Something I never see mentioned in here....this year's seniors were The Hat's first recruiting class, and that was notably small in numbers....think we only signed about 15 that first year. That includes Perrilloux. We are very thin in terms of senior experience, and are relying heavily on underclassmen this year. But recruiting has been outstanding the last two years, and another great class is under construction. This has been a disappointing year, but if CLM does the right thing with the co-DC issue (I'm betting he will), our future will be just fine.
I think TCs original post deserves some contemplation, but I don't think our situation is as dire as that, and I certainly do not agree with QBLuke's comments. TC is entitled to his viewpoint w/o being told he is not a true tiger fan. I, too, was pretty damn worried about our future down 31-3 to Troy early in the third qtr - who truthfully wasn't? To be honest, I felt a pit in my stomach for that first 43 minutes like I was seeing the Dinardo years again. I certainly was impressed, too, that we scored 37 points in the last 16 minutes. Bottomline, when LSU (Saban years), or FLA or OU have been down in the past, you haven't gotten the sense that something serious is going on - just that they were having a bad game, flat, having a "rebuilding" year, etc. There have been numerous times this year where the coaching, namely asst's gameplanning, have been in question. Clearly, JLee and the defense have been Jekyl and Hyde-like. Is that flatness, youth, coaching, a combination of all? When our big, fast DBs are constantly playing off the ball and allowing WRs to get quick 10 yard posts, how can our excellent d-line get to the QB? In the past, the key to our aggressive D was having tight DB coverage, and I do not see that. To me, it has been more coaching, not youth or lack of talent vs. past, and I mean day to day coaching. It is clear we need a change in defensive leadership and a single d-coord, but I seriously do not feel CLM is planning do that, but how would anyone of us know what he will do. On the offense, when JLee is under center, drops back 4-5 steps, and fires stepping into his passes, he looks like BFavre - see second halves of AUB and Troy. When he is in shotgun, rollouts, etc. he throws off of the back of his foot, or does not really step into it, and he looks like one of the worst QB I have ever seen. He has 7 pick sixes, and they are so deflating - I have noticed after each pick six, the entire team seems down for about 1.5 qtrs before we rebound and play with emotion again. Why does CGC put him in those positions so early in the game and we get so down so quickly? Also, we only ran CS 3 times in the first 16 plays, and passed 11, I believe, which carried us into the 2nd qtr since we were not getting first downs and were 3 and out series after series. I question that gameplanning regarding simple logic of going with your strength. Would it not build JLee's confidence by running just a few plays with excellent execution rather than so much variety to stay unpredicatable, but you can't execute them and we get down bigtime? Glass half full outlook would say, improvement of JLee(or change at QB next year), and change at def. coord. are the main changes we need and this is very correctable. I just hope that the first 43 minutes against Troy are not a sign of a return to Dinardo days like I felt in the pit of my stomach last night.
I don't understand how someone can watch that ENTIRE game and NOT be "too excited". The final 11-12 minutes was incredibly exciting, in fact. I did NOT get to watch the game, but I heard Phelon Jones name all night. I heard Tolliver's name quite a bit. That in itself is exciting. The future is VERY bright. If you can't see it, or accept a stumbling block every now and then, go watch golf. Tiger Woods will be back next year.
It was absolutely exciting!!! But, did it need to get to that point, is the issue? I did watch the game, and while Phelon Jones and TT did have excellent second halves, Troy dropped the ball alot on wide open plays. PJones was beat quite a bit leading into the 4th qtr, but made a lot of the tackles, hence "hearing" his name a lot. When you watched it, I was not that impressed with him until late in the game. Also, PPeterson did not play nearly as well as he did against ALA. They are all so young, though, and certainly the future is bright as far as talent! Definitely, that was an amazing comeback to score 37 points in 16 minutes - phenomenal. I am not trying to be negative here, but the first 43 minutes, whew, Dinardo could not have scripted it better.
I believe and hope that the way that they played in the last quarter of the Troy game will get carried into the Ole Miss game. Yes, they have got to be better prepared for the Ole Miss game, and I think that they will be. My concern for the defense is : how good or sound is their defense scheme and playcalling, and/.or coaching? Last night Troy was able to drive the field almost at will in the first half. Was it partly the players not playing up to their ability? If the defense can play like what they did for the Bama game, or in the last 20+ mins of the Troy game, I think they can keep Ole Miss in check. The offense I am more hopeful. Lee may need to play with a higher sense of urgency from the start, as he seems to do better. As posted in another thread by Clair, he may be thinking too much.
The sky is not falling, Chicken Little. So we're not a top-10 team this year, so what? We've only lost to top-10 teams, we'll be ranked and go bowling in January, we're going to land the #1 recruiting class in the country, and LSU ain't . . . going . . . away.
LSU isn't a team that can handle a good spread. Troy operates it very well and if they had Auburn's depth talent this would have been an ugly game. They just ran out of steam. The D was confused most of the game ( I saw an entire series where several DB's had their hands in the air in a "what am I supposed to be doing" stance as the ball was snapped) and only when Troy began to self destruct by dropping passes and the QB blowing up passes did they get the swagger that was missing for 3/4 of the game. Ole Miss is a different offense and the defense should be a bit more successful. But they have a live QB who can eat them up on quick routes if they don't get some kind of dependabilty in pass defense. To me the only way to get at a passing QB is to put him on his ass numerous times during the game. He may have success early but by the 4th quarter he is tired of picking himself off the turf. Again we couldn't disguise a blitz to save our life last night but if they can get a hat on him anyway it will take it's toll.
TOO MUCH negativity here:dis: as if the program is doomed, or is it?:insane: I trust :miles: sees and understands the problems, and will move to have them fixed.
Someone worried about our future is a true fan. If you didn't care you wouldn't be frustrated at pick six Lee. Frustration shows a passion for the game and the team. So while you may have a time machine and already know the future Marty McFly the rest of us are worried and try to keep the faith in what has been so far a lackluster season. I do agree that it could be a lot worse. :dis::rolleye33:
Appreciate the points well made. I noticed the Troy QB passes were not as crisp in the second half; maybe the cold and having thrown so many passes already? The receivers I believe did get cold and started dropping passes. I suspect partly due to emotional drop off since they were up by 28 pts; once they cool off the jets, it was hard to re-crank the offense in the cold:hihi: LSU better find a way to defend that quick pass from Ole Miss.
