2011 LSU Football Timeline!

2011 LSU Football Timeline!

1-8-11 Only 2 days after LSU obliterates future SEC opponent Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl, Alleva denies any contact from Michigan regarding Les Miles.

1-10-11 Patrick Peterson decides to forgo senior season and enter the NFL draft. Miles also releases a statement saying that he has not spoken with Michigan about its head coaching spot although a meeting is set up. He went on to say how much he and his family love Baton Rouge.

1-11-11 LSU finishes ranked #8 in the AP and coaches polls and Miles confirms that he will return for a 7th season!

1-12-11 Miles and LSU agree in principle to a 7-year contract.

1-20-11 Miles names Kragthorpe Offensive coordinator

2-2-11 LSU signs 22 new players to the farm! D tackle Anthony Johnson (2nd best player in the nation) and Offensive Tackle La’el Collins (3rd best player in the nation) are the top ranked. Les locks down 17 from the state of Louisiana. Rivals.com rated LSU's 2011 class No. 6 in the nation, while Scout.com had LSU at No. 9 and ESPN.com ranked the Tigers No. 11. One other big name on the list is QB Zach Mettenberger.

2-17-11 LSU special teams and assistant D line coach Joe Robinson leaves team for more money and a higher position.

3-10-11 Thomas McGaughey named special teams coach after a 4-year stint with the NY football Giants. He is also expected to assist on the defensive side of the ball. Spring training also kicks off!

3-19-11 The first spring scrimmage is completed, defense dominates.

4-1-11 Les Miles is featured on Spike TV show “Sod Wars” perhaps this is where he first decides to chomp down on some grass.

4-2-11 Jefferson and Lee combine for 5 TD’s in scrimmage. 4 from Jefferson expectations are high on this kid.

4-9-11 Ware scored 2 TD’s as White wins spring game 22-7. The one TD for the purple team was a 60-yard strike from Mettenberger.

4-28-11 Peterson selected 5th by Arizona Cards. He made the right decision.

May and June very slow….

7-14-11 Mo Claiborne the only Tiger selected 1st team Preseason All SEC. 7 from Bama make the list. Also LSU cooperates with the NCAA inquiry regarding scouting services. LSU issued a check in the amount of $6,000 on December 21, 2010 to pay for these services from Complete Scouting Services. Footage included information on mostly JR College athletes from Ca. and KS.

7-19-11 LSU gets put on probation for 1 year. The penalties are self-imposed by LSU. The penalties include a 10% reduction in official visits for football during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. A reduction of two initial scholarships for the 2011-12 class. A reduction of two overall scholarships during the 2010-11 academic year and recruiting telephone call restrictions. The NCAA accepts these sanctions. The charges were; former assistant FBC was cited for recruiting violations that included improper phone calls, lodging and transportation for a recruit. Neither the coach nor the recruit remains on the team.

8-1-11 Football sets season ticket sales record!

8-3-11 Head coach Les Miles and his staff welcomed 104 players to campus on Wednesday as the LSU football team reported for the starting of preseason workouts.

8-4-11 Steve Kragthorpe is diagnosed with Parkinson’s and steps down as O-cord but will remain as the QB coach. Greg Studrawa will take over as O-cord. Billy Gonzales will call the passing game. LSU is also ranked #4 in the coach’s poll.

8-20-11 Les Miles and Senior Guard Josh Dworaczyk apologize for an off campus incident regarding team rules and curfew violations. No other details are given other then it’s not one player it’s a team violation. Les goes on to say that he is running the team as punishment and it will never happen again.

8-25-11 Les meets with LSU to finalize his newly agreed upon extended contract. His annual compensation will remain 3.751 million and should LSU win the BCS Championship title game during the term of the agreement, Miles' total compensation would be adjusted to be $1,000 more than the highest paid football coach in the SEC. Saban makes over 4 Million per year. That same day Russell Shepard is declared ineligible by LSU for violating NCAA rules saying he discussed an NCAA inquiry.

8-26-11 Jordan Jefferson and Josh Johns are suspended for breaking team rules including getting into a bar fight and curfew violation.

9-3-11 Season opener #4 LSU destroys #3 Oregon 40-27 in Dallas Cowboy Stadium!!! The LSU defense and special teams each forced two turnovers, as cornerback Tyrann Mathieu stripped-and-scored on punt coverage to set the tone early in the game. Add back-to-back fumble recoveries in the third quarter that put the Tigers a head 30-13, and LSU finished with 20 points off turnovers. Jarrett Lee grabbed the start after the Jefferson suspension going 10-22 98 yards and a TD.

9-5-11 Tyrann Mathieu named SEC POW!

9-10-11 LSU wins home opener 49-3 over NW State! Starting quarterback Jarrett Lee played the first half and was nearly perfect, completing 9-of-10 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore transfer Zach Mettenberger saw his first action at LSU, as he played the entire second half and was almost as impressive statistically. Mettenberger was 8-of-11 passing for 92 yards with a touchdown.

9-11-11 LSU moves up to #3 in the country.

9-15-11 Defense leads LSU to 12th straight win over #25 Miss State 19-6! LSU's suffocating defense allowed only 193 yards and had 15 tackles for loss, while Drew Alleman kicked four field goals to give the No. 3-ranked Tigers a victory. Starting quarterback Jarrett Lee went 21-of-27 passes for 213 yards including a 19-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Rueben Randle with 12 minutes to play in the game. In the fourth quarter, Lee was intercepted for the first time in 131 pass attempts when Randle broke off a route along the right sideline. LSU running back Spencer Ware carried the load gaining 107 yards on 22 carries. Mo Claiborne had 2 interceptions.

9-18-11 Mo Claiborne named D player of the week and LSU moves up to #2 in the AP

9-24-11 Russell Shepard is activated while LSU scores 20 unanswered and beats #16 WVU 42-21! Ignited by a 99-yard kickoff return by Morris Claiborne and four forced turnovers, # 2 LSU beat its third ranked opponent on the road this season.

9-25-11 LSU is ranked #1 in the AP! Tyrann Mathieu named D player of the week.

9-28-11 Jefferson and Johns reinstated to the football team after missing 4 games.

10-1-11 LSU whoops Kentucky 35-7 improving to 5-0. Lee goes 8-21 169 yards. Jefferson sneaks in a 1 yard TD in his first action of the year. Mathieu gets a sack strip scoop and score for an amazing TD!! However he does not win D player of the week this time.

10-8-11 LSU way too much for #17 Florida 41-11. Lee goes 7-10 154 yards while Jefferson led 4 drives all resulting in scores including an insane 2-yard Tebow like Jump pass TD! 5’9” Mathieu picked off a would be TD for his 2nd pick of the season out jumping a 6-3 TE.

10-15-11 LSU scores largest ever win over Tennessee 38-7 highlighted by Mo Claiborne’s 89-yard interception. Lee goes 13-17 138 yards and 3 TD’s. Jefferson goes 1-3 passing but more importantly rushes for 73 yards and a score.

10-22-11 Playing without three sophomores -- starting running back Spencer Ware, starting cornerback Tyrann Mathieu and top reserve corner Tharold Simon -- who served a suspension for smoking hooch bud, LSU beats #19 Auburn 45-10 biggest win in 45 year series. Lee goes 14-20 165 yards and 2 TD’s. Freshman RB Kenny Hillard scores 2 TD’s. Ruben Randle scores 2 TD’s. The Defense puts up 6 sacks! This win sets up a #1 vs. #2 in Alabama set for primetime on CBS.

 

11-5-11 LSU beats #2 Alabama in OT 9-6. This game was a defensive chess match that Les Miles won over Nick Saban. After two weeks of media hype it was fitting that the two best programs in the nation put up 15 total points. Interceptions by Mo Claiborne and Eric Reid in the final 17 minutes kept Alabama from scoring a TD. Jefferson put up 110 total yards passing and rushing. Lee struggled throwing two picks and was benched midway in the third. First year Special Teams coach Thomas McGaughey earned his paycheck as Special Teams played a big part in the win. Brad Wing may have earned player of the game with his punting ability. Key plays included a Bennie Logan blocked field goal and Kicker Drew Alleman’s 3 field goals. Eric Reid’s interception at the goal line may be the play of the year for LSU. Les Miles showed that he could win a close one!

11-8-11 Eric Reid named National Defensive player of the week That award goes along with SEC defensive player of the week and a spot on the Academic All District Team! Way to go Eric.

11-11-11 LSU goes 10-0 for the first time since 1958 beating Western Kentucky 42-9. Jefferson who was a game time decision started and went 8-14 168 yards and a TD. Lee (who missed several classes that week) went 2-4 with a TD in mop-up-duty. Alfred Blue rushed for 119 yards and 2 TD’s.



To be continued…

 

Is Kragsthorpe is the wizard of Oz behind LSU's machine?

 

Good work!

 

I learned alot creating this timeline. For instance the hiring of the special teams coach was a huge piece of the puzzle for LSU, the win over Mississippi, WV and Alabama came from great special teams play. The other thing I took from all this was that Lee's numbers aren't as great as you would think. Yeah he did very well filling in for Jefferson when he was suspended however Lee played just well enough to win. That being said LSU truly requires both Lee and Jefferson to win not one or the other. I also didn't realize that Les will get a giant payday automatically if he wins it all becoming the highest paid coach in football. After reviewing all of our games, LSU has the best defensive back play in the country with 3 different players winning DPlayer of the week. I was SURPRISED To see only one tiger preseason first team all SEC. No doubt LSU will dominate that list by years end.