You're trailing 17-15 in the final two minutes of the Super Bowl, but you've got the ball inside the 10-yard line, with one time-out left. Your opponent has a hall-of-fame quarterback with a resume built on last-second heroics, and two timeouts. A field goal wins the ball game, but everybody knows you don't want to give the other team too much time...

Obviously we all saw this play out last night. The Giants ran the football enough to eat some time and make the Patriots use one of their timeouts, and eventually the New England defense split wide open to let Ahmad Bradshaw (despite his best efforts) toppled into the endzone with about a minute left. Obviously, the Giant defense made their stand, but Bradshaw was obviously trying to stop himself at the goal line -- and has since noted that his teammates were all yelling at him to hold up short of the endzone, although Tom Coughlin said he never gave any order like that (but thought about it). Had the Giants played for the field goal, it would have been the equivalent of an extra point and possibly left the Pats with 20 seconds left and no timeouts, but only in need of a field goal themselves to win. By getting the touchdown, New England was forced to go for the endzone to win, but obviously had more time, plus one more chance to stop the clock.

Now, there are a two sides here strategically, and I see both of them. On the one hand, any number of things can go wrong playing for a field goal, even a short one. But the same can also be said of giving Tom Brady 60 seconds and a timeout, when you can easily stall for time. Was letting Bradshaw score the right call for New England? I haven't seen anything confirming whether the Patriots let him in deliberately, but it certainly seemed that way.

So what do you do? Discuss in the comments.

"Now remember, when things look bad and it looks like you're not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. 'Cause if you lose your head and you give up then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is." -- The Outlaw Josey Wales

All right, people. Break's over.

The title game sucked, and it was okay to take an appropriate mourning period for the ruination of what was only the greatest regular season in the history of college football. Stuff like that takes time to get over. Well, we've had a month. It's over. Time to get back on that horse and move on.

It's time to stop apologizing for our season. LSU finished #2 in the nation and BEAT three of the four other teams in the top five. Acting like we're some mediocre team that just got lucky all year is a tremendous disservice to this team. This team was awesome. Hell, the team still is awesome, as a lot of the key components are coming back and we should expect radically improved QB play.

Unless you went to Alabama, you could only hope your team had as good of a season as we had. And even Alabama needed a successful public relations campaign to get a second chance to salvage their season. Was it fair? Who cares? My momma told me that fair is just a weather condition. And while LSU fans may have gotten the short end of the BCS stick this year, we also rooted for a two-loss national champion in 2007. The BCS giveth, the BCS taketh away.

More than anything, we need to stop caring what other people think. If you're reading this and you aren't an LSU fan - I do not care what you think of our program. Nothing personal, I don't expect you to care what I think of Random State U, either. But LSU fans need to stop looking outwards and reading every press clipping for even the barest slight.

Continue reading this post »

WARNING: As always when we do this, be careful when clicking through to the full page as it may take a long time to load

Here's a quick rundown of LSU's recruits with some highlight packages, starting with the early enrollees:

Vadal Alexander
OL, Buford, Ga.

Continue reading this post »

When it comes to hiring assistant coaches, Les Miles follows two fairly standard profiles -- young up-and-comers like Frank Wilson, Brick Haley, Greg Studrawa (when he was hired), Thomas McGaughey or Billy Gonzales; or veterans with proven track records like John Chavis, Steve Kragthorpe, Ron Cooper or Larry Porter and Bo Pelini before them. Assuming the reports and rumors are true, Adam Henry falls into the first group.

He'll turn 40 in April, and as we all know by now he's just wrapping up his third year as the Oakland Raiders' tight ends coach, which was preceded by two seasons as an offensive quality control assistant (note: quality control coaches do the hardcore grunt work for NFL staffs -- breaking down practice film, managing and keeping practices on schedule -- it's a tough entry level gig). Quoting his Raiders.com biography:

Last year, Henry's unit once again featured the team's leading receiver, Pro Bowl TE Zach Miller. Miller caught 60 passes for 685 yards and 5 TDs and was selected to play in his first Pro Bowl. In 2009, Henry coached a tight ends unit that included the team's leading receiver, Zach Miller, who logged career highs in receptions (66) and receiving yards (805). In 2009, Miller became the first Raiders tight end since Todd Christensen (1982-86) to lead the Raiders in receiving in back-to-back seasons.

Before he donned the silver and black, Henry spent 10 years at McNeese State in Lake Charles, playing and coaching wide receivers and setting records in either role. The biggest name linked to him is B.J. Samms, whom some of y'all might remember had a good run as a kick returner with the Baltimore Ravens a few years ago.

On the plus side, Henry is a native of Beaumont, Texas, which gives LSU some more ties in that area (alongside McGaughey), and his resume and NFL stretch indicates he's got some good teaching chops when it comes to the technical side of the receiver position. Personally, I'm not a fan of the "pure recruiter" type of coach like an Earl Lane or a D.J. McCarthy. Sure, talent makes coaches, and you have to be able to both find and attract it, but coaches that fall too far on one end or the other of the teaching/recruiting spectrum tend to fade eventually. Henry seems to split that difference. On the minus side, Henry's been out of the recruiting game for five years, and the landscape can change a lot in that time. Whether he can hit the ground running quickly or not will depend on Henry himself, though this staff could certainly use some more juice in this area. McGaughey hasn't paid massive dividends early on, though he did help LSU pull in Danielle Hunter, whom I believe has major potential. Of course, it's obviously foolish to judge a coach based on one incomplete recruiting cycle. At first glance I doubt Henry plays a huge role in the 2013 cycle, but if early reports are true LSU won't have to lean on out-of-state too much, just for some critical needs (quarterback and defensive tackle primarily).

Still, I'd say that overall there's a lot more to like here than cause for concern.

It's been a week and a half, and it still hurts.

LSU had a historically great season slip through their fingers, capped off by probably the worst game the team has played in two years. It's not like the season wasn't full of accomplishments and triumphs - the SEC title, NICKNAME REDACTED making it to New York for the Heisman presentation, an undefeated regular season against the nation's toughest schedule - but it all pales in comparison to 21-0.

Why does the pain of the way the season ended somehow dwarf the joy of three months of dominant football? Such is the danger of hope. When you have hope, when you believe with every part of your being, it makes the crash that much harder. It's coming down off of the high, and coming down in a bad way.

OK, the almost unending stream of bad news surrounding the program in addition to the big loss hasn't helped. Recruits defecting, players going pro, and rumors of fights flying.* When the Wheel of Fortuna turned, she turned like a bitch. It was like the dam burst.

*ED NOTE - I know we've said this a few times, but stop reading the Columnist Who Must Not Be Named. He's a professional agitator and it's your own fault for getting riled up by the bile he spews. It would also be in your best interest to stop listening to secondhand rumors you got from guy who knows the inside scoop because his best friend's sister is dating the waterboy.

Continue reading this post »

Since Thursday, January 5th it's been a seemingly endless wave of bad news for LSU. First, coveted safety, Landon Collins, commits to top rival Alabama. Days later, LSU gets drubbed by that same rival. More than merely losing the game, the outcome was embarrassing to many LSU fans. LSU was the first team to ever be shut out in a BCS bowl. They cracked the 50-yard line only once. They failed to accumulate even 100 yards of offense and 4+ years of poor QB play reared it's final painful blow. Two days later, wide receivers coach Billy Gonzalez announced his intentions to leave to take a promotion as offensive coordinator (may not be bad news depending on who you ask). Rumors floated that Kadron Boone is transferring out. Rumors swirled regarding infighting, players being angry at coaches, players being angry at fans, and players being angry at players. This was only aided by a few ill-thought tweets from Russell Shepard and swirling rumors of his pending departure.

Then today, star defensive players Mo Claiborne and Michael Brockers declare for the NFL draft, as well as LSU's most proven and experienced WR, Rueben Randle. The departures weren't altogether unexpected, though most held on to a sliver of hope that Randle and Brockers may decide to return for one last hurrah. Finally, 4-star OT prospect Patrick Miller somewhat unexpectedly swapped him commitment to Auburn and enrolled for classes there today. Though this was likely in the works for weeks, it just seemed to be one more tidbit of bad news for LSU fans.

All of this leads to a lot of questions for Les Miles. Prior to the MNC, Bruce Feldman tweeted that if Miles took down Saban, people needed to legitimately ask if he was the best coach in the country. Today, hordes of LSU fans want him fired, or, at the very least, to give answers: Why didn't Jarrett Lee get a chance? Why was the team so flat? Why did they seem so unprepared? How did the wills of an entire team break, so easily, after a year of being resilient and swaggerific? To paraphrase Vince Lombardi, just what in the hell is going on in Baton Rouge? Miles has questions to answer. But don't expect the answers to come via press conference. After the jump, let's talk about why there is plenty of reason to be optimistic and how every LSU fan should take a few deep breaths and step away from the ledge.

Continue reading this post »

It's extremely grey and overcast here in Baton Rouge. Appropriate, since the past 12 hours sounds like some sort of trauma out of an Edgar Allen Poe story. I'm not sure what's worse. The headache, the pit in my stomach, the bewilderment of the reality or the sense of futility. A season that should feel great now feels empty. Like something we should all be glad to be rid of and eager to forget. Which is stupid, because I don't care who you are, undefeated regular seasons and SEC titles are things you should always want to remember. But if this is how it ends, what's the point?

Sure, it occurred to me that LSU could lose this game. Hell, it played out somewhat similar to what I told you all to watch for. But not like that. The party wasn't supposed to end when an 18-wheeler plowed through the center of it.

Right now everybody's angry and lost. Trying to find someone to blame. As usual, there isn't one person or one thing.

• But if we're going to start somewhere, start with the Tiger offensive line. Defensively, Alabama did exactly what I thought they would do. They sat with their safeties back on the hashes and played zone underneath, sure to erase any deep routes, and dared LSU to run the football. And the line simply couldn't get any push. For the entire game Bama's defensive line had the offense playing on their own side of the line of scrimmage, and the linebackers had completely freedom to chase down ball-carriers.
• That said, the coaching staff still completely abandoned its bread-and-butter play, the inside zone-toss. If it was run more than twice I'd be surprised. They spent too much time trying to get the short pass and option game going. The former has never been Jordan Jefferson's forte, and the latter got no traction.
• Speaking of Jefferson, he's getting the bulk of the blame, and while I still think the o-line was a bigger culprit, he was still pretty awful. On the option he was timid, trying to get the corner too often instead of attacking the end man to take him out of the play with the pitch. On the pass, he was too hesitant early and pressing late.
• I'm not sure Jarrett Lee would have made much of a difference with the offensive line and running game struggling that much, but at a certain point you just have to try something different.
• I can't kill the defense, given that they spent most of the night out on the field and kept Bama out of the endzone despite some very bad spots. But credit Jim McElwain for a great gameplan of short passes on first down to get the Tigers playing back on their heels. Ryan Baker in particular probably had the worst game of his career. Missing tackles and getting lost in coverage.
• The d-line tried, but even they got worked over too many times. Four different times Alabama was in second and 10 or longer, a clear running situation for this team, and was still able to rush for five yards or more. Michael Brockers and Barkevious Mingo made some nice hustle plays, but usually after they got blown off the ball.
• Overall, the team just looked completely listless. Something I haven't really seen out of an LSU team since the 2008 Troy game. No aggression. From anybody. They all just kept looking around like they were waiting for somebody else to make a play. And when the whole team does that, a play never comes.

For those who can only watch online, here's the ESPN3.com link

LET'S GEAUX!