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September 9, 2009
Officiating bringing scrutiny to SEC
As predicted, LSU was competitive against Alabama. The talent level seemed very close between these two teams. It was a real battle between a couple of SEC heavyweights. The physicality of the game took it’s toll with several Tigers going down, the most costly being cornerback Patrick Peterson, who was forced to come in and out of the game due to cramps.
Peterson did a great job on Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones as he matched up against him for most of the game. Even the interference penalty on Peterson was a bogus call. Peterson also made a spectacular interception that was blown by the officials with six minutes to go. Unfortunately, on the most costly play of the game, Julio Jones’ game winning TD catch and run, Peterson was not in the game, and Jones and Alabama took advantage.
With all of the success that the SEC is experiencing in football, the conference is also under a lot of scrutiny. The SEC officials are taking a beating by the national media. The blown call on the Peterson interception is the latest in a series of blown calls that fall in the favor of SEC heavyweights Alabama and Florida. I usually don’t get caught up in blaming officials for outcomes. This latest blown call cost LSU a chance at taking a late lead. We’ll never know if it cost them the game. The phantom personal foul against Arkansas didn’t have as much of an impact on the outcome of its game against Florida, in my opinion, but it did help Florida on its game winning drive. With all of the money generated by SEC football, it’s time to pay the officials more. With higher pay comes comes higher expectations and suspensions without pay for those who don’t prform. It’s an old cliche’, but with SEC officials you get what you pay for.
LSU was in the game most of the way despite being outgained by nearly 200 yards. One of the reasons this was the case was because of the excellent job done by LSU punters. Derek Helton punted six times for a 47-yard average and Josh Jasper nailed his two pooch punts down at the Bama one-yard line. The second Jasper punt set up an eight-point run by LSU in the second half. Drake Nevis pressured Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy, creating a grounding penalty and a safety. LSU took advantage of the good field position and scored on Stevan Ridley’s touchdown run to go up 15-10. Charles Scott set up the score on a 34-yard run up the middle out of the pistol formation. Scott broke his collarbone on the play and most likely ended his collegiate career.
LSU again hurt itself on offense with confusion and penalties. The Tigers had to burn a timeout and finally got lined up before they were stopped on 3rd-and-one. After a punt, Jones changed the game with his long catch and run for a TD. In the first quarter, a long pass from Jordan Jefferson to Brandon Lafell was negated because of an illegal formation penalty. In the third quarter, the Tigers didn’t hesitate to go for it on fourth down. An illegal procedure penalty negated another key conversion. I was at the game and saw the side official signalling the play dead, but the crowd was so loud that the players continued with the play. Finally the LSU staff made a quick definitive decision in a critical spot in a game, but the penalty killed the play.
Alabama’s offensive gameplan was obvious from the first drive of the game. After a bye week, how was Bama going to attack LSU with a struggling Greg McElroy? Bama threw the ball on its first seven plays. Bama would throw it a whopping 25 times in the first half alone.
This did a couple of things for Alabama. First, it instilled some much needed confidence in their struggling first year starter. He ended with a productive 276 yards and two TDs. It also kept LSU’s defense off-balance throughout the game. After showing so much passing in the first half, Bama ran the ball a lot more in the second half while attempting just nine passes. This prevented LSU from loading up the box against Bama’s effective running game. Bama’s opponents had been doing this lately, daring McElroy to beat them. In the second half Bama came out in an empty backfield and Ingram would shift to a one back set. They quickly snapped the ball before the LSU defense could adjust. These plays produced big chunks of yardage for Bama in the second half. McElroy was inconsistent during the game. He missed some open receivers at times, and at other times he connected despite good coverage. He capped off Bama’s opening drive of the second half with a tough throw for a TD to Darius Hanks despite Brandon Taylor having pretty good coverage.
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November 2, 2009
Big game follows Tulane yawn fest
Watching the LSU-Tulane game I felt like I went into a restaurant eating crackers and butter waiting on my steak dinner to come out. What a yawn fest! The two biggest cheers were for Billy Cannon and Mike The Tiger doing Michael Jackson’s Thriller. I’m not quite sure what’s been run into the ground more.
I will concede that Cannon’s run is probably the biggest or most exciting play in LSU football history. I also understand that the 50 year anniversary of the play is significant, especially on Halloween night. Maybe it’s the overkill leading up to this celebratory year that’s kind of worn me out on this.
As far as this country’s non-stop salute to the former King Of Pop, I’m sure I’m not alone in experiencing nausea. However, I do compliment LSU officials for their attempt to keep the fans entertained, because this matchup on the field certainly did not. Maybe Tulane President Scott Cowan will resurface the idea of eliminating Tulane athletics again.
LSU is not alone with these mid-season rent-a-win games. Ohio State hosted New Mexico State this past weekend, Arkansas hosted Eastern Michigan, and several others have done this over the past couple of weeks. The dollar is tighter these days, and the big boys just can’t afford to give up the revenue of a home game. Teams like Arkansas can use a breather after playing Auburn, Florida, and Ole Miss on consecutive weekends.
When LSU struggled through the first half of the season, I thought that there was a cosiderable dropoff to the rest of the SEC. We will see this week if LSU belongs in this elite class of the SEC. One thing is clear now in the SEC — the Tigers are the only team that is even worthy of consideration. With Ole Miss and South Carolina losing this weekend, everyone else besides LSU, Bama, and Florida have at least three SEC losses.
The Rebels really handled all of those preseason expectations well-haven’t they? Auburn’s performance against Ole Miss has added a little juice to LSU’s whooping of them just last week.
The nasty matchup between Les Miles and Nick Saban has bolted their teams toward extremely different directions the past two years. LSU’s thrilling come from behind victory in 2007 kept the run to the national championship alive. Bama didn’t win another game until they got to Shreveport in The Independence Bowl. Bama’s overtime victory last year in Tiger Stadium catapulted the Tide to an undefeated regular season. LSU went on to lose to Ole Miss and Arkansas and finished with a losing SEC record for the first time since the Gerry DiNardo era. These scenarios have proven that these two teams have put a little extra emphasis on this game, despite what the coaches and players say publicly.
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October 26, 2009
LSU puts together its best performance of ther season
This was easily LSU’s best performance of the season against what could be a fading undermanned Auburn squad. The LSU Tigers were at their most aggressive this season on both sides of the ball. The offense attacked downfield with the passing game, as quarterback Jordan Jefferson let the ball go by trusting his large framed receiving corps. The sizable trio of Brandon LaFell, Terrance Toliver, and, yes, true freshman Rueben Randle all had key catches. Jefferson was also less hesitant in running the ball instead of holding it for long periods.
Defensive coordinator John Chavis seemed to blitz more than he has all season. The main beneficiary was LB/safety hybrid Harry Coleman. It’s one thing to blitz. It’s another thing to effect the quarterback. It’s great if you sack the quarterback. It’s the ultimate when you hit the quarterback and create a fumble. Coleman created three fumbles with LSU recovering two of them.
I don’t know how to confirm such a thing, and LSU head coach Les Miles and his staff would never admit it, but Miles has repeatedly responded to criricism throughout his tenure by making adjustments. They may take longer than some may like, but it happens. How about this week alone. Russell Shepard was more involved than ever this season after not getting one snap against Florida. Jordan Jefferson didn’t hold onto the ball as long, allowing sack after sack. He was obviously instructed to let it go or tuck it and run. The staff also allowed Jefferson to throw the ball over the middle of the field. This staff has been gun shy in this department, because this is the area of the field that another completely different quarterback struggled with last year. Another example was the reduced the number of option plays this week. I think LSU ran it once for a negative play.
On defense John Chavis brought more pressure than he has all season, creating big plays for the defense. He seemed to abandon the bend-but-not-break approach that’s become a pattern this season. Just a coincidence? I don’t think so. It’s happened over and over through Miles’ stay here.
I believe there is is still a gap between Florida/Alabama and the rest of the SEC, but LSU’s best performance of the season seems to tighten things a bit. LSU is certainly as formidable as Tennessee and South Carolina, both of which were competitve in Tuscaloosa the past two Saturdays. After a layup against Tulane, the trip to Tuscaloose is now exremely relevant. And although the endless comparisons between Miles and Nick Saban can sometimes be nauseating, Lil’ Nicky and The Mad Hatter squaring off with something on the line gets my juices flowing.
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October 11, 2009
Offensive confusion hampers Tigers
As confused as the defense was last year, I think the LSU offense is in that same area code this season.
Both LSU and Florida get to the line early, their staff sees what personnel and alignment the opposing defense is in, and then they signal in a play from the sideline. This “check with me” process is growing in poularity a bit in college football. However, LSU and Florida are on total different levels of executing this process.
Experience at th the quarterback position certainly makes a difference, but the Florida staff is also quicker with their decisions in getting the plays in. At least Florida had some issues with an illegal procedure and burning a timeout due to the crowd noise on their first possession.
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Washington scored back-to-back 4th quarter touchdowns in less than a one-minute span to avoid a completely embarrassing weekend from LSU’s opponents. Mississippi State loss at home to Houston, Jonathan Crompton threw for 310 yards and 4 TDs as Tennessee drilled Georgia 45-19, and Vandy lost to Army. The game winning TD for Washington is one you will surely see on the highlights. Jake Locker had just thrown a TD with about three minutes left to cut the Arizona lead to five. Arizona then threw a slant pass just behind the receiver, it bounced of the receiver’s heel right into the arms of UW’s best linebacker, and he took it in for the game winning pick six.
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You can bet that the Florida staff tipped off the officiating crew on LSU and, more specifically, Rahim Alem lining up off sides. Alem has been lining up very close to the neutral zone all season long. Five off-sides penalties helped Florida continue an all too familiar trend of keeping the ball away from LSU. John Chavis’ bend but don’t break defensive scheme also contributes to LSU’s opponents consistently having more snaps than LSU. Chavis has been as advertised. He was a safe, sound replacement that would eliminate a lot of the confusion LSU had on defense last year. He has been a big improvement, but his defenses continue to struggle on third down.
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Florida was extremely cautious with Tebow until LSU scored. Tebow basically just handed the ball off to the upbacks for a quarter and a half. LSU came one yard shy of taking the lead, and LSU’s defense was starting to anticipate the simple handoffs. That’s when Florida began to run its regular offense. The Gators went 80 yards on eight plays for their only touchdown of the night. It started with a wild scramble that saw Tebow weave his way all over for about an eight yard gain. It seemed to get Tebow a little more mentally into the game. Riley Cooper also got away with a grab that created more seperation from Chris Hawkins, who appeared to be sitting on the route.
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October 6, 2009
Tigers show up between the hedges
LSU played it’s best game of the year, especially in the first half. LSU outgained Georgia by almost 200 yards and had 12 first downs to Georgia’s one. The score obviously should have been much worse than it was. LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson did not see the lurking defensive back and threw an interception to kill the first drive. This affected the next LSU drive inside the Georgia 10 as well. A gun-shy Jefferson looked at his primary receiver running a slant route, he wasn’t wide open, and Jefferson threw the ball in the stands, making sure the Tigers wouldn’t come up empty again.
LSU’s running game was the best it’s been this season. Georgia is not as stout up front as it has been lately. LSU’s offensive line created some push at times. The biggest reason may have been that Georgia did not crowd the box like other teams have done against LSU this season.
The “Wild Tiger” grew a bit this game as well. Early in the season the LSU version of the “Wild Tiger” consisted of a basic direct snap to Russell Shepard. Then there was a little misdirection look to players like Charles Scott. Against Georgia, Trindon Holliday lined up next to Shepard. An opposing defense must respect Holliday’s ability to get to the corner. On one particular play Shepard did a very good job of selling the fake and kept the ball in Holliday’s belly as long as possible. The Georgia defense bit, creating a lot of open space for Shepard. That proved to be his longest rush of the day. Now the next step is to allow Shepard to throw out of the “Wild Tiger”. Then defenses would have to defend a true triple option. It might not be at the speed we desire, but it is progress.
Once again LSU is slighted by something more controversial. In 2003 when the #1 team in the polls was left out of the national championship game, the BCS was an easy target for the national media. In the process, LSU’s national championship behind an extrordinary defense was slighted. Now the ridiculous excessive celebration call against AJ Green is stealing the spotlight from another play which was equally important. College Football Final, national sports talk shows, and PTI are just some of the outlets that are blasting the call. It should be blasted, because it cost Georgia 15 yards of field position. However, Trindon Holliday returned the kickoff 40 yards to the Georgia 43. An obvious penalty on Georgia tacked on five more yards.
The average kickoff return in the SEC is around 22 yards. Holliday’s return, plus the five-yard Georgia penalty, gave LSU an extra 23 yards of field position. The average kickoff coverage in the SEC is 41 yards from the spot of the kickoff. Holliday’s return plus the 5 yards Georgia penalty put the kickoff coverage at 18, 23 yards shy of the league average. You do the math MFP, 23 is more than 15. There is no denying the call was horrible, but no matter how you look at it, Holliday’s return plus the Georgia penalty had more of an impact on the field position than the bogus call on Green.
If you’ve never been to Athens, try to make the trip in five years. The downtown entertainment district along campus has everything you need and is always filled with activity. The Georgia fans are terrific also. Sure, there are one or two knuckleheads in every crowd, but the Georgia fans are an extremely friendly group that love their football as much as any.
One thing was obvious by watching the game Saturday. LSU was the more talented team. I’ll even go as far to say that the talent gap between LSU and Georgia is wider than the two National Championship teams in 2003 and 2007. For whatever reason, the talent level has dipped a little in Mark Richt’s ninth season. It doesn’t help that two impact underclassmen Stafford and Moreno went pro early. Richt has won close to 80% of his games and two SEC titles this decade, but is starting to get some criticism. Last year the Dawgs were preseason #1 but lost three regular season games, including two blowouts and the first career loss for Richt to in-state rival Georgia Tech. This year the Dawgs appear to be a middle of the pack SEC team.
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September 28, 2009
Ott: Talking ‘Dogs and ‘Dawgs
And the beat goes on. LSU gets outgained, out-first downed, basically outplayed by an inferior opponent, and win.
I realize that LSU outgained ULL and Vandy, but those games were more competitve than most thought. Now the Tigers are 4-0, ranked fourth in both polls, and headed to Athens as they get ready to face an opponent with comparable personnel. Good thing that LSU is doing a good job in the turnover/penalty category. It’s won them both the Washington and State games.
Did LSU actually get outgained by more than 100 yards against their whipping boys? Thank goodness that Dan Mullen forgot his best player, 235-pound future pro Anthony Dixon, on 3rd and 4th down short yardage situations. He already scored two TDs on short runs earlier in the first quarter. The final play had to be a keeper the whole way, because had Tyson Lee pitched it to Dixon he would’ve walked in.
LSU is in the triple digits (105) in total offense and near 49th in total defense in the nation against a relatively light schedule. This is incredible for a team that has some pretty good talent. I’m like most people in thinking that this is about to get ugly. Georgia is not much better. LSU can play with and can beat the Dawgs even at their place. Joe Cox came back to earth a little bit against Arizona St. throwing a couple of bad interceptions in the middle of the field.
If LSU isn’t No. 4 then who is? Florida, Bama, and Texas look like they are a cut above everyone else. The way this season has started and with the lofty early season ranking for Boise State, this could be the year that a mid-major gets into the title game. It will take multiple losses from two of the previously mentioned three. I think LSU has 3-4 losses coming.
The delay of game penalties were a major problem, and it could have cost LSU the game. Jordan Jefferson completed a third down pass for a first down late in the game, but it occured after the play clock had expired. State may have never had the oppurtunity for their near go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter. On the first penalty and the burned timeout Jefferson appeared to be getting the plays in early enough but got in troulble when attempting some check with his offensive line.
Jefferson, along with Chad Jones, Patrick Peterson, and Brandon Lafell, had strong individual performances to bail LSU out of a potentially embarassing loss. Jefferson connected on three long balls for 137 yards, which surpassed the other 56 plays that netted just 126 yards. Remember, this is the same team that gave up nearly 600 yards to Auburn.
Lafell looked like the best player on the field catching short and long balls and doing a nice job of getting yards after the catch. He has also improved his route running.
Jones still makes some mistakes in positioning, but his athleticism and instincts more than make up for it. His deflection on third down reminds me of the play vs. Alabama last year when he forced a touchback on what was about to be a Bama TD. These type of instinctive plays are a result of being around the game for a long time.
Peterson is certainly a future pro with a great blend of size and speed for a cornerback. What I really like about him is his energy level that he plays with. He’s always looking to get involved on a play. This was never more evident than when he escorted Chad Jones to the endzone on the long punt return delivering the final necessary block to get Jones in.
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This was another game that LSU’s opponent had an extrordinary number of offensive plays. State had a whopping 86 snaps! This is even more incredible considering State had three one play drives.
Is Josh Jasper the toughest placekicker around? For the 4th straight game Jasper made a tackle on his own kickoff.
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September 21, 2009
LSU-ULL Post-Game Notes
Another unspectacular win for LSU, but as I look at some other undefeated teams around the country, here are the Tigers’ equals:
#4 Ole Miss, 2-0: The Rebs struggled a bit in their opener vs. Memphis before blowing them out late and there’s nothing you can take from beating SLU.
#5 Penn State, 3-0: It’s nauseating to see head coach Joe Paterno and his one track approach to stay as the winningest all-time coach. Less than spectacular wins vs. Akron, Syracuse, and Temple. Nice schedule Joe Pa.
#6 California, 3-0: They did destroy a 9-win team in Maryland and had a double digit road victory vs. Minnesota, but the old eyeball test doesn’t see much difference between Cal and LSU.
#22 North Carolina, 3-0: Ironically the Chik-Fil-A Kickoff opponent for LSU resembles the Tigers after a few decent victories vs. Citadel, U Conn, and East Carolina.
The teams that look better than LSU right now are Florida, Alabama, Texas, Boise State, Miami, and Cincinnati (yes Cincinnati)
Well, LSU made deliberate attempts early going downfield with the passing game with little success. Quarterback Jordan Jefferson overthrew one, on third-and-18 Jefferson heaved a jump ball to Rueben Randle that could have been caught, and on first down he underthrew the receiver poorly for his first interception of his five career starts. Needless to say, Jefferson is much more proficient in the intermediate passing game right now.
The kicking game for LSU was outstanding. Derek Helton had three punts for a 44 yard average and great hang time that yielded 0 punt return yardage. Josh Jasper sailed his career long 52-yard field goal with 7-10 yards to spare. How about Jasper recording a tackle on a kickoff for the third straight game!
Why doesn’t LSU run some sort of an option when they bring Russell Shepard in? Is LSU the only team in the country that doesn’t give its mobile quarterback an option? I don’t want to hear about the Wild Tiger because it doesn’t exist. It’s nothing but a direct snap rushing play. The defense only has to key on one ball carrier instead of worrying about misdirection or a possible passing attempt.
If Charles Scott is going to carry the ball effectively, it’s going to be as a fullback or from the one back set. Scott can be a weapon catching the ball from the fullback position as he showed with the late touchdown vs. ULL. This is also an option in short yardage situations, where LSU has had its issues.
Is the wave still around?
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September 14, 2009
Business-like victory for Tigers
By Jimmy Ott
The big question is how much the weather effected the game. LSU was very horizontal with their passing attack vs. Vandy. Quarterback Jordan Jefferson missed a wide open Chris Mitchell in the north endzone. That was about it for throwing the ball downfield. Was it the wet ball that restrained the offensive approach or a lack of confidence in Jefferson? I’ll lean toward the wet ball considering Jefferson has yet to throw a “pick” in his four starts. LSU’s horizontal approach hindered their whole offensive attack, creating lots of congestion.
There were two plays that changed the complexion of the game. The first was actually a series of mistakes by Kelvin Sheppard. On third-and-long, Vandy ran a safe dump off to their running back. Sheppard “whiffed” on the open field oppurtunity. LSU had just scored to go up 10-0, had Vandy reeling, and was about to get the ball in good field position. I thought that LSU was about to blow the game open. A couple plays later Sheppard read a slant pattern and stepped in the passing lane but dropped what may have been a pick-six. Later on the drive Sheppard missed a tackle on second-and-long that gave Vandy a first and goal. After this play Sheppard was replaced by Jacob Cutrera. Shepard has been a good player this year, but that particular series was rough.
The second play that altered the game came in the 4th quarter with LSU hanging on to a 16-9 lead. Vandy had a third-and-8 just inside the LSU 25. Quarterback Larry Smith hit redshirt freshman receiver Alex Washington in the gut for what would have been a first down near the LSU 15. The Vandy receiver could not hold on to the slippery pigskin, and Brandon Taylor, who made his first start in the game, alertly snagged it for a critical interception. It could have gotten very sticky had Vandy tied it up in the fourth quarter. Taylor commented after the game, “The ball just fell into my hands.”
At one point in the game LSU had run the I-formation 12 times, six times with Charles Scott at tailback and Richard Dugas at fullback, attempting one pass and rushing the ball five times. This formation produced just four yards. There was one rushing attempt with Keiland Williams at tailback and Dugas at fullback that went for no gain. There were five rushing attempts with Williams at tailback and Scott at fullback that resulted in a much more productive 34 yards and a touchdown. Williams finshed with 10 rushes for 72 yards and two touchdowns. This may have been the first time that Williams got the touches to get into some sort of a rhythm since he was a freshman.
This performance by LSU was just kind of there. It’s hard for me to be overly critical or highly complimentary. It was a business-like but unspectacular type of victory that saw the Tigers win by about what the oddsmakers expected them to. LSU just came short of the 14 1/2 point spread. Dating back to the 2007 South Carolina game, LSU is killing those who are backing them financially, covering just five of the past 25 games vs. Division 1 teams.
Has the dice-rolling stopped for The Mad hatter? Six seconds seemed to be plenty of time to take one shot in the endzone from the five yard line. Or is this another case of a lack of confidence in Jefferson? The more calculated decision was when Miles settled for the field goal on fourth-and-short in the Vandy red zone to go up two possessions. This decision is common for most coaches, but Miles at times has been far from conventional.
Jefferson has been knocked out of the game briefly in both contests this year. His frame does not appear to be the most durable. I think it may be wise to limit his rushing attempts, because he is a cut above the other quarterbacks right now.
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September 9, 2009
Random Thoughts: LSU vs. Washington
Wow, did UW actually outrush, out-pass, and out-first down LSU? This is what you call redemption-type intensity?
The thing that scares me is that opening week is an offensively challenging weekend of college football.
The best thing about this for LSU is that sometimes the first game can be misleading. I’ve always said you don’t want to over-react to the first game, but man there are caution signs everywhere.
LSU got burned with the blitz on third down that resulted in a long gain to set up UW’s first TD. If you’re going to bring extra people, you better get to the QB or, in this case, read the screen.
The defensive line was a concern of mine. Obviously I’m still concerned. The DEs made poor reads and had serious problems shedding blockers.
Bo Pellini had a rough debut as DC also. He worked out pretty good for LSU after the Arizona State and Tennessee games.
What is the deal with the tackling? It’s not a good sign when your best tackler is a cornerback. Speaking of Patrick Peterson, as good of a game that he had, UW did not shy away from attacking him.
You think pick-sixes are big? You can get outgained by 157 yards and still be one play away from winning by double digits.
With the emergence of Terrance Toliver, Jordan Jefferson has another weapon to work with.
Jefferson was extremely efficient, and his passer rating reflects it. Now that we know he is the starter, can LSU think about using a guy like Russell Shepard as your change of pace QB? If a Pac-10 defense can rock Jefferson like that, what might happen in the mighty SEC.
Speaking of the SEC, 11-1 straight up and 6-2 against the spread this weekend.
I got a feeling “The Chief” is going to be wearing out his defense at practice this week. Remember, this was his first chance to evaluate his personnel where it counted. Now he needs to find out who wants to play with some intensity and physicality and who wants to sit on the bench.
Did Miles’ replacement in Stillwater make a better hire at DC than him? It’s only one game, but that was a much better Cowboy defense that helped Oklahoma State beat Georgia.
Let me get this straight. You beat a WAC team and everyone is waking up the echoes in South Bend?