Thursday, September 18, 2008

FRIDAY SOAPBOX?: "I'm Busy" Edition...

Life has intruded. I'm late. Sorry.

OK I attended my first LSU game in Oh-My-Gawd-am-I-really-that-old years. My Dad has season tickets and he invited my daughter and I to the North Texas game. Her first ever, my first in the last two decades - almost.

Anyway.

Some impressions.

Gustav did a number on Baton Rouge and many people in Tiger Stadium were enjoying electricity that they didn't have at their own homes. Amazing.

Amazingly, even though Ike hit west of Louisiana, the storm surge for Ike was WORSE than Gustav in many parts of Louisiana. I found it amazing that places that had no water in Gustav had big water from a storm that missed them by hundreds of miles. Mother Nature - she is a bitch.

Anyway...again...

Speaking of bitches. North Texas. Yes. A true bitch slap game if I ever saw one. Of course, the score was pedestrian in Oklahoma or USC or Florida terms. But considering that LSU basically stopped playing football and started scrimmaging in the early third quarter, it was a great outcome.

Watching the game, I was worried about the defense mostly. It seemed to me, in live action, that the defensive line couldn't get a grip on the QB. But after watching the replay, nothing could be further from the truth.

LSU's defensive surge was within a fingernail of the NTU QB (Vizza - he's good enough to deserve a mention here) on countless plays. But he dumped the ball. Everytime. And he was accurate enough to complete a LOT of those passes under duress.

But let's cut to the chase here. North Texas is not worth talking about.

QB. Andrew Hatch looked better than Lee. Not by much. But in very important ways. Even though he threw the only interception of the game, he was much more poised in his performance. Lee is a diamond in the rough in my opinion. But this year is the rough. And if he's not careful, Jefferson may catch him. I just have a feeling about JJ. He looks to me like a guy waiting for stardom.

RB. Charlie - fuckin' -Scott. If the coaches had played him as the feature back, he'd have - in my estimate - about 400 yards rushing in two games. Murphy looked good as well. And KW is talented enough to hang around, but I am sensing a lack of finish in him that will doom his LSU career. Early? Yes. But you know what I'm talkin' about.

WR. We are rockin' here and just waiting for AH or JL to start chuckin' the rock This has to be the most frustrated unit on the team right now. Because they are good and gettin' gooderer. I'm told Byrd's injury is minor, which is good, but it wouldn't kill us. We're fine here.

OL. Awesome. Period. Dot.

DL. Awesome. Period. Dot. I misjudged it in live action, but WOW on replay. The DL had a great surge into the NTU backfield. Had Vizza not been such a crafty and creative QB, they'd have gotten to him about 10 times.

LB. Ouch. Losing Beckwith for any time at all is a big loss. He's a leader, he's really fast, he's really mean. But I gotta tell ya' - Jacob Cutrera came to play! He looked very good. What is left to the imagination is wheter Cutrera is as good as Beckwith against tough competition. Sheppard and Riley are very, very good as well.

DB. I'm waiting to see the drawdown, but I just haven't seen it yet. You'd think that, having lost two corners and a safety, LSU's DBs would be vulnerable. So far - not so much. Auburn may or may not test that. But I'll say this - they look mean, and nasty, and very good. Patrick Peterson plays with an attitude that I L-O-V-E ....respect.....

Special Teams. Kickoffs - great coverage, shitty kicks. Punts - great coverage, shitty punts. Kickoff returns - too few to comment on. Punt returns - TRINDON FUCKING HOLLIDAY! I think we may see him run three or more back this year. All he needs is a crease.

1 comment:

  1. Hey dude...very cool as it was my first game back in over 30 yrs. I enjoyed the band's march down the hill, tail "baiting", hangin outside the stadium and most of all the sight of LSU team pre-game warm ups and assorted visual stimulation. Sat in North end close enough to studenst to get the jest...it was awesome. Miles is a great coach and the team shows promise.

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