Initial Thoughts

by Poseur on Oct 25, 2008 6:46 PM CDT Comment 14 comments

We got our asses kicked. LSU is simply not in the same league as the very best teams in the country. We've got the talent, but there is something missing from this year's team. Though, to LSU's credit, the team kept fighting all the way to the final whistle. Which is more than I can say for the fanbase, which left in droves. The Tiger Stadium crowd never got into the game, and the fans failed to live up our reputation as wild and crazy. That place was quiet as church, and it didn't escape the notice of CBS's announcers.

Going into this season, the strength of the team was supposed to be the defense. Well, for the second straight big game, the defense got torched for over 50 points. You can blame Lee for two pick-sixes, but the D is still on the hook for 38 points. And that's just not acceptable. Whenver we needed a big stop, the D failed to come through. There was almost no pressure on Stafford all night, and Moreno popped big run after after big run.

Even with all of that, LSU actually gained more yards than Georgia. But there was not a feeling that LSU's offense was humming on the same level as Georgia's. Lee, of course, had two big INT's in the first half. I don't really care about the third one thrown in desperation. Lee is just prone to making really, really bad decisions. Which is what you get when you start a freshman. It's the growing pains that comes with a young quarterback still trying to adjust.

There were a few positives. Scott had a nice game. Keiland busted a few big runs. Colt David became LSU's all time leading scorer. I was serious that I liked how the team didn't give up. But really, LSU got beat every which way, and they never were really in it. It's a rebuilding year, and rebuilding years are frustrating because you can see the talent if they could just put it all together. But it's not happening right now.

This is a good team, it's just not a great team. Both losses were to top ten teams. We're not in their class. Hopefully, we can start picking up the pieces so we'll be back in the hunt next year. It sucks to go through it, but we all pretty much expected our team to be in about this place this season.

OK, I didn't expect the defense to be this bad. The co-defensive co-oridnator experiement is clearly not working. Miles needs to make an offseason change to get the defense back to where it was. Or even just above average. Becuase this team has too many defensive playmakers to be allowing 50 points twice in a season. And right now, this defense aspires to be average.

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Miles

any thoughts on accountability? HE hired the 2 Dc’s! HE throws Lee under the bus after the game and doesn’t even accept responsibility. I’m afraid his luck has run out.

by toreaux on Oct 25, 2008 7:34 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Hmm.. Looks like we could have planned this out a little better..

Oh well.

Yes, I noticed but failed to point out how the team kept playing. That’s the biggest positive characteristic of LSU teams under Les Miles. Never giving up.

I do think the offseason will be time to re-assess the co-defensive coordinator situation. There were definite issues early with getting the play and the players in the game on time. Basic coordinator issues. Now, we have a game where it may well have been coaching and playcalling that made the difference.

I’m not going to throw the DC’s under the bus. I’m too cautious-minded for that, but something must change here.

Richard Pittman

by Richard Pittman on Oct 25, 2008 7:46 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, sorry bout that

Wasn’t sure if you were around this weekend, so i felt duty bound to put up a post… and we ended up posting at the same time. Oops.

I don’t think you fire anyone in the middle of the season. It’s just not a good idea. I don’t want to say that our co-DC’s are bad coaches. They aren’t. I just don’t like the two-headed monster. You need one boss and an clear chain of authority. But I think you can’t promote either of the co-DC’s to full DC after this season’s performance.

Coaching is a tough business. Nothing personal, guys, but I think we’ll see a new DC next season.

by Poseur on Oct 25, 2008 9:14 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Something went wrong with the open thread

I set up an open thread, and for some reason it just didn’t post. Thanks for covering that.

Mrs. ATVS and I took Little Miss ATVS out early in the morning to a little Fall Festival type place south of Birmingham with Mrs. ATVS’s parents. We didn’t get back until after 2:00. After that, I was glued to the TV.

For whatever reason, the defense isn’t working. One of the most troubling things was to see Beckwith unable to run down Moreno. Moreno is not that fast, and you usually can’t run as fast with the ball as you could without it because you’re not running for maximum speed. You’re giving up speed for ball security. But Beckwith couldn’t make up a stride on him in 50 yards. I think he catches Moreno easily back when he was a sophomore. For some reason, our linebackers tend to get slower the longer they’re in the program. It happened to Ali Highsmith, Luke Sanders, and now Darry Beckwith.

Richard Pittman

by Richard Pittman on Oct 25, 2008 9:26 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Poseur...right on....

I could have written the same post as you. I am disappointed w/ the qb play today, but I can understand it. However, there seems to be multiple issues with the D. I think it is hard to nail down only a few problems w/ the D. Our LB’s look terrible. Our blitzes never get to the qb and aren’t disguised at all. And our coverage schemes always seem to leave someone wide open.

I absolutely hope we remedy this DC situation after the season. We have way too much talent to be as poor as we are on D. I think the SC second half was more of an anomaly than we had all hoped.

by Zandor435 on Oct 25, 2008 10:59 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Damn

Georgia scoring 52 on the Tigers in Baton Rouge takes a little of the bloom off of Florida’s 51 points poured on in the Swamp. Was hoping for better!

Orange and Blue Hue: The World through GATOR-colored Glasses -- http://www.orangeandbluehue.com

by Gatorpilot on Oct 26, 2008 8:12 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Every team goes through this

When you lose your seasoned qb and have to start over, your team looks like this. Look at Auburn. Look at Tennessee. Tennessee was in the SEC championship game last year! Look at Notre Dame after Brady Quinn. Its not a coincidence.

I promise Missouri is going to fall off the map next year. Alabama will fall dramatically next year. Florida and Georgia will fall significantly after Stafford and Tebow. The teams that dont fall noticeably are teams that dont have their upcoming qb star come unscrewed a la Perriloux.

Quarterback play is critical. Its not just not throwing interceptions, not to mention pick 6’s, its putting pressure on the other team by putting them behind. By giving them the fear that if they dont perform every series, they will fall behind and never catch up. Then stack a hostile crowd on top of that fear.

Flynn put up a lot of points. That’s the otherside of the coin. We scored a ton last year and that unnerved our opponents. Defenses look a lot better when playing against tight offenses. Defenses look a lot better when they are relaxed. When they aren’t afraid that they have to win the game because we spot teams points on turnovers, they play a lot faster and with more confidence.

Our defense looks bad. No doubt. But its amazing how much better they look when your offense is clicking and hanging lots of points on teams.

by nepomo on Oct 26, 2008 9:33 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree w/ everything you say but...

I think the psychological factors that you bring up are overall negligible in light of our issues. I see the DC’s playcalling, their game preparation, and the player’s execution as much more significant factors in our play.

by Zandor435 on Oct 26, 2008 7:21 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Point taken. What would you change in the play calling and game prep? I either dont know or cant make heads or tails of either.

I would argue that psychological factors have quite a large impact on a player’s execution. Especially inexperienced players.

QB play is no magic bullet to defensive success. I think its amplifying our weaknesses and mitigating our opponent’s.

by nepomo on Oct 26, 2008 9:15 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Florida ain't going anywhere

Tons of talent in the pipeline, including the QB position. Our future starter threw his first TD pass yesterday against Kentucky. Our talent is developed to step in and pick up where the previous guy left off. Perillioux was supposed to be the answer to prevent the dip that LSU suffered, and he screwed himself and LSU with his off-field actions. Florida won a NC with Tebow’s predecessor and LSU won one with Jamarcus Russell’s backup. These rebuilding years can be avoided. Just ask Pete Carroll.

Orange and Blue Hue: The World through GATOR-colored Glasses -- http://www.orangeandbluehue.com

by Gatorpilot on Oct 26, 2008 10:14 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

“The teams that dont fall noticeably are teams that dont have their upcoming qb star come unscrewed a la Perriloux.”

I got it.

The point of the post was how quarterbacks affect their own teams ‘s defense. When they are weak, they weaken their offense AND their defense. The premise is that the team has to start over. There isn’t a replacement nearly equivalent to the predecessor.

As for the gators backup qb, I would have bet money that tebow was a one time freak of nature.. until I saw his backup. The guy is bigger than tebow! We’ll see how he pans out for his one season. He might some 20 star 7 foot genius supertstar coming out of high school, but potential doesnt always translate into reality. (See Josh Booty.) I’d rather have tebow than whoever is going to take his place. This guy might temporarily mitigate the slip downward from tebow, but the slip will occur. There are only so many qbs that can give you a great pocket passing game and a great power rushing game at the same time. Enjoy it while it lasts.

by nepomo on Oct 26, 2008 2:06 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

About the fans....

"The Tiger Stadium crowd never got into the game, and the fans failed to live up our reputation as wild and crazy. "

I actually witnessed this first hand. As a current Georgia student, I scalped a ticket before game time. It happened to be in the LSU section on the visitors side. As Gamble ran back the pick-6 on the first snap, my reaction was to jump up, scream, and hug my buddy sitting next to me.

The guys in front of me then were threatening to arrest me because a) he just became a lawyer and b) his daddy was a judge. The next thing I knew, an Event Staff was pointing at me telling me to come see himself and the security up by the gate. Luckily, I apologized to them [for what, I still don’t know], and they allowed me to stay in the game. I have to say, I was a bit surprised to see the “Wild and crazy” LSU crowd get so upset that I was cheering on my team. Fortunately, these were the only 2 bad apples in the droves of LSU fans I met on my trip. Just pissed me off for the first half and fueled my yearning to beat you guys that much more.

See ya next year in Athens. I’ll even allow you to cheer for your team.

by Mr. Ace K on Oct 26, 2008 6:42 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs