Escape. Sweet, sweet, escape. What an absolute dud of a football game. here are teh snap judgments:
- The team as a whole was flat. The defense would play well for a couple of plays at a time, but could never sustain it. They'd lose focus for a play and give up 10 or 15 yards on a screen or a misdirection. Other plays, we would dominate their line and make a tackle for a loss or no gain. It was quite frustrating how we would beat them badly two plays in a row only to see them get a first down to keep a drive going on the third. Hat tip to uberschuck in the comment thread for pointing that out.
- Derek Dooley brought a good game plan to Baton Rouge. He didn't have much in the way of players, as much of his lineup was out due to injury, but he made the most of what he had, getting his little backs out into space and taking advantage of our aggressiveness with draws, misdirection, screens, etc.
- Defensively, Louisiana Tech just let us beat ourselves. Jarrett Lee got the start and did not play well. He was 7 of 22 for 104 yards and a touchdown. There were no interceptions, but Louisiana Tech was close on about 3. This Lee was not the same as the Jarrett Lee of last year. The 2008 version of Jarrett Lee struggled with interceptions, but also made plays. He tried hard to get the ball to the receivers and ran into trouble when he'd try too hard or would lock in too much. This version of Jarrett Lee seemed scared to put the ball anywhere near a defender and shied away from taking hits. It wasn't the same quarterback, and it wasn't a quarterback showing growth. It was a quarterback who, much like our entire offense earlier in the season, seemed so scared of making a catastrophic error that he wouldn't try to make a play. He wouldn't try to squeeze a ball through a hole to a receiver. He wouldn't try to wait for a play. While we've complained about Jefferson not throwing the ball away, Lee would give up on a play too quickly. It was frustrating and painful to watch.
- While Gary Crowton was busy trying to get an ineffective Jarrett Lee into the game, he was overlooking Keiland Williams, who finished the game with 116 yards on 15 carries, and he scored both of our touchdowns on short runs. He had a great game, and needed to get probaby 6 or 7 more touches than he got.
- At one point, with LSU holding onto a lead, Crowton called 6 consecutive passing plays, resulting in two consecutive 3-and-out possessions.
- This was probably as good of a game as our defensive line has played this season. They made play after play, both in the passing game and in the running game. A large percentage of La Tech plays went for 0 or negative yards. And a large percentage went for big yardage. C'est la vie.
- Brandon Lafell continues to be a great player.
- This is a team that really needs Jordan Jefferson back. I am surprised to find myself saying that, as I was seriously wondering earlier this year if we wouldn't be better off with Lee under center.
- Russell Shepard continues to look like a star in the making.
- We did not get an interception (there were no turnovers in the game for either team as a matter of fact), ending our streak of games with an interception, going back to last season.
- La Tech's running backs were similar to what we're going to see with Dexter McCluster next week. We will have to figure out how to catch and tackle a small, shifty back.
- Let's not forget, the game was a win. Our 8th of the season, in fact, beating our regular season total for last year, with two more winnable games remaining. Now we just have to win them.