Post Game Chatter: The Arkansas Game

I am hung over and depressed this morning, but reading this blog has me reflecting back on what has a been a wildly fun and stressful season to watch. It just seemed everything was going their way in the 1st half of the game. We did get some breaks in the 2nd half – but we didn’t close the deal with 7 as they did with just 9 seconds! damn that one was the body blow that set us up for the knock out later in the game.
I know we are not losing a large number of senior’s, but we are losing Nevis and Zod. That makes me a little worried, plus we still are not consistent enough at the QB position. Jefferson needs to mature and stop crying after bad plays, it just looks bad on TV when he has a fit after every bad play. Does anyone else notice the shrunched up cry baby face he makes?
Can we bring in a math nerd as an intern to stand on the sideline and tell us how to manage the clock? Something needs to improve in that department.
Lastly – FIRE Crowton. I feel much better now.
Geaux Tiger – finish strong at 11-2.

This game was yet another confirmation of my belief that the offensive coordinator, quarterback coach, and O-line coach need to start packing their bags. While most people thought LSU should lose 3-4 games this season, I thought with the raw talent these kids have, we should have gone undefeated. (yes, a couple of D-coaches better be on the lookout too – but we lost some heavy hitter starters, so they get a reprieve…for now) We had an offensive coordinator that kept trying to breathe life back into a QB, Jarrett Lee, they ruined a few years ago. He’s gone from being “Pick Six” to “We need 3 and Out”. Great kid; wants to play, but it screws with Jefferson’s confidence to keep rotating Lee into the game….and talking nonsense about Jefferson (Coach Miles) to the press. He was ready to play from the day he took the field for the first time. Too bad the coaches didn’t offer him the support he needed as an 18 year old kid. Instead, he was “just a freshman”, “not quite ready”, etc LES MILES. Meanwhile, freshmen QB’s were rocking the nation because their coaches backed them and built their confidence. That’s where Les has failed as a leader. But, back to the O-coaches…. plays that didn’t work until the end of the season = option to the short side, quick pass to the flat, running up the middle, line blocking long enough for a deep pass to develop. Those guys have got to go! Or, maybe it was just Crowton holding the talent back???

Hatcher hurt us in more than one game. We got beat yesterday by a team with a top of the line QB. Offense in college football is very dependent on a good QB. We do not have one. O-line was below average. Qb play way below average. D-line a little on the light side for stopping power running games. However, we are very young and have a lot of strong players back. We will have a very hard time being 10 and 2 next year w/o a better QB.

But really, when I look back on it, this game perfectly encapsulates our team from the year: Moments of greatness, surrendering big plays on defense (more on that later) and offensive ineptitude

As I’ve said more than once on this board, I’m not getting any offers to coach D-I football (nor, I’m guessing, is anyone else on this site), so I’m going to assume that my frustration is borne in no small part of not really knowing what’s going on. Having said that, however, the frustrating part of this season for me has been what appears to be the mid-game abandonment of what seems to work; “adjustments” for the sake of “adjustments,” rather than anything that seems to make sense to me.

For instance, WHY didn’t Chavis send more pressure more often. I was shocked at the amount of time we gave Mallett to throw, much of it when the ONLY pressure he was getting was from a 3 – 4 man front, which the Hogs handled. You give a guy like Mallett that much time, he is going to roast you, no matter how good your secondary is. I missed the 1st Quarter stuck in traffic on I-95, but I was told that we gave him real trouble in that quarter when we got after him. I don’t know if that’s accurate, but I know my frustration in the 2nd half was not understanding WHY we didn’t blitz more and pressure Mallett to make bad choices (which he has shown a propensity for all season).

Defensively, what has happened? Honestly, I can’t help but believe the defense just wore down after having to soldier through so many early season games shouldering the team.

I agree that’s part of it and I share your hopes in that regard. I do think, though, that had Chavis been more aggressive in the pressure on Mallett, we would have held up fine. I AM CONVINCED that it was Arkansas’ last drive of the game, when they shoved the ball down our throat on the ground on a drive that seemed to consume 5 minutes, that cost us this game at the end of the day. That was so uncharacteristic of us against a “conventional” offense like Arkansas, I can only assume that our guys were just worn down. When I saw that drive, I knew the game was over barring another Miles Miracle.

We saw the atrocious offensive line play that ravaged our chances last season.

I don’t know if I agree with “atrocious,” as they were able to give JJ plenty of time in certain instances. But otherwise, I agree. The poor kid was running for his life more than he should have had to. I can’t imagine what it would have been like had Jarrett “Uniread” Lee been back there. When the line was able to give JJ time, we were able to take advantage of the Hogs “loading the box” with our passing game (e.g., the drive which lead to our first score).

. . . stick to our strengths (Ridley had 17 carries… and ran it at a respectable 4.4 clip)

Following up on the offensive line problems, Ridley’s production was – for the most part – all Ridley. That kid is a great back who could play anywhere, I think. His 2 touchdown runs were things of pure beauty. Glad we get him back.

Zod AVERAGED 40.8 yards on kick returns. That’s an incredibly high average for someone who didn’t house one of them. Even Ron Brooks’ single return he got out past the 30. Yet, we were unable to capitalize.

I have been disappointed with Peterson’s efforts the last 2 games. Against Ole Miss, he looked sluggish – like he was playing with the flu. What SHOCKED me last night was – with the exception of his last return – what appeared to be an uncharacteristic aversion to contact. Since when did PP run out of bounds at the threat of contact with a KICKER? TWICE! I am convinced that, had Peterson used a stiff arm and lowered a shoulder, he would have scored on at least 1 of those returns when the kicker forced him out with very little effort. The only return where I saw PP show his physicality was the last one. Surrounded by real hitters (as opposed to kickers), he did what I’ve seen him do more than once: lower his shoulder and run over some people. Had he done this when his only opposition was the kicker, he would have scored.

I am holding out hope that Miles and teammates will be able to talk Peterson into staying for a real shot at the NC. I must say,though, that his aversion to contact on those returns last night made the cynic in me consider that PP didn’t want to get injured in his last game and drop his draft stock. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m nonetheless disappointed.

On a hopeful note: What struck me last night, as it has every game since the Fla. game, is how incredibly young and deep we are. If we have recruited well at OL positions, we should be a serious, serious contender next year.

I can only hope we get an indoor bowl game, regardless of where it is, so we don’t have to contend with conditions like last year which absolutely stripped any advantage we had over what was, truthfully, an inferior Penn St. team.

This team is a work in progress. These are kids. I’m amazed that many of the same people who are willing to give new CEOs sufficient time to restructure an organization full of seasoned veterans and turn things around have so little patience when it comes to allowing a coaching staff – working with an ever-rotating cast of college KIDS (some of whom, let’s face it, aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer) to turn a sports program around. On that note, I say

KEEP MILES! KEEP CROWTON! KEEP CHAVIS! GEAUX TIGERS!

I think everyone here and in Tiger nation agrees that Crowton’s time here is well beyond done and probably should have been gone last year but I was surprised by the seeming lack of adjustments by Chavis. I think that the end of half TD would have probably been a simple long completion had Hatcher not decided to go for the kill shot and then kill Mo, but I think not having every db back at least 20 yards is strange and asking for trouble.
I agree that once we lost Big Sam for the year that our run D took a hit and then with Taylors loss we pretty much lost our best run defenders on the outside. I don’t really know what Francois did to earn a starting job but I am pretty sure he should have lost it to Lamin Barrow or Kevin MInter as both of those guys have made some impact on a game this year and minus an uncalled PI in the UNC game Francois has been mostly a non factor.
Overall I am happy with the 10 wins and will continue to support our boys and cheer my heart out.
Here’s to an outside shot at a BCS bowl. Geaux Tigers!

I share it.

I don’t boo the team, I don’t think Miles is the blundering idiot the media wants him to be, I don’t pine for Saban, I bleed purple and gold, and I actually like Miles as our coach in many ways (I love that the team loves him, plays their hearts out for him, and as you guys remind us here—that he remembers the game is supposed to be fun. That’s missing in far too many coaches these days).

But I also can’t shake the feeling we’re never going to get that undefeated season I really want to see from us. I don’t think we’re ever going to dominate the teams we should like we used to. We’re always going to play up or down to our competition….at least that seems to be the trend. I’m happy for all the W’s, and you may call me greedy, but I want maximization. I want to see our players being used to their fullest potential. And, I know you guys are gonna burn me for this, but I think even our D was a TAD overrated this year. I loved that unit as much as any here, but looking back, we played some unspectacular offenses and whiffed on the good ones. I know the D is young, and mobile QB/misdirection offenses are tough, but honestly discipline, gap assignment, and fundamental tackling (lacking most of the year….sorry) will thwart just about everything. On rewatching the games, this defense had fairly poor fundamentals all year long, their athleticism covered it up most of the time, but it’s there. And when a team had as good of athletes as ours, our defense looked wobbly. Now, they were young, but I can’t say I feel rock solid about going forward next year losing Nevis, Sheppard, and Peterson. That’s only one guy at each level, but man are those big losses. National championships are not something I worry about. It’s a beauty pageant and history proves again and again a team doesn’t really control their destiny. But you DO control conference championships. We haven’t won the west and ergo the conference since 2007. In many years, 10-2 is good enough to win a division, but I’m sure you’ve all noticed the SEC is a Coaching Arms Race these days, and years like this one are probably going to be more common.

All that said……the defense WAS young and inexperienced. I was not a fan of the Chavis decision, but he’s who we got and so I’ll support him. There was a marked improvement between Chavis year 1 and year 2. If Chavis is the guy, these young kids will grow up and be The Man next year in the aforementioned 3 guys’ absence. If we see the same measure of improvement between year 2 and year 3, that will make for a better overall defense, even missing Nevis/Shep/Zod. What i DO have faith in: the fundamentals will get better under Chavis. i.e. tackling and gap assignment. What I do NOT have faith in: Our defenses ever being as physical as the squads under Saban/Pelini. Tennessee used to have fine squads, but they were never bone-crushers who got in your head like LSU used to. I miss it, but fair enough, even minor improvements over this year is good enough to get us an SEC championship with a serviceable offense.

I am realistic about this season. I read here a lot that we’re about three plays away from being 12 (or whatever) – 0. That’s true. I don’t like spoiling our fun, but I am also aware of the fact we’re also about 6 plays from being 6-6. I can’t look at one side without looking at the other. In the end, we are what our record says we are. I am happy about a 10-2 season. Unfortunately, I’m not happy that we finish 3rd place in the west. I do expect more, and I think more is attainable.

Because, on the bright side, let’s be realistic. Auburn and Arkansas were pretty winnable games with even a serviceable offense. The O has been a wreck this year, Ole Miss was fool’s gold, the Rebear secondary is atrocious and I had a sinking feeling ARK would bring us back down to earth. We won’t always be without a QB (yeah, I’ll get burned for this too, but my delusional optimism has never extended to believing in Jefferswag or Lee) and without a decent OC. I want to remind everybody of 2005 and 2006. I was never a Fisher fan, but one thing I notice is our offense has stumbled around since Crowton’s arrival. Even in 2007, if you recall, the offense had trouble lining up, formation penalties, false starts, illegal procedures, etc. It’s glossed over in the championship, but that offense was the most penalized in the country, if I recall correctly. We had an extremely smart QB who could see us through all that (and don’t minimize Flynn’s brainiac impact….there is a reason he beat out more physically gifted QBs to be Green Bay’s 2nd string). And of course we have no trouble remember 2008-2010. Remember in Miles’ first two years with Fisher, there were no mediots hammering Miles for clock management. The offense didn’t have those issues because the players understood the game better. They also demolished weaker teams because they were more “maximized,” if you will. Now, Fisher also got sissy-conservative against a real defense and he cost us some games, and thus I wasn’t ever in love with him either. The Miles/Crowton combo at least goes for the gold no matter who we’re playing. But my point is Crowton appears to be a good philosopher and play-designer, but he’s weak in the area that matters most, player development. I am tired of watching an LSU offense that is basically 11 high school phenoms running around. I have felt for some time now, that when we win, it’s our talent, and they’re winning in spite of the coaching, not because of it. So I am very optimistic that with an OC change, we have a lot of positive to look forward to.

I realize I said earlier that you can’t look at one side without looking at the other. I know it’s unfair to say better offense could’ve won the AU and ARK games and ignore the other squeakers. But I would opine that UNC, WVU, UT, BAMA, Ole MIss would not have been squeakers had our offense generated a few more points and maybe most importantly, kept our defense off the field a little more.

So, like you, I can’t shake the feeling that this team will always drop a couple games under Miles. But…..it’s just a feeling. Logic tells me that a better OC could help things tremendously, that Chavis will have us playing championship level defense, even if it’s not of the ilk of LSU teams past, and that Miles is good for the team in many ways.

I want more. I expect more. But I also think it’s within reach. If we continue not to win the division and stop getting SEC crowns, I’ll change my tune. Frankly, I don’t want a “nice little season” of 10 wins or whatever. I root for the team no matter what, but the standards of my expectations are set at division and conference crowns.

Sheesh…..sorry this got so long

obviously there will be plenty available that are probably a step up from where we’re at now. any big names though? guys that will get the fanbase pumped up and optimistic just by being named OC?

new years bowl games in florida against the big ten don’t do anything for me.

i would love to see us play nebraska or oklahoma in Dallas – thats about as good/fun of a matchup as we could’ve gotten playing in the Sugar.