In the trenches: Through four games, The Gainesville Sun reports, Florida’s offensive line has confirmed all the preseason hype with its performances on the field. The Gators have been stronger, tougher and more efficient than a year ago on the offensive line, and they’re winning the fourth quarter. “Yes, this once beleaguered group appears to have developed into a team strength,” the newspaper reports. “Now, comes the true test. The ultimate test. And it will be administered in The Swamp on Saturday by one of the nation’s elite defensive fronts. LSU’s defensive line likely will reveal/expose just where this Florida offensive line really stands.” Read the full story here.
With something still to prove: Drew Brees has already beaten the San Diego Chargers, the team that tossed him aside after he hurt his shoulder in the 2005 regular-season finale, allowing Philip Rivers to become the starter. Another win against them would be nice, for sure, and Brees admits there will be a little extra motivation facing the Chargers on Sunday night in the Superdome. Still, the quarterback has to focus more on getting his New Orleans Saints their first win of the season. “I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a little bit extra, but maybe not for the reason you think,” Brees says. “For us, there’s no better time or place to play this than Sunday night, in the Superdome, with the crazy crowd, nationally televised game. It doesn’t get any bigger or better.” Read the full story here.
When 5-0 is time to panic: The New York Times today ponders the strange duality that is the LSU Tigers football team this season, noting it is “at once shaky and undefeated.” Before the LSU Tigers even finished out September, they had endured a hurricane and a bomb threat. They had dismissed a star player, Tyrann “Honey Badger” Mathieu, and other players had sustained injuries or been suspended for academic problems. Amid such turbulence, all LSU did was win its first five football games, with victories at home and on the road, by margins as wide as 49 and 38 and 27. Yet the team has dropped in the AP poll two consecutive weeks, and coach Les Miles followed up last week’s win by saying: “Am I alarmed? Yes, absolutely.” Read the full story here.
