SI Scouting Reports 1. Oklahoma 2. Miami 3. Tennessee 4. Texas 5. Florida State 6. Colorado 7. Washington State 8. Florida 9. Oregon 10. Georgia 11. Washington 12. Ohio State 13. LSU 14. Nebraska 15. Virginia Tech 16. Maryland 17. Marshall 18. South Carolina 19. Louisville 20. Michigan 21. USC 22. Texas A&M 23. Auburn 24. Illinois 25. Penn State ----------------- The Top 25 All the Rest: 26-117 Lower Division Rankings

13. LSU

Coming off a surprising SEC title, the Tigers plan to climb even higher -- and you can quote their coach on that

By Pete McEntegart

Toefield left a trail of battered foes in his wake last year, rushing for 992 yards and an SEC-record-tying 19 TDs. Darren Carroll Enemy Lines An opposing coach's view of the Tigers "Quarterback Matt Mauck is poised and mature, but I'm not sure he's got the arm needed to make plays. He's got the feet, though, and is more of a runner than Rohan Davey was.... Their defense is good, but I don't think it's great. At end, Marcus Spears is a 280-pound guy who can get up the field. He'll give them a speed rush.... Linebacker Bradie James is a heat-seeking missile.... They're very talented in the secondary, but they gave up a lot of big plays last year by being a little too aggressive."

Like many football coaches, Nick Saban loves his aphorisms and metaphors. His latest exhortation to his players is the catchy, "Last year is history, next year is a mystery." He also likes to compare the coming season to climbing a mountain. Last season LSU reached an unprecedented peak, upsetting Tennessee 31-20 to win the SEC Championship Game for the first time since the game was instituted in 1992. To Saban, that makes this year's ascent trickier than ever. "The mountain just got bigger," he says. "It's even more treacherous and harder to climb."

If repeat SEC championships are unfamiliar on the Bayou -- LSU's only back-to-back titles came in 1935 and '36 -- so too is all this talk about mountains. The state's highest point is 535 feet above sea level.

The play of senior linebacker Bradie James, a Louisiana native, is a big reason LSU can expect to rise above most rivals. The 6'3", 238-pound senior has had more than 110 tackles in each of the past two seasons. This year he moves from the outside to the middle. His job will be much easier if massive sophomore defensive ends Marcus Spears (6'5", 280) and Marquise Hill (6'7", 285) live up to the promise they showed as high school All-Americas.

The defense may need to hold the fort as the offense searches for a new identity. With strong-armed quarterback Rohan Davey and Biletnikoff Award winner Josh Reed gone to the NFL, the Tigers will likely rely more on the run this year. Sophomore quarterback Matt Mauck terrorized Tennessee with the quarterback draw when he replaced an injured Davey in the SEC title game, but he needs to be more consistent as a passer. The Tigers are banking on the return of junior tailback LaBrandon Toefield, who has recovered from the torn left ACL he suffered in the conference championship game. The 6-foot, 225-pound Toefield, who rushed for 992 yards and an SEC-record-tying 19 TDs in '01, brings some much-needed toughness to the Tigers. "He just pounds and pounds," James says. "After a while teams get tired of hitting him. He's a relentless competitor."

That's an attitude LSU will need in abundance if it expects to reach the heights of last season.

Issue date: August 12, 2002