Jackson called fake punt: Link

philter · Sep 15, 2005

First proof of what a lot of us suspected, they were taught to take advantage of those situations, but that call was all on Jackson:

http://www.lsureveille.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/09/15/4328fd649bc60

Miles gave the coconuts to Jackson because the punter called the play himself.

“It was a play of opportunity,” Miles said. “It’s certainly something that he can do. He has the wherewithal to do that. It’s a concern when we are backed into our own endzone. The reality is I want him to take that advantage. It’s like leaving a net untended and you’re supposed to pass, but damn you got to take a shot. Certainly represented what we wanted to happen.”

Jackson found the opportunity early in the game, and in a dangerous position on the field. The past high school quarterback did not have any of the possible negative outcomes in mind, though.

“When they leave that guy open out there, that’s in our play to throw it to him,” Jackson said. “It just so happened to be the first punt of the year. I was lucky that I saw it, and Ronnie Prude knew it was coming too. I saw [the defender] creep in, and I was thinking about it, ‘If he rushes, then I’m going to throw it to him.’ As soon as the ball was snapped, he was rushing and I threw it to [Prude]. I just saw the opportunity and took it.”

Despite Miles’ immediate reaction to television viewers, Jackson made it back to the sidelines in time for him to cool off.

“He just said ‘Good job — it wasn’t very expected,’” Jackson said. “Everybody seemed happy about it. He said maybe we should call it next time, but he was happy about it.”
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philter · Sep 15, 2005

This makes me very happy.

1) The staff is coaching these kids to think on the field by practicing these types of things, ...not out of the ordinary, but nonetheless good.

2. Miles didn't call the play. Whew! I would have been seriously anxious in future games if I knew our HC called a fake punt from the endzone heh.

3) He was mad, but calmed down and didn't rip into Jackson like *ahem* someone may have. This is good because Chris or another player can't have the thought of failure in the back of his mind when the next opportunity opens up. If you are scared the coach is going to unload on you, it's easier to fail.

All in all, it was a perfect situation since it worked

MikeDTiger · Sep 15, 2005

If you watch the play, Prude looks back at Jackson and Jackson nods. It was up to Jackson to make the decision to throw the pass, but Prude signaling that he knew the opening was there was the key. I agree that is encouraging that the players are both coached and trusted enough to pull something like that off.

CFN's Matthew Zemek
http://www.collegefootballnews.com/2005/Columnists/MZ/Week2/UponFurtherReview.htm

Next up in the crosshairs is Les Miles. Turns out that he didn’t order up that fake punt deep in his own territory early in Saturday’s game against Arizona State.

My response: so what?

Let’s consider all the angles here. Miles is responsible for what his positional/unit coaches teach their players. This includes his special teams coach, Bradley Peveto, who taught Ronnie Prude to call a fake if the gunners in a punt coverage formation were uncovered, which is exactly what happened. Apparently, Miles wasn’t happy about this fake.

Know what? He should be. He should be proud as hell of Ronnie Prude for doing what he did. Moreover, Miles—though upset at what he felt to be a mistake by a player, much as Mark Snyder had to be beside himself for what Jimmy Skinner did in the Marshall-Kansas State game—must nevertheless take credit for that positive play, just as Snyder has to take the blame for what unfolded before his eyes on Saturday. If Miles is responsible for what his assistants teach, then Miles obviously has some assistants who teach pretty well. That means Miles is doing his job. He might personally think he made a mistake, and that he didn’t have Coach Peveto properly aware of his own expectations for the special teams unit. But he shouldn’t, and this leads to a very important thought about a very fun game on Saturday night in Tempe.

You can try to push the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina aside in looking at the LSU-ASU game, but you just can’t do it. I assigned a great level of importance to that early fake punt, and I’ll stand by that fundamental viewpoint. The fact that Les Miles didn’t want that fake is really rather immaterial (though it does change my view of his performance somewhat, albeit not too much).

I think it’s significant that Ronnie Prude—even when deep in his own territory—had the stones to call that fake early in the game. Why? Consider this—and this is where the unique emotional texture of this game comes into play: if Katrina hadn’t happened, this game would have been viewed in a much more serious light. This game would not have been billed as an event in which “LSU takes the field after Katrina, wanting to give the people of Louisiana some joy and comfort.” No, without Katrina, this game would have been viewed as a “Pac-10-SEC deathmatch, with severely high stakes, reputations on the line, and LSU’s pursuit of a national title hanging in the balance.” Let’s be man enough to admit it: without Katrina, blood and venom would have been flowing in Pac-10 and SEC locales about this game, and the scrutiny placed on Les Miles would have been withering (not to mention LSU’s players, who were suddenly given the respect and leniency they deserved when Katrina’s aftereffects disrupted and shook their lives). But the hurricane put this game in a different perspective, a lighter, more fun and less pressure-packed context.

With all that having been said, the bottom line is this: Ronnie Prude simply would not have called that fake deep in his own territory if Katrina was not part of the pregame buildup. Without Katrina, this game would have been much more serious, and both players and coaches would have taken fewer chances. Miles, who was seen broadly smiling on a number of occasions on ESPN cameras, probably wouldn’t have been smiling nearly as much if Katrina had not entered the life of his career, and the life of the LSU program he now leads. This game was fun—and both teams took reckless, daring chances as a result—only because it seemed much more like a game, and much less a matter of life and death. Ronnie Prude’s call was a very central part of that emotional mosaic. I stand by that fundamental point
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Jackson called fake punt: Link

philter Founding Member

philter Founding Member

MikeDTiger Geaux Tigers!!!

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