I think last year's personnel group in general was more suited to a "wear-you-out" style of ball that always appears to start slow and finish strong. The idea is that the same grind-it-out plays that were called in the first half that didn't go anywhere suddenly get big gains in the second half because the defense is just WORN DOWN. With a good defense, that style offense is Championship material, as we have seen! :crystal: This year we have a QB that needs a decent half to warm up and a bruising, rather than gashing, running attack...so it's no surprise that we're getting it done in Round 2.
Is there any way you could get the averages of LSU against SEC teams? LSU blows every OOC team out, and those games skew the numbers. For example, it was 17-7 against Florida last year in the first quarter, and LSU came back to win after putting up 21 in the second. 7 in the first, 21 in the second. Again, against Auburn last year, LSU was outscored 17-7 in the first half. They had to rally back in the second, scored 23 points, and won the game. 7 in the first, 23 in the second. Against Ole Miss last year, LSU scored 14 points in the first half, and 27 in the second. 14 in the first, 27 in the second. Against Bama last year, LSU scored 17 in the first half, and they 24 in the second. 17 in the first, 24 in the second. Against Arkansas last year, LSU only scored 6 points in the first half. 6 in the first, 22 in the second. Against Tennessee in the SECCG, LSU scored only 6 points in the first half. 6 in the first, 15 in the second. They fell apart at Kentucky and didn't do so well in the second half against South Carolina, but here are the averages of the above 6 SEC games. If my math is correct, it should be: First half points - 9.5 Second half points - 22 What I should have said was "over the last two years, starting slower has been a trend."
Hmmm....... I'm a CGC fan, but it seems to me that this started when he took over the offense. Could it possibly be the play-calling??? (see my above post for more information....LOL)
That's a good point. I think he's taking too long to make adjustments. If you look at '05 and '06, LSU was killing everyone in the first half, especially the first quarter. It tapered off over the last couple of years. On a different note, I had more confidence in the defense in '05 and '06 than '07 and now in '08. The defense has tapered off too.
Sure. I don't remember it being too skewered by OOC games but I'll rerun the numbers with only SEC and Bowl Games. Too bad I threw away all my notes already. :bncry: I will say though, that some OOC games were against decent teams. Like VT last year and Arizona State in '05 (no. 15 ranked). But as per request I will tally only SEC and Bowl Games. '05 Only SEC & Bowl: 123 1st HLF Points | 136 2nd HLF Points '06 Only SEC & Bowl: 143 1st HLF Points | 118 2nd HLF Points '07 Only SEC & Bowl: 118 1st HLF Points | 187 2nd HLF Points Total SEC and Bowl: 384 1st HLF Points | 441 2nd HLF Points Divide that by the total number of conference and bowl games played (28) and you get the averages. LSU Averaged over 3 seasons against SEC & Bowl Opp: 13.7 1st HLF Points | 15.75 2nd HLF Points. Again, being fair and rounding, that gives you 14 1st HLF Points, against 16 2nd HLF Points. Or averaging about a safety difference between 1st and 2nd HLF.
You guys are missing something. If you REALLY watch the play calling in GC's offense you will notice a perfectly good explaination for second half production increases. GC tends to bait the hell out of the defense. Same play over and over early, then show the same look later and change it up. Sucks in the defense and next thing you see is Scott busting a 30 yarder or Dickson catching a ball wide ass open over the middle of the field. It's pretty common for good OC's to do this.
I think it's all perspective. (you'll have to forgive me as I didn't adjust for fumbles and INT's returned for TD's. . .but I can't imagine they'd effect the numbers THAT much. I also don't take into account overtime, so again, forgive me.) For instance: Total points scored in '05: 374 Total points scored in '06: 438 Total points scored in '07: 483 I suppose you could look at it as, CGC's 1st year in the system and he scored the most points in school history. Doesn't really matter to me if he makes adjustments, or gameplans. Either way, he knows how to score.
That was '07 included. The only year that I didn't use was '08, and that's mainly due to being a young team and possibly not indicitative of how a coach really is. Nor is the season over, so I thought it a tad premature to calculate scoring TOTALS. However, if you like, I'll run the numbers for so far in '08. Oh and I'll just go ahead and not include OOC games since it seems those are the stats you don't want. So far in '08 LSU has scored in only SEC games: 68 points 1st HLF Pts| 96 2nd HLF Pts. So far there were 6 SEC games played. So it averages out to: 11.3 1st HLF Pts | 16 2nd HLF Pts. Again, rounding, that gives you 11, 1st HLF points, and 16 2nd HLF points. Difference of 1 FG and a safety per game. And again, the season isn't over yet. I'd still say these stats don't point to Miles having a trend of "coming out flat" and then making adjustments and winning.