LSU safety Grant Delpit (No. 9) lifts fellow safety John Battle (No. 26) into the air following Battle’s interception during Saturday’s win over Georgia.

Which LSU football team will show up for this week’s Southeastern Conference game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs?

The Bayou Bengals seem to be suffering from a multiple personality disorder this season, and it’s been a wild, emotional ride for fans.

Currently, or should I say again ranked No. 5 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Poll following an impressive 36-16 win over then-No. 2 Georgia on Saturday, the Tigers have worked their way back into the SEC and national championship picture, at least for the time being.

LSU has at least two more games against ranked teams remaining on its regular-season schedule, starting this week with a home game against AP No. 22 Mississippi State (the Bulldogs are not in the coaches’ Top 25). Two weeks later, after an open date, the Tigers get the pleasure of playing perennial No. 1 and 4 million time (according to their fans, anyway) national champion Alabama in what one expects to be a typical knock-down, drag-out, physical SEC West showdown.

But will LSU show continued improvement? Will the LSU team that is the nation’s only squad with wins over three teams that were ranked in the Top 10 at the time they played show up? Those wins over No. 8 Miami (33-17), No. 7 Auburn (22-21) and No. 2 Georgia are shining gems in the college football landscape this year.

On the other hand, the LSU team that shows up this week for the Bulldogs could be the one that sleepwalked through a deceptively large-margined 31-0 win over Southeastern Louisiana? Or the Tiger zombies who somehow allowed Louisiana Tech to pull to within 24-21 in the second half before a couple of late TDs made it a 38-21 final?

If LSU gets past the SEC team its played more than any other, the Crimson Tide is waiting on the other side with an even bigger challenge.

And the team that shows up in purple and gold that night had better be the one that manhandled the defending SEC champions on Saturday, the 2017 national runner-up Georgia Bulldogs. Because the Tide, winners of five national championships since 2009, are primed for another run with perhaps their best offense and a still solid defense.

It would help if Joe Burrow continues to get better each week, improving both his accuracy and his football acumen. The Ohio State transfer has shown a good sense of when to hand the ball away and when to take off and run on option plays, often looking like the team’s best running back, as he did with a 59-yard sprint against the Bulldogs.

And maybe it’ll take head coach Ed Orgeron channeling his inner Les Miles again as he did against Georgia. An LSU team going 4-for-4 on fourth down plays hasn’t been seen since Miles’ Tigers went 5-for-5 (thank you Jacob Hester) against Florida during a championship season in 2017.

Speaking of channeling Les Miles, Kirby Smart’s version of the LSU flip-over-the-shoulder-to-the-kicker attempt (vs. South Carolina in 2007) flopped miserably on Saturday, helping spark LSU to the big win. 

As Coach O would say, Go Tiguhs!

 

CHRIS LANDRY is the sports editor of The Daily Iberian.