LSU 31 - Auburn 10: Snap Judgments - And The Valley Shook

LSU 31 - Auburn 10: Snap Judgments

by Richard Pittman on Oct 24, 2009 10:10 PM CDT in Football Comment 28 comments

Well, that was easy. A 31-10 victory that probably wasn't as close as the score would indicate. Jordan Jefferson was the story of the night as he had a very positive game. Here are my thoughts:

What a night by the defense. Just an absolutely dominating performance by a defensive unit that has carried this team so far this season. They did it again, holding Auburn to 194 total yards, most of which came after the game was long decided.
Not to repeat myself, but Jordan Jefferson had an excellent game. His ATVSQBPI of 7.2 actually does not tell the story. There were a couple drops in there, and his rushes hurt his average, but he had a great game and my confidence in him has grown. We saw him run well. He put touch on his passes. He took 4 sacks, but I can't really say they were his fault this time. He got 236 yards passing with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, along with positive rushing statistics, with a touchdown.
Then again, we saw him fumble trying to get into the end zone because he was not protecting the ball. He went into a funk after that and the rest of the 2nd quarter was a dud for him.
But then he came out of it! He struggled for a while, and then got over it. That's a big step for a quarterback.
We finally saw Russell Shepard with an explosive play. He had a tough night until he broke off a spectacular 70 yard touchdown run from the tailback position.
It was a good night for true freshmen all around. Reuben Randle had a terrific catch for 31 yards. Fullback Dominique Allen got his redshirt pulled and became our blocking back. Morris Claiborne got into the game a lot in the second half.
It seems like ages ago, but back when this game was still competitive, Chris Hawkins made a spectacular interception. Then we hardly saw him again. We saw 4 cornerbacks and 5 safeties in this game, and all of them played well.
Redshirt freshman defensive end Chase Clement had the best looking kickoff return I've seen us get this year.
Other than Chase Clement, the return game was ho-hum, but the punt/kick coverage was outstanding, even if you don't consider the forced fumble and recovery.
We mostly avoided bad penalties, accumulating only 48 yards against in penalties. The penalties we got were sometimes intentional delay of game penalties. We got one illegal substitution penalty, a couple encroachments, and one personal foul that was never identified on replay. i can't really complain about that too much.
Danny McCray had a nice night, recovering two fumbles.
It's hard to complain at all about this game. So let's complain about it. We still don't have a power running game. Charles Scott and Keiland Williams combined for 24 yards rushing on 11 carries. 1/3 of those yards came on the first play from scrimmage.
But yeah, other than that, everything was great.

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I agree totally.....

It’s hard to complain at all about this game. So let’s complain about it. We still don’t have a power running game. Charles Scott and Keiland Williams combined for 24 yards rushing on 11 carries. 1/3 of those yards came on the first play from scrimmage.

Just run the spread and call it the day we can’t run with power this year. But, overall It was our first complete game. Glade to see it. Tulane better buckle their chin straps next week I feel a Shep pass coming on. LOL

"It is What It Is"

by GeauxDee on Oct 24, 2009 10:32 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Negative:

That horrendous formation where we can only run a qb sneak. That’s just asking to be stopped.

Gregatron is not responsible for any of the crap he just wrote.
St. Louis vegetarian blog

by Gregatron on Oct 24, 2009 11:02 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Can you hear me now?

To all of you ‘Fire Les Miles’ and ‘Bench JJ fans’,

Can you hear me now??

Nice game, it is coming together and if we can navigate our way to Atlanta (Which I think we can) Florida will not stand a chance in the rematch.

P.s. To all of you ‘Fire Les Miles’ and Bench JJ fans, I aint mad at you, I just want you to have a little patience and keep faith in the hat!!

Richard,

Nice recap!

Geaux Tigers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks – SM

GEAUX TIGERS!!!

by SouthernMan on Oct 24, 2009 11:43 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I still think

The I-formation running game could be a better focus. Even with the number, I’d be curious about the efficacy of running plays out of the I compared to some of the other ones.

by Billy Gomila on Oct 25, 2009 8:20 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Great game! Great win!

Only negative for me (other than run game) is that the Chad-Jones-also-pitches-on-the-baseball-team is the new Herman-Johnson-was-the-largest-baby-born-in-Louisiana or Chad-Lavalais-used-to-be-a-prison-guard meme.

by janepriceestrada on Oct 25, 2009 8:21 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

But did you know

that Fats Domino borrowed JeMarcus Russell’s jar of Boudreaux’s Butt Paste?

People, please. We're all frightened and horny, but we can't let some killer dolphins keep us from living and scoring

by Man Mountain on Oct 25, 2009 9:16 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Is it true that Trindon Holliday runs track?

by uberschuck on Oct 25, 2009 1:16 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

It was a party

on Saturday night in Death Valley. Great game. Auburn completely keyed in on the run, allowing JJ to beat them. And he delivered. The defense was amazing.

by Nearl on Oct 25, 2009 10:51 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Offense still a bit rusty.

Performance was better last night, but they are still making alot of errors. Still question the play calling in the 2nd quarter when Jefferson ran the ball by the endzone and fumbled. To me the play was a very bad call. We lost 7 pts or 3pts due to that. Luckily our d held up. Mistakes like that though are totally unnecesary.

Overall, we’re doing better, but we still have to do better if we hope to be al or fl. the offense still needs work. Defense did a great job.

Great game. Glad to W after Loss to Fla and then a bye week. Keep pushing those guys Les, tighten that game up some more. Getting there, but more work to do. We still have some very tough games ahead of us. Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas. None of those three will be pushovers.

by dsrimages on Oct 25, 2009 10:54 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Play action

Was a great call. The defense was packed in the middle and ready for the Scott rush. I liked the call, and I think it was a an option for Jefferson to run or pass. I haven’t seen a shot that showed what the end zone lloked like, but I would like to think Dickson could have gotten open. Then JJ ran to the corner and almost made the end zone. He fumbled. It happens. It was a good call.

Fake Pundit. Real Fan.
http://www.andthevalleyshook.com

by Poseur on Oct 25, 2009 11:25 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

I’ve been screaming for them to call some bootlegs in that situation the whole season.

I still have some issues withe playcalling, but the execution was a lot better this week — and that’s all that really matters.

by Billy Gomila on Oct 25, 2009 12:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

It definitely wasn't a bad call

it was just bad execution at the end by Jefferson. As far as I saw, and I was sitting on about the 5 yard line of that end zone, there were no receivers going out, it looked like a designed running play all the way, which would be the only complaint about that play call. I think a run-pass option there would be a lot better, it gives us more options in case the D-end contains well.

by Ianoka on Oct 25, 2009 7:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

They need to practice on their bootlegs though.

I agree they need to run more bootlegs and mix the plays up more, but seriously man, they are slow on them and Auburn read them. When you run the bootlegs, you have to be quick, slick, and able to fool the defense. Maybe it’s me, but the play seemed sloppy. That was my whole point. At the point he did the bootleg, I would have more than likely ran the reverse or a short screen pass to the outside.

by dsrimages on Oct 26, 2009 8:18 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Dude!!

“Still question the play calling in the 2nd quarter when Jefferson ran the ball by the endzone and fumbled”

You question the play call or the fumble? You realize LSU-under Miles-probably has the lowest fumble rate in School History???? A sophomore in his ninth start fumbled trying to stretch for a TDgive me (him) a break!

“Keep pushing those guys Les, tighten that game up some more. Getting there, but more work to do”

Do you know how condescending that sounds? What DI (Elite) Program are you the AD of that you should be ‘challenging’ a National Championship Coach of one of the best programs in the country?

You need to reevaluate your fandom – every post you make has something negative to say about the team you supposedly love even after their best performance this year?

GEAUX TIGERS!!!

by SouthernMan on Oct 25, 2009 11:06 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Oh and the next game they lose....

You will most likely be one of the first ones wanting to have les miles fired…..lol….

No I observe and see areas where they still need work. They played a great game, but was a risky unnecesary play. Ofcourse it happens, it’s football, but it did happen and i put in my two cents worth, just as you and many others do. I’m probably a bit skeptical. I like Les, but wonder sometimes about his play calling. We are all entitled to our opinions, that one is mine.

by dsrimages on Oct 26, 2009 8:22 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Really

“You will most likely be one of the first ones wanting to have les miles fired…..lol….”

Since I have been leading the charge against you and the other ANTI-Les Miles negativity crowd that seems quite unlikely. What is more likely after the next loss is your ilk will be screaming about Miles and Crowton all over again. Telling us we should bench Jefferson and start Trindon Holiday at Full Back.

Yes, you are entitled to your opinion, and I’m entitled to call you on it. If you are going to complain about every mistake (the JJ fumble) then expect others (as many have done) to point out where you are dead wrong. (labeling it a bad ‘call’ because of the result)

Its funny, many people call the Flynn to Byrd reception in 07 a bad call despite the resulting game winning TD. What’s soooooooo wrong is it wasn’t a bad call no matter what the result was, even if Byrd drops there is still 4 seconds on the clock, plenty of time (the clock stops on an incompletion and we had a timeout) to kick the Game winning FG. but some yahoo announcer-who hates LSU-calls it a ‘risky’ bone headed call and now even some Tiger fans see it that way.

The result of any single play doesn’t make the call good or bad but the cumulative results of the game/season are good or bad due to numerous factors including play calling @ 6-1 so far, I’d say Crowton and the Hat are doing a fine job!

GEAUX TIGERS!!!

by SouthernMan on Oct 26, 2009 9:31 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not sure what to think about the running game

In the past, it seems that our running game has suffered b/c they were playing the run and daring us to pass with JJ or Lee. This game, it seems like they kept daring us, and JJ made all the plays.

I still think that if we continue passing well, we’ll see defenses have to commit to the pass more, freeing up room for Keiland and Scott (and Shepard). To that effort, I hope we keep putting Randle in. He is crazy good.

I also liked the play calling this game. We had more of a purpose and were making better decisions. Even when it didn’t go right (like the JJ fumble) it was still a good play call.

All in all, I just hope the media keeps drooling over Florida v. Alabama so I can watch the ESPN boys have their hearts ripped out on Nov. 7. GEAUX TIGERS!

I'm proud of my damn strong football team. Have a great day!

by Mikethetiger on Oct 25, 2009 11:58 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The offensive line still stinks...

A two-week bye isn’t going to fix that fact that these guys can’t run block.

by TigerPaw on Oct 25, 2009 1:55 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Couple of observations

Holliday and Shepard were on the field a TON. Even when they weren’t getting the ball. This is a huge improvement because usually when Holliday came in, he was either getting the ball, or getting it faked to him. Now the defense has to account for him every play. Shepard also played a lot of receiver.

One big reason I think we didn’t run the ball particularly well was a lot of the times when we tried to pound it up the middle, it was towards the end of the game, or in the second half, and Auburn sometimes had as many as 10 guys in the box (after they did that one play was when Lee went deep on 2nd down). If they’re going to put that many guys in the box, it’s going to be really hard to run, but if we continue to make plays through the air, it a) won’t matter if we can’t run the ball, and b) will open up the running game quite a bit.

by Ianoka on Oct 25, 2009 7:43 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Play calling and STUPID Decisions by the head coach

The offensive play calling by Crowtan is STILL SUSPECT and at times is just plain bad. And the Head coaches decision to try and kick 62 and 59 yard field goal is just plain stupid and a perfect example of the Head coach making the wrong decision only to repeat it 30 minuets later, almost unbelievible. Also Miles decision to Redshirt Michel Ford is damn asinine. Where would we have been if Sabin would have redshirted Justin Vincent (remember him anybody) ? The problem is Miles keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over and over. These mistakes cost LSU big time in football games lost that should have been won. And when the National spotlight is on LSU we have highly paid professional coaches making and repeating the same bush legue mistakes over and over and over for the whole country to see. And that includes National recruits.

The bottom line is we have the talent and backup players to win all our games and the SEC. The inability of the MULTI-MILLION Dollar coach to put a game plan in place and the best coaches in a position to coach all our gifted athletes is our BIGGEST problem.

People forget LSU was a GREAT National Championship winning program, long before Les Miles and Gary Crowtan came along and will continue to be long after they are gone and forgotten.

by C.D. on Oct 26, 2009 7:18 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

You are absolutely right

Why is Michael Ford (not Michel Ford) being redshirted? He clearly should be getting playing time over an All-SEC tailback, Keiland Williams, the fastest man in college football history, and the #1 recruit in the country last year. What a mind boggling stupid decision. Why not use up a year of his eligibility by putting him in for a couple of plays per game when we have 2 senior backs, and the above mentioned players?

You’re an idiot. What the crap makes you think that Ford would do better than the players ahead of him? Wow.

by Ianoka on Oct 26, 2009 7:53 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

blah

you beat me to it

by ORtigerfan on Oct 26, 2009 8:00 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Where does Ford fit?

Behind last year’s 1,000 yard rusher (Scott), Williams, Holliday (all seniors), Murphy (before he got hurt), and Shepard (who has yet to throw a pass) we honestly don’t have room on the roster for another runner. I expect great things from Ford but a redshirt this year is a smart move looking forward. If we gave him snaps it would just deprive our other gifted runners and he would be the SIXTH on the depth chart, at least at the start of the season. The RS is the right call. Deal with it.

As for the rest of your post, if you want a revolving door at head coach go find another program. I’d much rather show loyalty to our good HC who showed loyalty to us in 2007. The longer the rivalry between Miles, Meyer, Richt, and Saban can develop the more interesting all of those games will become. Firing him just creates instability which is a HUGE DISINCENTIVE for recruits. People decommit when they find out the guy who recruited them left. It happens all the time. Instability is the start of a long downward slope for a program and ours would be no different.

There are no head coaches available in the country with a resume to match what we have come to expect (and receive) from Les Miles. The next best option might be Charlie Strong, but that is a long shot. Forgetting about Miles and Crowton, who would you have instead?

by ORtigerfan on Oct 26, 2009 7:59 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sometimes I wish the internet was never invented.

by shelby924 on Oct 26, 2009 10:47 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think we need a thumbs down option..

At the end of the day

by Mikeno on Oct 26, 2009 10:54 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You Sir

Are a complete Moron!

99.5 percent of the Coaches in the country are not fit to hold Les Miles’ jock strap.

As stated M. Ford would be so far down the depth chart wasting a year of eligibility would have been criminal. And just because you find yourself second guessing play calling doesn’t mean you have a clue, because you clearly don’t.

You think we’d stay at the National Championship level after firing a coach as successful as Les Miles? Think again, look at Nebraska – they just knew Dave Wannstedt was going to jump at the chance to ‘continue’ their birth right tradition, he held out for Pitt, that’s OK because their next five choices turned them down as did Steve Spurrier who was holding out for the historic tradition of South Carolina!

Those coaches, as well as a lot of top recruits, saw how irrational and delusional the Athletic Department and fan base were and said thanks but no.

If that happened to the mighty Corn Nation, who has a lot more Championships and ‘Tradition’, than we do, don’t think for a second that couldn’t happen to us.

You need to get a clue and try to add something positive to the discussion or just shut up!

GEAUX TIGERS!!!

by SouthernMan on Oct 27, 2009 7:01 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs