FROM THE REAL ART SPORTS DESK
TEXAS BEATS OKLAHOMA STATE ON THE ROAD;
LSU SLUGGISH AGAINST DIVISION II TEAM

From the AP via ESPN:

No. 3 LSU overcomes slow start, beats FCS school Towson

Zach Mettenberger's perfectly placed 53-yard scoring strike to Odell Beckham Jr. exemplified the type of play Les Miles wanted to see from LSU's offense before the Tigers hit one of the toughest stretches on their schedule.

If only that play had been the norm instead of the exception in a mistake-filled outing, Miles might not have been describing a "somber locker room" following No. 3 LSU's 38-22 victory over Towson on Saturday night.

"It was just sloppy play," Mettenberger said. "We have been sloppy week in and week out. We have to clean it up. Right now we are not playing LSU football. I'm very disappointed in myself and the team right now."

More here.

Again from the AP via ESPN:

Joe Bergeron's late TD run leads Texas past Oklahoma State

The reasons to doubt David Ash continue to vanish as he keeps finding ways to lead No. 12 Texas to victory.

Ash threw three touchdown passes to Jaxon Shipley and set up Joe Bergeron's 2-yard touchdown run with 29 seconds left in the Longhorns' 41-36 victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday night.

Ash led Texas (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) on a 75-yard scoring drive after the Cowboys (2-2, 0-1) took the lead on Quinn Sharp's 24-yard field goal with 2:34 to play.

More here.

Needless to say, I missed last week's report from the Real Art Sports Desk.  I guess I've been so caught up in cross-posting between here and fb, and having fun with all the debating there, that I just forgot until late Friday night, and by that time I was, like, "new games tomorrow; I'll just skip it."  Suffice it to say that LSU edged Auburn, at Auburn, 12-10, in a defensive thriller, while Texas blew out Ole Miss 66-31 in a Lone Star salute to to the old South.  But that was last week.

This week, Texas continued to impress, winning what is almost always an exciting match with OSU.  Indeed, even though the Cowboys aren't ranked, the Longhorns beat them on the road, showing that they know how to keep their shit when they're behind.  I mean, it wasn't perfect.  Oklahoma State moved the ball almost at will, which means we need to get it together on defense.  But then the Cowboys seem almost always to move the ball at will, on almost everybody they play, so maybe I'm being too harsh.  Texas did, in fact, go on the road and beat a tough Big 12 team on their home field.  And Ash really is looking damned good.  My hopes are definitely up after seeing this one.

LSU, however, has diminished my hopes, and even made me reevaluate what I thought was a good win last week against  the other Tigers.  I didn't get to see this Towsen game, but I didn't need to.  They should have totally routed their opponent, but didn't, and that's pretty much all you need to know.  Catching the game reports while I watched the Texas game made me think "sloppy," and it's not surprising to hear Mettenberger use the same word.  Indeed, sloppy play has been something of an ear mark of the Les Miles era--remember their last national championship season with multiple instances of absolute chaos on the field?  Maybe I should mellow out and not worry; they've been here before, and may very well pull off the big one once again.

But looking so lame against such an inferior opponent doesn't fill me with confidence, either.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$