That is why we had such a hard time running on Bama in the past. Les Miles and his tendacies were a factor in them calling our play before it happened. Saban must be a little worried now that he cant predict every play. Makes his bunghole itch a little.
And that will be one of the interesting things to watch this game. Is LSU's lack of scoring touchdowns in the red zone due to deliberately playing conservative because of the score and the way that the defense is playing, or is it due to an inability to score. How explosive can this offense be when necessary against a very good defense, albeit I don't believe a defense better than what we have seen in several games already? We have a good but, I believe, limited quarterback; a line that has not had the opportunity to gell because of injuries; and talented, but inconsistent, wide receivers. Those would certainly seem to be limiting factors in having an explosive offense. But I believe, as I think most do, kicking five field goals and no touchdowns will not win this game.
We hear the argument about the offense being conservative every year or "holding back." I don't believe we are holding back. However, I will say, I don't care what the numbers say, this is the best and most balanced LSU offense we've seen since Mettenberger. We ran the ball so well in some seasons against lesser teams that it masked the weaknesses of the offense. We've been able to run and throw effectively at times, and I don't mean just jump balls against overmatched DBs. Burrow is good at the line of scrimmage. His biggest issue is inaccuracy at times and bad protection and the receivers are inconsistent catching the ball.
From an analytical standpoint, Alabama is NOT the best defense we face this year. But, they are Alabama, and, given our historical difficulty generating offense against them, it is worrisome. By the same token LSU is the best defense that Alabama has faced, But, again, they are Alabama.... Perhaps five field goals and two touchdowns will be enough to beat them. On one hand, I hope that is the case; on the other hand, I'm scared as hell to find out.
@BP @Guido Merkins yeah I don't buy the "holding back" at least not at this point. In years past especially with some of the horses we had there is no doubt we could have been SO much better. That is my biggest beef with with the other guy. This offense, I think it is probably doing what it can and that is unfortunate. We will see if they surprise us on Sat and I am suer hoping they do. I think they may have some stuff in the bag that they just haven't shown us yet, I just hope they have the players to pull it off. 3
Yeah, I think that pretty well sums it up. For all the reasons discussed, I believe this is an adequate but unspectacular offense. My hope is that we have faced as good, if not better, defenses so far and done "OK." My other hope is that, Alabama has not played as good a defense as LSU, so they score below their season average. I believe that, if we can score 28 or more points, we will be in the ball game, cause I don't see Alabama scoring against this defense as they have against other defenses this year.
Analytically, ranked better than Georgia http://www.espn.com/college-football/statistics/teamratings/_/sort/defEfficiency/tab/efficiency
What was Perdue’s unit rankings compared to Ohio States? To quote Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, “This isn’t going to go the way you think.”
Padawan, I've been on this forum for a long time and my track record calling this game is better than anyone here.
