Blown Out of Proportion

LSU's defensive tackle Ricky Jean-Francois' remark against Florida quarterback Tim Tebow should not have been made such a big deal. Ricky Jean-Francois said "If we get a good shot on [Tebow], we're going to try our best to take him out of the game, with his size and his heart, it's hard to get a clean shot. I think every lineman wants to get a good hit on a Heisman Trophy winner."

Florida fans and coaches are taking this message a little too personally saying that it is unsportsmanlike. This is a game of football. If you get a chance for a clean hit on someone especially the quarterback, they are going to take it and hit him as hard as they can. Ricky Jean-Francois responded to the criticism for his remarks saying, "By taking him out of the game, I meant as a defense we are going to try to make him ineffective. I'm sorry that my initial comments were interpreted another way." The LSU Tigers do not wish to intentianally injure the star quarterback, but they will give him a big hit if they get the chance. A dirty hit is out of the question. LSU won't play like that. A good clean hit is all that they will do to Tim Tebow.

Dan Mullen said Tuesday. "Intentionally injuring other players is not part of the game that we teach here." I think that what Mullen said is worse than what the LSU players are saying. What the LSU defensive line is saying is just competitive trash talking to the other team. But what Mullen is saying is criticising the LSU coaches for teaching thier players to play dirty and intentionally hurting someone. That was a low blow that the Florida coach should never have made. One thing that you can count on however, is that this LSU-Florida game will be a very heated and physical one.