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The 2009 LSU football team is dramatically improved on defense. That defense is the reason why the Tigers have a chance to win 10 games for the 4th time in Les Miles' 5 seasons at LSU.

That defense did everything it could to keep LSU in games against the best two teams on the schedule. Think about it. Florida and Alabama have scored a combined 37 points on LSU this season, yet the Tigers lost both games.

How did those two losses happen? Simply because the LSU offensive line has been the weak link on the 2009 football team. LSU managed only 95 net rushing yards against Bama, and 49 yards were compiled on a two runs, a 34 yarded by Charles Scott and a 15 yard scramble by quarterback Jordan Jefferson.

Alabama meantime, ran for 176 net rushing yards.

Like Florida, the Tide was superior in this matchup. Their defensive line against the LSU offensive line.

Players graduate and move on, but you can only wonder if Herman Johnson and Brett Helms were still on LSU team, how much better the LSU record would be.

The Tigers are not a good running team in '09. And, it will cost them a berth in a BCS bowl game.

The Hornets finally looked like a cohesive basketball team Monday night at Staples Center.

Sure, they beat the Clippers, a team they have defeated 10 straight times. But, the Hornets did what they were supposed to do, bludgeon a bad club.

Several significant events happened within the game Monday night.

Peja was back in his starting role. The Julian Wright experiment seems to be over, and that is a good thing. When Peja is on the floor, other teams have to respect him as one of the great three point shooters in the history of the game. Sure, he's a liability on defense, but he has one great skill, and that skill must be in the game.

Julian Wright cannot shoot effectively from the perimeter. I do not know how a player who can't make jump shots succeeds at the small forward spot in the NBA. Do you?

Devin Brown played very well at the two spot. I thought Brown was finished as an NBA player. But, if he can contribute 10-12 points a night and play solid defense, that will do until ..

Marcus Thornton is ready. The former LSU Tiger is small (6-3) for a two guard in the NBA, but he has enormous offensive skills. He can shoot threes and drive to the basket. Thornton was 0-6 last night from three point land, but he kept shooting. He has a scorer's mentality, something the Hornets desperately need from the two guard spot.

First round pick Darren Collison made some mistakes, but it is clear Collison can dribble penetrate and kick, in other words do some of what Chris Paul can do when he subs for CP3.

With Collison, Thornton, and Brown in the game, the Hornets played faster last night. They were actually a running team that got cheap baskets. And, it was fun to watch.

Maybe the Hornets 2009-2010 season can be a solid one, after all.

Ed Daniels

New Hornets head coach Jeff Bower has already made his imprint on the Hornets.

Friday night against Portland, Bower didn't change his starting lineup, but made several significant changes.

Rookie guards Darren Collison (18 points) and Marcus Thornton (20 points) got over 50 minutes of game time. Granted, some of that time was because of the injury to Chris Paul. But, increased roles for the talented rookies will likely continue under Bower.

Bower also resurrected Sean Marks off the inactive list. Marks scored only 1 point, but grabbed 7 rebounds in 15:26 of action. Hilton Armstrong and Julian Wright, both played at the end of the game in garbage time.

The Hornets also played solid defense. Holding Portland to 86 points was a fast improvement over the total lack of effort Wednesday night against Phoenix.

In one night, Jeff Bower made big changes. And, they paid off with big nights from a pair of Hornets rookies.

You would think that it is no great accomplishment to beat a 1-7 Rams team that was averaging less the 10 points a game.

But, the Saints 28-23 win over the Rams was one of their better wins of 2009.

The Saints secondary was decimated by injury before kickoff, and then lost cornerback Tracy Porter with a knee injury on the first play from scrimmage of the third quarter.

On the field for the Saints in crunch time were cornerback Leigh Torrence (not usually on the field in dime packages), and defensive tackle DeMario Pressley (promoted from the practice squad).

Yet, the Saints pulled out the victory. Despite the fact the Drew Brees had a subpar game (2 TD passes, but 2 interceptions).

In their current state, with so many injuries on defense, the Saints will have to grit it out every week.

That they were able to do in St Louis doesn't seem like a quality win, but it was.

I would have to jog the memory way back to find a better Hornets regular season win than this one.

Let's see: the best point guard in the league, Chris Paul, is in a boot, watching... fellow all star David West was in early foul trouble and scored only 6 points in 28:51 of action .. and the Hornets managed to beat Phoenix, who has the second best record in the Western Conference.

As wins go this one was quality.

Some thoughts .. the Hornets rookie backcourt is small but talented. Point guard Darren Collison scored 15 points, handed out 5 assists, and grabbed 5 rebounds in 32:15 of action Collison also had one turnover.

Marcus Thornton was terrific off the bench, scoring 19 points. One of the Hornets most effective backcourts is Devin Brown at the point, Thornton at the two guard.

Peja played his best game since the Hornets 56 win season two years ago. His 7 three's brought the crowd to its feet, but Peja also grabbed 13 rebounds.

For the 14,520 at the Arena Thursday night, it was quality entertainment.

You would have to be hard pressed to find a worse coaching moment in the history of LSU football.

Saturday's final minute in Oxford was a classic in how to steal victory from the jaws of defeat. And, Les Miles gets 100 percent of the blame.

Trailing 25-23, LSU recovered an onside kick. Jordan Jefferson, then tossed a 26 yard pass to Brandon LaFell to the Ole Miss 32. So, why not run the football and try the field goal? Why drop back and throw with a quarterback who has shown all season he takes ill advised sacks?

Of course, Jordan Jefferson was sacked for a nine yard loss to the Ole Miss 41.

But, that wasn't the worst of it. Jefferson then threw a screen pass to Steven Ridley for a seven yard loss. That play started with 32 seconds left. Inexplicably, it took the LSU coaching staff till 9 seconds left in the game to get a final time out called.

Then, Jefferson completes a 42 yard pass to Terrance Tolliver to the Ole Miss 6 yard line. With 1 second left on the clock, LSU didn't run the field goal team on the field. Jefferson went to the line and as the clock ran out, spiked the ball. Time had run out.

And, the debate over the most embarrassing moment in Les Miles' coaching tenure at LSU began.