Link Gumbo 1/4/10

by PodKATT on Jan 4, 2010 9:15 AM CST in News Comment 9 comments

Russell Shepard's Cap One Bowl Highlight Reel

It's been a long, unhappy weekend for Tiger fans, with many questions remaining unanswered. After being told repeatedly during the leadup to the game that he would, Why didn't Shepard have any playing time at all? Off all the options in Crowton's supposedly expansive playbook, was a 4yd bubble screen over the middle really the best option with time running out? And after the Hitt got the penalty, Why did they just stand there for 6-8 seconds waiting to snap the ball?

Worse than all is Les Miles' detachment from reality in the post game press conference. His answers don't make much sense as noted by commenter LSUDeathValley, when he was asked about the first half reliance on a running game that wasn't working, and as is evident in this video from the Times-Pic.

LSU head coach Les Miles Post-Game Comments

Sure, it was unfortunate that Hitt was undeservedly called for trying to get the Penn St. lineman off the ball, who himself admitted the penalty should have been on him, but lets not pretend it was anything but a forceful yank in desperation to get the ball ready for play quickly.

Despite most fans believing since mid-season that Crowton would be gone at the end of the year, Miles was on WWL in N.O. on Saturday and said there would be no more coaching changes(no link, sorry.) The only change I see caused by outside forces is OL coach Studrawa following Porter to Memphis. That rumor seems less and less likely every day, but Porter has yet to name an OL coach for his team. (Odd note I came across while looking up Porter's new staff, Mike Dubose is going to be his DL coach.)

As if it weren't bad enough this weekend, evidence is building that not all is well on the Men's Basketball team. After Saturday's loss to Utah, TJ became visibly angry when asked about Spencer's performance, then he threw down the mic and left the room. He came back and apologized, but clearly something is brewing between Coach and Spencer.

Not a great way to start the year, but hey, only 46 days till baseball...

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So Miles enters Crowton's unknown

Miles made a difficult decision- certainly not one that fans will be happy with. Who knows? Maybe it will be the right one. Maybe our offense will return to 2007 Flynn-Hester Form. I always claimed that Ridley was the next Hester. Who knows?

But if it’s the wrong one, Miles will face much scrutiny indeed.

Whatever happens, I’ll always be grateful for the 2007 championship season. But I have a want to return to elite status soon.

Jrlz rhymes with Charles.

by Jrlz on Jan 4, 2010 10:52 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

But I have a want to return to elite status soon.

LOL

And I think we’ll have and enjoyment for that!

’Crowton’s unknown’ – where no program has gone before, is it the promised land or is it damnation?

I like it – Les is the first one to have the nads to stick it out.

I’m thinking 2010 is going to be a great year!

GEAUX TIGERS!!!

by SouthernMan on Jan 4, 2010 1:33 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

While I wanted to see Crowton go bye, bye...

I guess Miles is rolling the dice on him for one more season. I’ll give The Hat some leeway on this one. Maybe 2010 will be Crowton’s breakout year. Who’s to say that it won’t? Of course, if we see another debacle like the last two years, it might be more than Crowton’s head on the table… but that’s nothing you don’t know already.

Hmm… bad year (2008)… Limbo year (2009)… Could 2010 be the breakout season? One can only hope. I’ll stand behind’em for better or worse…

by MuddyBayou on Jan 4, 2010 5:08 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

2007 was his 'breakout'

we’re hoping 2010 is a return to form!

GEAUX TIGERS!!!

by SouthernMan on Jan 4, 2010 6:03 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

yeah, let's not forget just how awesome the offense was in 2007.

It was as if we were invincible.

What’s missing? Well, the run game never got started for us, and I’ve always felt the Crowton offense was built around a consistent running game. With Hester being Mr. Consistency, Crowton was able to do whatever he wanted. Hell, I think we ran Hester every first down and he still got three or four yards every time.

Also, a leader at QB. I’m hoping that Jefferson will become more of a leader next year. I think the large-scale Jefferson backlash that’s going on right now is off-base. He IS just nineteen. In fact, I’d say he’s very mature for a nineteen-year-old. Try to remember yourself when you were nineteen running a college football team.

“He hasn’t shown any of that yet, and therefore he never will be anything.” That’s rant logic right there, though I guess “Rant Logic” is an oxymoron. Too many LSU fans love to jump to conclusions, especially when it comes to losing. Losing to Penn State is apocalyptic, just like losing to Iowa was in 2004.

Jrlz rhymes with Charles.

by Jrlz on Jan 4, 2010 6:21 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

"Losing to Penn State is apocalyptic"

AND ifwe had beaten Penn State those same people would have said it was meaningless

GEAUX TIGERS!!!

by SouthernMan on Jan 4, 2010 6:53 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe next year...

To be sure there are true freshmen and red shirt freshmen and sophomores that step in and lead. They are the exception. All I’m saying is Jefferson is not one of them. Will he be any better as a 20 year old Junior? I don’t know. I hope so. To me, he just doesn’t display that air of confidence you would like to see in a quarterback.

by Tiger6367 on Jan 5, 2010 12:01 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Jefferson is the least of the offense's problems

To me it all starts and ends with the O-Line. Without a running threat and decent protection, he still protected the ball and had a good efficiency. No, he’s not perfect, but with a decent running game, this would have been a much more effective team.

His ATVSQBPI was 7.5, which would have been 4th in the conference last year, behind Tebow, Stafford, and Snead (I don’t think Richard has posted this year’s ratings.) He had a 2.5:1 TD to Int ratio, and averaged right at 10 yards/attempt. He was 36th in the country in pass efficiency (137 passer rating) and 5th in the conference, despite being sacked almost 3 times/game. And yes, I know many of the sacks were his fault for not throwing the ball away, but there’s a good bit responsibility on the line for that as well.

As a comparison, Matt Flynn was 64th in pass efficiency with a 1.9:1 TD:Int ratio and averaged 6.0 yards per attempt in 2007. The “awesome” 2007 offense really wasn’t (26th in country); it was good, but not great. The running game was great (11th in country, 4.9 yards per attempt) but the passing game was average (58th in country).

I contend that if the O-Line and playcalling are fixed everything else will fall into place on offense. We have great skill players (with apologies to the ATVSSECOSPPOW award) who will make plays. However, with Black and Hitt graduating, we’ll be breaking in at least two new starters on the OL. Barksdale is the only current junior on the OL, so we’re going to be looking for current freshmen and sophomores to step up. It appears from recent comments that Miles has decided to maintain status quo (if Porter doesn’t hire Studrawa). I hope Studrawa can “coach them up” but the results this year with Hebert and Dworaczyk aren’t encouraging.

And losing to Penn State isn’t apocalyptic by any means, but having the 112th ranked offense is not my idea of happiness. The QB is an easy target for dissatisfaction, but I believe the real weakness of this offense all year was the O-Line.

CHAD JONES! WOOOO!!!!

by The Bengal on Jan 5, 2010 2:18 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

POSITIVE ATTITUDE

Like many Tiger fans, I was extremely upset with some things that happened this season with the football team. I thought the team should’ve done better, and maybe it would have with better coaching. However, I’ve now had time to sit and reflect on the season. And, I’ve made a 180 degree change in my thinking. A 9-4 record and an appearance in the best bowl, other than BCS Bowls, is something to be proud of as most teams would give anything to do as well. Further, a top 10 recruiting class in the making and the addition of two very good coaches to the coaching staff gives me hope for the future. Finally, I’ve put aside my anger towards Les Miles and Gary Crowton. One thing that helped change my mind was watching Nick Saban at a press conference before the National Championship Game. A reporter asked Saban if he was having “fun”, and Saban looked at him as if to say “you’ve got to be crazy.” The message Saban conveyed to me through his body language was that coaching an SEC team is one of the most demanding jobs on this planet. It was at that point that I realized just how much pressure these coaches are under 24/7/365. Sure, they make a lot of money, but I think they earn it (just having to put up with fans like me).

I guess what I’m trying to say is that all the negativity being generated by the fans regarding the LSU football team is not going to do any good. In fact, it could be very harmful to recruiting and keeping coaches, who have given us a great football program the last few years. So, I say at this point let all true Tiger fans make a resolution to support the administration, the coaches, and the players. As LSU fans, we have a lot to do with making the football program a great one and that’s what we ought to strive for all the time. I’ve never known negativity to achieve anything great, but positive attitudes can accomplish anything.

by Caliguy55 on Jan 11, 2010 2:15 PM CST reply actions 0 recs