It would have been completely unrealistic to believe that LSU would just pick up where it left off after winning the national championship last year.
After all, so many of the faces that made that LSU team one of the best college football teams ever have moved on. If you’re Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Joe Burrow and his 13 draft pick teammates, you moved on to the NFL. Or if you’re offensive assistant wunderkind Joe Brady and defensive coordinator Dave Aranda, you moved on to bigger coaching jobs.
What was left behind was on display on Saturday in the season opener against Mississippi State.