I think Les Miles is a very good coach, but I have had a few relatively minor criticisms of him over the last couple years. One of the biggest is probably going to come up again this week: I don't like how Les Miles handles blowout games against lesser opponents. Simply put, I think that when you have a team beat, you should get your best players out of the game. If you're up 28-0 at halftime against a completely overmatched team, put the game into the hands of your backups and young players. There are a lot of benefits to this: 1) It keeps your best players from getting injured. It's a VERY long season this year, with the potential of us playing 13 games before our bowl game. Plus, the games are back to the old "long game" rules meaning there are going to be more plays. More plays means more opportunities to get hurt. The way to keep your players fresh and healthy is to limit their snaps. When the game is no longer in doubt, there is no more reason to risk injury. There's no competitive benefit. 2) It lets you get young players some experience. Taking your seniors and juniors out of blowout wins give you a chance to play some of your freshmen, redshirt freshmen, and sophomores who normally ride the pine. This gives you an opportunity to evaluate them under game conditions and give them a chance to get their feet wet in case they are needed later in the season or for the following years when they'll be counted on more. 3) It lets you reward walk-ons by getting them in a play or two. Jimmy Welker is a great example of this. Late in a blowout win, he comes in and gets to get a snap or two. Of course, it's just to take a knee, but it's something. 4) It helps with recruiting. This is a corollary to #2 above. Getting young players time on the field shows recruits that they can come in and get some playing time. Recruits are pretty savvy and know that most of them aren't going to be starters as true freshmen, but they'd like to know the opportunity for some playing time is there. If a freshman gets to play for a half a game in front of the home crowd, that impresses recruits. Last year, I thought Miles left JR and the rest of the starters in blowout games too long, often leaving them in the second half long after the game was decided. The Arizona and Tulane games come to mind. If a game is a 4 touchdown blowout at halftime, get the starters out right then. It's not going to hurt the team any and will help you in the long run.
One could also argue, especially early in the season, that our starters need many reps to get into the proper rhythm.
on the other hand, if your quaterback is only in his 3rd start ever, its a good time to sharpen those skills and gain more experience. (at least for 3 quarters) not mention that you've got to keep the poll voters impressed with big numbers (sad, but true)
Potted Plant, I just want you to know your name on this board is one of my favorites. One question, why no avatar? I always wonder what type of potted plant you really are. As for your concerns. I have thrown the first two years out the window under CLM. Why, because he now, for the first time, has his own coaching staff and players assembled working and playing for him. I don't think you can claim what you have based on the first two games. I have witnessed CLM play more freshman in the first two games then ever in the recent history of LSU. So give CLM some slack, he's doing a great job and the players are responding to him. Heck, have we ever had a back up QB have as much playing time as RP with no QB controversy? I also believe having a proven, wide open offensive coordinator like Crowton has added to many more players playing. Don't you see this year as very different so far?
I know what you're saying and I see the logic there, but I don't necessarily agree with it completely. I feel like these players are conditioned and trained to play 60 min of football. They should be played as much as reasonably possible so that they can keep that conditioning up. If we take them out too early in the blowout games, they could lose that conditioning a bit by the end of the year... I've always had the philosophy that you can't let the worry of injuries dictate how you play the game. What will be, will be. Who knows.. they could pull a starter out and he might get taken out on the sideline during a tackle... what then? That said, I think the 4th quarter is a great time to let the young ones in and let them have at it. However, our young ones are almost as good as the starters so it's bad news for the opponent either way.. Not to mention that they all feel like they have a point to prove too so even more points will be added on to the total by game's end...
Les Miles takes the players out once the game is out of reach... not before. I don't have any problems with the way he handles substitutions. If anything, you could complain he takes the starters out too soon (ex: Moo U 2006)
Be thankful we have "Blowout" games- were you a fan when UAB strolled in....strolled out? Not to mention the 21 point lead at half with Tenn. To address your question more specifically, Miles has rotated players in throughout the game and we have a lot of depth so the "Yanking starters" may be disguised, somewhat. On that, depth allows you rotation, which allows you to limit plays, which does also limit injuries- percentages anyway. You want to start off the first half and reestablish and keep momentum. If you lose momentum with two quarters left, it could be disastrous. A half-time break can interrupt it, just look how effective a lil timeout can be in basketball when a team is on a run. Conclusion: Miles is 24 and 4 in last 28 games, let him coach, you cheer. :wink:
LSU is a the point where Miles just puts in more horses when he sends in the replacements. That is what I liked about the VT game. The back ups kept scoring.:geauxtige
it's an interesting question, but regardless of the answer, Miles' record credibly supports his methods
Probably not the kind of potted plant you're thinking of. The origin of my name is a mystery known only to a few. We'll see. I've understood keeping Flynn in deep into games so far, because he is relatively inexperienced. And with Flynn in, I've understood keeping the first string offensive line in. I'd like to see something different this week though, especially with Flynn kind of banged up. If we're up by 28 after halftime, get the offensive starters out at least. There'd be no reason to push for scores at high gear at that point. It's just such a long season. Due to clock rules, a 13 game season in college is probably just as long as a 16 game season in college. If you have the luxury of shortening the season for your best players, you should take advantage of it. Sorry I posted and ran, but job circumstances and family circumstances dictated it.
