From DandyDon...

LSU lost to Tennessee last night 30-27 in overtime in one of the most gut-wrenching losses I have ever witnessed in my 50 years of attending LSU football games. The Tigers led 21-0 at half time, but even with such a lead I did not feel certain about the outcome of the game because of the lack of offense by the Tigers. LSU scored on their first possession of the game on a 19-yard run by Joseph Addai that was setup by LSU's defense which recovered a Tennessee fumble. LSU's second score in the first half came on a "Flea Flicker" pass to Buster Davis that went to the two yard line with Russell scoring two plays later on a quarterback sneak. LSU's third touchdown in the first half came on a four-yard interception by Ken Hollis.

In my opinion, there were three major changes of momentum in the game. The first was with about six minutes to play in the first half when Tennessee Coach Phil Fulmer replaced Erik Ainge with Rick Clausen. Before the end of the first half, it was plain to see that Tennessee could move the ball with Clausen in the game. In my opinion, the second change of momentum came when LSU recovered a Tennessee fumble and moved the ball to the 10 yard line with about 16 second to play in the half. On third down, JaMarcus Russell scrambled and made a big mistake by not running out of bounds to stop the clock with nine seconds remaining in the half. LSU would have had an easy field goal and would have gone into the locker room leading 24-0. The play did not look to be that important at the time with LSU leading by three touchdowns. The third change of momentum, in my opinion, came at the start of the second half when LSU received the kick and Skyler Green was brought down on the 12 yard line by an arm tackle and LSU went three and out and had to punt. Tennessee marched down field behind the short passing game of Rick Clausen to cut the lead to 21-7 and from that point on Tennessee played with great confidence and LSU played like a very bad football team.

LSU is 1-1 on the season with a hard-earned win over ASU and a heart-breaking loss to Tennessee. LSU could very easily be 2-0 on the season and they could very easily be 0-2 on the season. I am not ready to compare Les Miles to Curley Hallman or Gerry DiNardo, I am not ready to call Bo Pelini a Lou Tepper and I am not ready to call Jimbo Fisher some of the names I heard him called last night. What I am ready to do is question the discipline of the team because of so many uncalled for penalties such as being off sides on defense and personal fouls. I am also ready to question the play calling on offense when Justin Vincent was called upon on short yardage situations three times to pick up first downs with Joseph Addai on the bench. I am also ready to ask why JaMarcus Russell was not been allowed to throw the ball deep except on the Hail Mary pass at the end of regulation. LSU is loaded with great talent at the wide receiver position with great speed but has not taken advantage of their talent. I am also ready to question the condition of the players. I can recall at least six times when LSU players cramped up and I do not recall seeing any Tennessee players doing the same. I am also ready to question why LSU has not been able to make half time adjustments the first two games of the season.

As for individual performances, I was very disappointed with the play of JaMarcus Russell. At times, Russell appeared to be rushing his passes instead of being patient. Several of the passes that Russell completed were poorly thrown balls. I can recall two passes to Jacob Hester that Hester caught that would have gone for long yardage had the passes been better thrown. I can also reacll one completed side line pass to Davis that would have been a huge play had the pass been thrown on target.

I was also disappointed in blown coverage in the defensive backfield. I can recall three pass plays in which Tennessee had receivers open by 10 yards and on two occasions Tennessee receivers dropped touchdown passes.

On the positive side of things, I thought Joseph Addai ran very hard and should have carried the ball more. I also believe that Ken Hollis and Daniel Francis played well as did Tyson Jackson, Chase Pittman and Ryan Willis. I did not see very much of Kyle Williams and Claude Wroten in the second half.

After seeing the first two games of the season, it is very plain to see that losing Alley Broussard, Kirston Pittman and E.J. Kuale before the season started has turned out to be major losses for the team. I believe with those three players in the lineup LSU would easily be 2-0. As for the remainder of the season, I believe that LSU can win out if mistakes are corrected. I also believe that if LSU's offense and defense continues to play the way they have against ASU and Tennessee the team could easily lose two or three more games.

I want to close this update by congratulating the over 91,000 fans who found a way, and the time, to attend the game on a Monday night. I know that it was a major hardship for many of you to take off from work early and to miss a day of work today to show support for the team. Tiger fans are the greatest in the world and I honestly feel bad for all of you today because LSU lost a game last night that they should have won.