1. LSU was opening on the road against an SEC opponent in the rain with a new OB, a new offense, and three new offensive coaches. It took a while for things to gel for the offense, but they improved as the game went on, which is good. When you can play as bad as LSU played in the first half and still go in 17-0 . . . 2. LSU showed nothing to VT. It was as basic an offensive gameplan as I've ever seen. They basically didn't show their passing game at all. 3. The LSU reserves came in and looked pretty sharp. Last year they let State score 17 points after the first string shut them out 35-0. 4. State had a pretty good offensive line and running back but the LSU defense allowed 10 yards rushing offense. 5. LSU Special teams were surprisingly good, the punter did very well. 6. State came out ready to play and fired up and caught the LSU offense being clumsy. It was a competitive first half, but they couldn't hang in. 7. The LSU offense will have to be better focused against the VT defense next week.
I dont see how anyone can disagree. They did really well considering our d line sucked early on...in our defense our cb's are screwed if we dont get pressure but they still did well.
Agreed, very impressed with the young guys. We allowed a lot more than that, but penalties really hurt them.
Red you know the offense always starts the season slow. I do agree that we played it close to the vest of offense. I also believe the MSU D is good. They just couldn't hang.:geauxtige
And what you have to keep in mind is that the majority of teams out there are the same way--unless your mistakes are hidden by scheduling teams like Murray State.
Well.. All in all I gotta say, it's not as flashy as I thought it would be, but I'm ok with it nonetheless. Takes a bit of getting used to, not seeing a pass for 65 yards every third play or so. Doesn't mean we're not as good as last season. Play smart ball against VT and we'll be fine. Defense - I think the defense performed pretty much as expected. I know it was Ms. State and all, but to open the season against any SEC team and shut them out is impressive. Also it seemed to me that little separates our second string Defense from our starters.. That's a wonderful feeling. :thumb: State's O-line played pretty well for the first half, but were clearly not able to keep it up all game. And well.. they kept throwing to Steltz and Zennon so that kinda helped... :hihi: Offense - While it wasn't the awesome flashy show we were so accustomed to and loved so much from the last few seasons, it was good enough. O-Line needs work, particularly on Stewart's side, and we need to work on the mental errors that caused the annoying penalties. Flynn wasn't spectacular, but he played smart football for the most part. He handles pressure pretty well and seemed confident. I liked Hester tonight, strong running from him. Williams looked ok to me, Scott had a nice play, Holliday looked fast as ever, and I REALLY liked the way Murphy looked. He's gonna be special. He just needs a little experience. Put all that in with the fact that it's a new OC, new scheme, new set of "stars" on offense, and of course, the first game jitters, and I think we could have way worse issues than we do. Things will only get better for this offense and with the defense we have to compliment them we'll probably only need about 14 points a game to win.. Seems very similar to the 2003 season in some ways. Next week is going to be interesting to say the least. Special Teams - Didn't see anything that I didn't like too much... Patrick Fisher looked good to me, though he needs to work on the field position thing a bit, but he's got what looks to be a good foot. Coverage looked good on the kicks, good pursuit. Kinda weary about Early fielding kicks and punts, and receiving.. but you can't go though the season worried about injuries... gotta let em play. All in all, even though it was somewhat bottom of the barrel, it was an SEC game as an opener on the road. Once the team settled down a bit you could see easily who the better team was. State played hard and had some talent there, but they're not as well conditioned, or as good of a team as a whole.
Definitely a lot of positives for our green offense for a first game in the rain against a decent defense on the road. Aside from the offense, definitely a lot of positives. More pressure on the QB might be nice. I wouldn't mind not seeing much of the kick off return team this season, but I am curious about what they are capable of. Pelini made adjustments after allowing a few runs earlier in the game.
how has noone made the most important observation--mf made good decisions. threw it away several times, took some sacks, made several runs under pressure. one near the end was late and could have been picked. he is a better college qb than jr because he wont try to do too much. very impressed with him, in first start, on road, often under pressure, and in rain. loved the playmaking by secondary. in yrs past half of those are dropped. difference between sec w champ and nc. titus brown is very good but several teams lsu will play will have a titus or two. carnell will get the speed rusher. atleast he's on the right side, we have a mobile qb and hester. may see rb/te always on that side. going to have to go long some on vt. their LBs are even better than ours. perhaps you can run right at them a bit, too. great game.
