and nutritional advancements. 

Would '95 Nebraska have any clue how to stop an RPO play?  Nope.  Would 2019 LSU score a bazillion points if rules hadn't changed so much to favor offenses?  Nope.  Would Nebraska's defense still be fundamentally sound and would LSU still score a lot of points?  Probably so. 

I mentioned this on the SEC board.....my wife is a Longhorn fan and due to life stuff she missed out on the 2005 season and some others, so a few months back we watched the Rose Bowl classic vs. USC because I thought she should see it.  It was immediately striking how much the game had changed even since then.  If that game were played by today's rules both Texas and USC would've had multiple defenders ejected in the first few minutes for targeting.  From that same era, guys like Florida's Reggie Nelson and LSU's Laron Landry would've never been greats for their schools because they'd have spent their entire careers in the penalty box. 

It's just not as simple as adjusting for eras, because that's a fool's errand.

Fearless says LSU hasn't seen a triple option in years.  Other than the one they saw this year, yes, it's been a couple seasons since the last triple option they saw.  None of them have fared well.  None of them had Nebraska's talent either. 

utee94 says Vince Young would not lose to this LSU team.  Okay, I counter Joe Burrow would not lose to that Texas team. 

You start to see how silly this is.  There's not much to back up any claims.  Hell, there's more substance to this year's Ohio State vs. LSU debate, and even that is rampant speculation. 

I will say you guys keep talking about LSU's defense this year as a bad thing.  OAM would have to specify what he means when he says "2019 LSU."  If you look at season-long stats, you've got one thing.  LSU took some lumps while they scratched their scheme in-season and more importantly, had a slew of guys injured starting in game 2 who didn't come back until later in the year.  But the numbers are what they are from a season-long perspective, if that's what you're comparing.  If you mean the LSU team that made it into the playoffs, then it's a mistake to use season-long numbers.  There is no comparing the defense that was missing multiple starters until week 11 or so to the defense that was on the field in the last 4-5 games.  Different personnel with different capabilities with very different outcomes.  OAM keeps saying the defense was weak.  Well, yes, the one that played Florida was (and really they weren't weak, they were "not great").  Despite CWS' claims here that LSU likes to fake cramps, the reality is 6 guys left the Texas game in week 2, 4 of whom did not return to the game, and more would be lost for several weeks in subsequent games against NWSt. and Vanderbilt.  Sure, LSU looks different without half of its starters.  Which begs the question, which LSU defense do you mean when you criticize the 2019 LSU defense?  The season-long numbers?  Sure.  Not LSU's best.  The unit that was in the playoffs and held OU to 14 meaningful points and Clemson to 25...OU quadrupling that and Clemson doubling it on average?  You're kidding yourself if you don't think that was a very good defense. 

I just don't think there's a meaningful conversation to be had about Greatest Team Of All Time. 

Greatest season of all time?  Have at it.  Each of the usual suspects have a case.  And it's simultaneously hard to argue against the skins on LSU's wall this year.

That said, I'm totally picking 2005 Texas just to annoy utee.  Somebody not named Joe Burrow is gonna have to reclaim the DKR single game passing record before I budge an inch on that

Y'all don't show this to my wife.

 

Best season in school history, arguably the greatest season and QB of all history, and I missed it.  Dammit. 

I'm sorry to hear that you are in bad health, Mike.  I had not gotten the word on that.

Is this something that you will just have to live with for the rest of your life, or is there reasonable hope for improvement?

edited to add:  this seems to come off more combative than I meant it.  No harsh tone is intended here.



"Both were great offenses with 'good enough' defenses."

...and numerous other comments made here and elsewhere don't sound the same as "not great."  As in, they're not great.  Normal conversation with that phrase generally means they're mediocre, but if that's not what you meant, my bad. 

But you still didn't answer the question.  They're not great in part because you looked at season long numbers, which is faulty on a number of levels.  Look at how they finished the final games in any advanced stat, significantly higher than season long averages.  I asked are you wanting people to compare the season-long teams (defenses included) or the units that made it into the playoffs to stake their claim?  Because those are two very different things, based in large part in this case on injury and health. 

And if you want to talk about season long defenses, that becomes even more iffy to use seasonal stats, because how many MOVs are based on defenses subbing out guys at the end of blowouts?  How many lose focus in junk time?  How many quality offenses are each playing in the first place?  Does end-game defensive plans and junk time defensive plans seek to trade time for yards, or do they stick with their base?  That stuff all factors in season long defense and it's a valid question to ask how useful it is for comparison.  I heard this over and over from Clemson fans leading up to the game....they kept trotting out LSU's ranking in SP+ and FEI for the year, and tried to tell them it didn't mean much, this was a much, much better unit than the adv. stats showed.  Which is the correct one to use here?  I'm genuinely asking.  October 2019 LSU would have a lot more problems with '95 Nebraska than December LSU.  I don't know how to answer the question. 

I'd stick with eyeball test in this case because we have nothing else useful.  And the question remains, are you eyeballing the whole year's worth of defense for these teams, or just the games where they blew away their NC competitors?  I really don't know how to answer that.  LSU's defense in particular had problems throughout the year.  Over the last 4-5 games, they were one of the better LSU defenses we've seen this century, and their results vs. top offensive teams backed it up.