HA.......high school??? so that makes him better than Randall....just because he was good in high school??? I hope your right and one of the freshmen step up and show that they are better than Randall.....to me that would just make me feel even better about next years team!!!.....but I think LSU will do just fine with Randall at QB. And by fine I mean and SEC Championship..
Some of you believe that anyone wearing the LSU uniform is great because they wear the uniform. Clayton was just stating the obvious. Randall is a frightening thought at QB. I would not want to risk millions of dollars on the hope that Randall has suddenly learned to throw with something resembling accuracy and developed good decision-making. He is not being controversial at all. There are just a few of you who are blind to Randall's performance/ability because you see the world in purple and gold. Don't blame the sane majority including Clayton.
Hmmm...Matt Flynn won in high school, so he is better than Randall in college? I haven't heard such a foolish statement since the last time Ramah posted something regarding LSU football... Marcus Randall with the 1st team in '03 is a wash...How can you expect the best three point shooter on your team to hit one with 7 seconds left coming off the bench after not having played a minute? You can't...He needs to have a feel for the flow of the game, and he needs to have gotten into a rhythm shooting the ball. Football is not the same, but the process of getting into the flow of the game is something Matt Mauck spoke about in his first game, and then mentioned again later in the Arkansas game, about having to "Settle down into the flow of the game"... When you go in cold, after the guys are all spent, and you're in there up 59-13 or so...It's not the same mentality, and it's not the same crispness, and not the same level of execution. Since you took a minority of snaps with the 1st team all week, it's not the same level of chemistry and familiarity with the gameplan as compard to the starter, as well... Any time he came in as a backup is wash... Again, no one has denied that Marcus Randall won the game against Kentucky in '02... No one has denied that he came off the bench to win SEC Player of the Week against Ole Miss....anyone who says he played mediocre football is being illogical. I've seen the tape, and it was a damned good game. No one has denied that he won the CBS Player of the Game Award against Arkansas even in a losing effort, when the DEFENSE gave up the loss... No one has denied that the DEFENSE cost LSU a shot at going to three straight SEC Championship Games. No one has denied that Marcus Randall, for all of his deficiencies, led LSU to within a Jack Hunt blown play for a touchdown from playing an SEC Championship against a team that lost 20-13 to a team we beat 36-7... No one can deny that the DEFENSE gave up 14, 31, 30, 31, 13, 21, and 35 points to end the year with Randall at the controls... The LSU defense averaged 25 points per game given up to end the year (IE-with Randall at the helm)... The LSU offense averaged 18.85 points per game to end the year... With Matt Mauck at the helm... The LSU defense averaged 10.5 points per game given up... The LSU offense averaged scoring 31.8 points per game... We gained two touchdowns from the loss of Damien James, and amazingly, we went down two touchdowns on offense too... We ran into the heart of our schedule, as well, and those bloated early season numbers included stinkers like The Citadel, MofO, UL-L, and Moo U... I still maintain that this team didn't perform radically different with one at the helm as compared to the other...Hell, we scored TWICE on defense against Florida...Which means the offense actually scored what...22 points? That's not exactly overwhelming, and that was our "statement" game? In the national championship game, we scored twice on offense (though I agree we could have scored much more)... I would submit that if our defense maintained it's level of play (and consequently, if Damien James could stay away from marijuana, we could have), and continued giving up around 10 points per game or a few higher (why not if we expected the offense not to miss a beat, which WE DID!), we still were averaging a touchdown better than what we were giving up! You can say what you want, but Randall has done nothing but improve physically and mentally from that time, and our defense has improved, which means we could erase those two embarassing losses on our schedule against the state of Alabama, and we could pulverize Texas...all with him at the controls....
I suspect the statement by Clayton mirrors the thoughts of Saban and Fisher but all quarterbacks have to be given a chance. Remember the controversy at Kentucky when Mumme, after Spring practice, awarded the starting quarterback to Lorentzen, even though the veteran quarterback had a better performance than Lorentzen. Saban is smarter than that. Who ever wins the quarterback race, I feel confident that we will be fine at that position.
Flynn has a stronger arm and is a hell of lat more accurate than Randall. One person we haven't discussed is the QB transfer who was a medical redshirt. I think his name is Harrison?
I read the article in the T-P. On the same page of the paper was another article (maybe Clayton's draft diary) where I read that Clayton signed with an agent THE DAY AFTER THE SUGAR BOWL. If he was already with an agent, how could his "decision" be based on what Mauck's decision was? Something doesn't add up unless Mauck told Clayton he was leaving BEFORE the Sugar Bowl.
No matter who QB's next year, I believe there will be at least a temporary dropoff from Mauck. Everyone has an opinion. Mine is that, Randall is mediocre. Mediocre may be good enough next year, but mediocre nonetheless. I would like to see one of the freshman play instead of Randall.
And how do you know that is a fact? He's not listed on the roster at LSUsports or on Dandy Don's depth chart, I believe he transfered out but I'm not sure.
