I'm not dead - just busy. It's been a busy month. Thanks to Joshua for single-handedly keeping the blog living and breathing. I'm not sure I'm back in full swing, but I'm back at least a little. We shall see.
LSU 40, Troy 31: A win is a win is a win.
Seriously? LSU struggled to beat Troy? Again? Just like in 2004?
Yep.
Why LSU Struggled to Win
Coaching. Les Miles himself started his post-game press conference saying he was to blame for the way the game started. He said the coaches hand-cuffed the offense in a failed effort to reduce the chances that Lee would do exactly what he ended up doing anyway. So Troy knew they were going to run a lot and put 9 in the box. Troy, on the other hand, had an outstanding gameplan to negate LSU's personnel overmatch and play to their own capabilities. LSU's coaches were playing, at least initially, not to lose and Troy's coaches were playing to win. When the offense opened up and the defense stopped being so predictable with blitzes, the game changed. Of course, that's when Troy stopped playing near-perfect football. Which also helped.
QB. Jarrett Lee was atrocious in the first half. Jordan Jefferson wasn't much better. On the other side of the field, Troy's QB (Levi Brown) played amazing football for a half. Where Lee and Jefferson were unpoised, threw poor pass after poor pass, and failed to instill any confidence in their teammates, Brown played like he's destined for NFL success. He threaded the needle time after time, throwing extremely quickly. He didn't miss many of him many, many throws (72). In fact, I'd guess that half of his incompletions were dropped-balls by his receivers. LSU QBs were victims of drops as well. Just not as many.
Emotion. Troy had it, LSU had to find it. Troy entered the game knowing they had a chance to upset a struggling LSU team fresh from elimination from any SEC title hopes. LSU, clearly, had not yet embraced it's new season post Alabama by kickoff. The Tigers were flat. Troy is not an SEC caliber football team. But they are far too good and too well coached to be taken lightly. I don't know that LSU actually took them lightly on purpose. But the first half was emotionally flat.
Why LSU Won
Jarrett Lee. LSU's young QB is the poster-child of this season. Talented but inconsistent. And a bit of a head case. But the key is: he's talented. Maybe just as important - Lee has guts. The booing alone after bad throws could have ruined the kid for the rest of the season. But he pulled himself up by his jock-strap in second half after it became clear that Jordan Jefferson was doing fine but not good enough to lead a comeback. Lee put his SEVENTH pick six behind him and started looking more like Matt Flynn than - well - himself (early vintage).
Let's get this clear. Without Jarrett Lee making a personal comeback, LSU does not make a team comeback. Jarrett Lee, after struggling, won the game for LSU.
Defense. LSU's defense took far too long to wake up and adjust to the Troy passing game. But adjust they did. Even in the first half, Troy started having difficulty moving the football. In fact, if Lee doesn't throw the pick-six late in the second quarter, I think the game was close to turning around right there - all on the shoulders of the LSU defense.
LSU had decent pressure on the QB most of the game, and the yardage after catch for the Trojans was fairly low - because LSU was playing good defense. The problem in the first half was that Troy's QB was having an amazing game throwing the football. When he proved to be fallible, LSU's defense started stopping him.
Without LSU's defense sticking with it and playing strong the entire game, Jarrett Lee does not get the chance to lead the comeback.
Other observations for the future.
Big Man Depth Chart. LSU QBs had a lot of time to throw last night. And the offensive line does not rotate personnel often. With the departure of Helms and Johnson, critical jack-of-all-trades Miller, and maybe even Ciron Black, the O-line will be a huge point of interest next season. There's a lot of talent in the backups, and LSU has recruited well this year on the O-line, but all that talent has very little experience. Although the D-line rotates more than the O-line, the same concern applies. Jackson, Favorite, Alexander, Pittman, Tremaine Johnson - are all gone. Drake Nevis has seen some time, as have Pep Levingston and Al Woods. And Ricky Jean-Francois will likely be back next year after what so far has been a disappointing season for him. The D-line is in better shape in terms of experience. But the depth that has made them formidable in the past may not be there next year with so many underclassmen behind the returning experience. Again - we'll see.
Defensive Backfield. Chad Jones was all over the field last night, and may have finally had a chance to showcase in public why the coaches talk about him in reverent tones in press interviews. Patrick Peterson, Phelon Jones, Karnell Hatcher, and Brandon Taylor are all young backs getting a lot of playing time and holding their own. Even though LSU's pass defense suffered this year, I'm feeling a very, very stingy LSU defensive backfield in the making for a long time. Add Craig Loston at safety after this year's recruiting class. Awesome.
Rest of the season.
Difficult. Ole Miss beat Florida and spanked UL-Monroe on Saturday, a team that beat Troy 31-30. Ole Miss is going to require LSU to play some strong football. A slow start next week could be insurmountable against Ole Miss. Then Arkansas will be looking to play it's bowl game on national TV the day after Thanksgiving. Arkansas is struggling, but they remain dangerous, with a competent coach.
I think LSU ends the season 9-3, heads to a New Year's Day bowl, and gets a chance to ice the season with a sweet victory against a great non-conference opponent. Nothing in the road ahead will be easy. But it will be fun to watch.
Showing posts with label Troy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Troy. Show all posts
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Picking Up Pieces
Some random and not-so-random thoughts.
Troy Game Moved to Nov 15th. Good call. I have mixed feelings, but it's a good call. I think the staff and the team need some time to put the facilities back together and get the practice rhythm back. And Troy is a good enough team to sneak up on the Tigers while they are distracted and cause trouble.
I would have liked to have seen an extra week of the QB battle prior to Auburn. I think both Hatch and Lee could use two more games prior to Auburn. But do they NEED two more? Tough to tell. We'll see. My concern is that North Texas is not going to be as tough an opponent as Troy would have been. So the QBs won't get tested in the same way. Testing is what they need.
However, it was a good call. Although it's tough to remember at this time of year, there are priorities above Tiger football. Seriously. I wouldn't make that up.
So this is a great call.
Recruiting: Christine Michael vs. Trent Richardson. There is a very interesting football recruiting story brewing under the radar right now. The Tigers already have two very, very good running backs on the commitment list. And both seem very solid at this time. Dexter Pratt from Texas and Michael Ford from LA are both high 4 star recruits who provide next year's recruiting class with a solid mix of running style and skill sets. Pratt is a big back with some speed, Ford is a smaller back with tons of speed and cutback capability. Technically, LSU doesn't need another RB in this class. Which is why LSU has aggressively gone after Alex Singleton, a FB candidate from East St John.
However, Christine Michael - a 5 star from Texas - has made it clear in multiple interviews and on his myspace page that he'd jump on a committable offer from LSU. So why doesn't Michael have such an offer? Well, apparently not because LSU doesn't want another RB. Rather, it seems that LSU is holding a possible third RB spot open in case they can get Trent Richardson to decommit from Alabama and become a Tiger. Richardson is also a 5 star RB and he has recently made comments that lead one to believe that he's still in play and LSU is one of a few schools he's looking at.
The difference between Michael and Richardson is running style. Michael is a Ford-style of runner and LSU is very happy with Ford. Richardson, however, is more of a hybrid type of back like Richard Murphy. So the staff is likely holding out because Richardson fits a need better than Michael. At the end of the day, I'm becoming more and more convinced that LSU would be happy taking one or none of these two backs. So they're waiting for Richardson to solidify his intent before providing Michael with a committable offer. If Michael decides to stop waiting and commit elsewhere, then I think the staff is fine with it and happy with the two RB commits on the board right now.
It's an interesting story that may be the most watched recruiting drama in LSU's 09 class closer to national signing day.
Tennessee Autoerotica. WTF? Somebody revoke Tennessee's permit for playing football in the Pac-10. How does the SEC "Sleeper Team of the Year" according to various and sundry pundits lose to a team that throws 4 first half interceptions? What happened to Tennessee's defense? I thought their secondary was one of the best in the country? I thought the Vol offensive line was strong? If you watched this game, you understand my frustration. The Vols should've won this game by 14. They just choked themselves repeatedly.
If you didn't watch the game - good on ya. Do yourself a favor and block Tennessee football on your TV's parental controls. Because they suck in a very pornographic manner.
USC is Number 1? Really? Sure. Why not. Many LSU fans hate USC. So the reaction in some circles to USC jumping up to #1 in the polls was quick and predictably negative. The narrative is that the media loves USC so they prop them up. Maybe. LA is a media hotspot, full of media elites. There's probably a grain of truth in this. But it doesn't follow that USC has been placed on top because of it.
I'd argue that, short of evidence to the contrary, USC deserves the #1 spot for now. No team has won more games in the last half decade. Few if any teams have recruited better. Few if any teams have ended their seasons in higher position over the past few seasons. And USC is loaded this year. Again.
USC crushed a BCS opponent. CRUSHED them. Say what you want about running up the score and such (and I'd agree). But the result of that game is undeniable.
It's very early in the season. I really could not care any less where USC is ranked right now. If they beat Ohio State and run the table in their conference, then they'll be #1 anyway.
If Georgia runs the table as well, then we'll have a controversy on our hands. And at that point, I'll join the public outcry.
But it's too early right now and too inconsequential. Congrats to USC. Really.
But who cares? There's lots more football ahead. Including Stanford...
Troy Game Moved to Nov 15th. Good call. I have mixed feelings, but it's a good call. I think the staff and the team need some time to put the facilities back together and get the practice rhythm back. And Troy is a good enough team to sneak up on the Tigers while they are distracted and cause trouble.
I would have liked to have seen an extra week of the QB battle prior to Auburn. I think both Hatch and Lee could use two more games prior to Auburn. But do they NEED two more? Tough to tell. We'll see. My concern is that North Texas is not going to be as tough an opponent as Troy would have been. So the QBs won't get tested in the same way. Testing is what they need.
However, it was a good call. Although it's tough to remember at this time of year, there are priorities above Tiger football. Seriously. I wouldn't make that up.
So this is a great call.
Recruiting: Christine Michael vs. Trent Richardson. There is a very interesting football recruiting story brewing under the radar right now. The Tigers already have two very, very good running backs on the commitment list. And both seem very solid at this time. Dexter Pratt from Texas and Michael Ford from LA are both high 4 star recruits who provide next year's recruiting class with a solid mix of running style and skill sets. Pratt is a big back with some speed, Ford is a smaller back with tons of speed and cutback capability. Technically, LSU doesn't need another RB in this class. Which is why LSU has aggressively gone after Alex Singleton, a FB candidate from East St John.
However, Christine Michael - a 5 star from Texas - has made it clear in multiple interviews and on his myspace page that he'd jump on a committable offer from LSU. So why doesn't Michael have such an offer? Well, apparently not because LSU doesn't want another RB. Rather, it seems that LSU is holding a possible third RB spot open in case they can get Trent Richardson to decommit from Alabama and become a Tiger. Richardson is also a 5 star RB and he has recently made comments that lead one to believe that he's still in play and LSU is one of a few schools he's looking at.
The difference between Michael and Richardson is running style. Michael is a Ford-style of runner and LSU is very happy with Ford. Richardson, however, is more of a hybrid type of back like Richard Murphy. So the staff is likely holding out because Richardson fits a need better than Michael. At the end of the day, I'm becoming more and more convinced that LSU would be happy taking one or none of these two backs. So they're waiting for Richardson to solidify his intent before providing Michael with a committable offer. If Michael decides to stop waiting and commit elsewhere, then I think the staff is fine with it and happy with the two RB commits on the board right now.
It's an interesting story that may be the most watched recruiting drama in LSU's 09 class closer to national signing day.
Tennessee Autoerotica. WTF? Somebody revoke Tennessee's permit for playing football in the Pac-10. How does the SEC "Sleeper Team of the Year" according to various and sundry pundits lose to a team that throws 4 first half interceptions? What happened to Tennessee's defense? I thought their secondary was one of the best in the country? I thought the Vol offensive line was strong? If you watched this game, you understand my frustration. The Vols should've won this game by 14. They just choked themselves repeatedly.
If you didn't watch the game - good on ya. Do yourself a favor and block Tennessee football on your TV's parental controls. Because they suck in a very pornographic manner.
USC is Number 1? Really? Sure. Why not. Many LSU fans hate USC. So the reaction in some circles to USC jumping up to #1 in the polls was quick and predictably negative. The narrative is that the media loves USC so they prop them up. Maybe. LA is a media hotspot, full of media elites. There's probably a grain of truth in this. But it doesn't follow that USC has been placed on top because of it.
I'd argue that, short of evidence to the contrary, USC deserves the #1 spot for now. No team has won more games in the last half decade. Few if any teams have recruited better. Few if any teams have ended their seasons in higher position over the past few seasons. And USC is loaded this year. Again.
USC crushed a BCS opponent. CRUSHED them. Say what you want about running up the score and such (and I'd agree). But the result of that game is undeniable.
It's very early in the season. I really could not care any less where USC is ranked right now. If they beat Ohio State and run the table in their conference, then they'll be #1 anyway.
If Georgia runs the table as well, then we'll have a controversy on our hands. And at that point, I'll join the public outcry.
But it's too early right now and too inconsequential. Congrats to USC. Really.
But who cares? There's lots more football ahead. Including Stanford...
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