Yes, the OL sucked ass. However when we passed they did fairly well. LSU did well when they threw the ball. LSU also did well when they ran the spread option, Harris did well on some keepers. The truth is Miles was hell bent on running his O. Adapt, LSU may pull it off and if they don't it's acceptable. Losing like this is not.
I disagree, we don't have the players to beat this team and it was evident in the 4th quarter. What was that 9 minutes with the ball? Alabama rotates 19 men on defense and we can't even find a good 11? Maybe we have em on offense, but on defense we damn sure don't and it showed.
still goes back to coaching. Any run blitzes, any stunts, and gap adjustments on defense. The answer is no. I dont think Alabama threw the ball down the field more than 20 yards.
They didn't have to, they manhandled us at the line of scrimmage because we don't have anyone that can play with them. We have some individual talent on the defensive side, no doubt, Beckwith, Key, Godchaux, White, Mills, Adams, Tolliver will all play on Sunday, I don't think any of the others will. Alabama has 7 starters up front that will play at the next level and the guys behind them probably will too. LSU has 1 DT on this roster that will play on Sunday. 1, that's pathetic. Don't get me wrong, I'm not absolving the coaching staff by any means. They are responsible for the players on the field and let's face it, LSU has FAILED MISERABLY in the last 4 years at recruiting D linemen and Linebackers. Sure you have some good ones here and there, but zero depth.
I think Bama is a difficult match up for LSU. I do agree with you though in that LSU coaches did not do anything to help the players. Miles was hell bent on running the same few plays that were not working. The pass and option worked, but Miles wants to run the power I. As for the D, they were just wore out because they were on the field with all the 3 and outs. Plus as you mentioned Steele does not do a damn thing to give the O a different look.
Alabama's defense handcuffed #7, put him in a straight-jacket and placed him in a phone booth, for 4 quarters. The LSU coaching staff had no Plan B for that. Cam said there was 2 game plans, but we left most of our game plan in Baton Rouge. They did NOT stack the box. For most of the game they played us straight up and whipped our OLine. The advantage that I really thought we would have, our WR against their secondary, didn't get much of a chance to reveal itself because 1) Bama played keep-away, 2) Harris was out of sorts and 3) we couldn't protect Harris. This loss goes on our Head Coach..... all of his assistant coaches.... the players for not having the fight, fire and determination to really bow up and fight... our strength and conditioning staff for not having the stoutest OLine and DLine possible.... and the recruiting trail. This loss falls on everyone from the top down.
Many of us are pissed and disappointed because of the "fools gold" we saw pre-Alabama. We thought this OLine, this QB and this team could physically stand up to Alabama. We watched them man handle Miss St and Auburn and Florida. We all believed that our running game would be good enough this year to keep us on the field and in the game... but it was fools gold. We're all pissed because we're tired of finishing 2nd to Alabama. At 7-0 we thought this could be a special season. Many prognosticators picked us to beat Bama. This year's Bama team didn't look nearly as stout on their OLine and had struggled with turnovers. Bama played their best against us. We did NOT play our best against them. Not even close. And it sucks.
The problem is we all buy it. I usually don't, but I did this year. We see the "throw it up and let Dural jump over a 5'8" corner who will be selling cars next year" passing offense and we believe that's a passing offense. It's not. Those passes are very low percentage. You will hit a few. Especially against inferior competition. Against Bama who is your equal, if not your superior, you need to have an actual passing offense. You need to have plays other than "go deep." What Bama did on that first drive?? That was a well practiced passing offense. Not spectacular, but Coker has reads and he makes them. There was a play where Bama needed 2 yards for a first down. Coker faked the handoff, rolled out and threw it to the TE in the flat. Picked up 2 yards. Spectacular?? No, but it worked and the next time Bama had a 3rd and short, LSU wasn't sure if a run or a pass was coming. We don't do that. Those that thought the passing offense was working in the 2nd quarter. Yeah, it was a jump ball to Dural and a play where Dural just outruns somebody. You need to have some of that in your passing offense, but if that IS your passing offense, you are in trouble.
It's baffling that Les can't figure out that the gameplan Saturday is good enough to beat everyone except the team he played.
