WTF are you talking about? I never mentioned Eric Reid. We are talking about the O-line. Tiger_Fan did. He was the one I was responding to. I think they will be solid. Yet the pre-season mags rate them in the lower tier of the SEC. That was why I brought it up. Yet still his lines underperform at critical times. Check the 2011 championship game or last year's bowl game.
Since we have a new OC, who is very experienced, and should be in charge of seeing the whole picture of the offense, do you guys think he influences improvement in OL schemes and coaching? I agree w/Red, I think we consistently underperform there for all the reasons Red has stated. Yes, we have had 1,000 yard rushers, but you expect that given our talent level, over 12-13 games per season, and several weak opponents mixed in. That's only about 80yds/gm/RB. The OL just rarely looks dominant. That's the opposite of how Saban's teams have fared, whether he was at LSU or ALA. I would say that is an underrated strength of ol Nicky. His team's OLs consistently are a strength. I'm hoping CCC effects changes in preparation, technique, talent evaluation, etc, even if the changes are subtle ones, that improve the OL and makes Stud a more successful coach.
I'll go along with teams stacking the box. But did you know? Jeremy Hill was the first true freshman to lead LSU in rushing since 2003? 3 LSU RB's broke 100 yds. in games last year: Hill 4 times Blue 2 Hilliard 2 Avg. yd/carry last year: Hill 5.3 Hilliard 5.7 Ford 5.5 Blue 6.75 (yep, 6.75) Did you know Mett last year set a school record with a 50:1 ratio of passes to ints. for QB's with at least 300 passing attempts? Last year Mett: His number of completions (207) and passing yardage (2,609) were fifth-best in school history, his attempts (352) ranking fourth. Another stat: Les has had six 10-win seasons in eight years, before he got to LSU, we had a total of seven in the schools history before that stretch. This Sr. class at LSU has won over 80% of their games.
I'm side-tracking the conversation a bit here but I feel you've touched on something that is worth pointing out. With the talk about how pre-season rankings are meaningless, there is one ranking I find without explanation in the pre-season: rankings of different units. Here's a prime example. Lindy's has issued their preseason rankings of offensive lines and has Tennessee listed as the second best line in the nation. Last season they had more starts along their line than any other team in the nation (as I recall...I know it was at the very top.) It was something along the lines of 130+ combined games started. With that comes attrition. And with that attrition they come out as the 2nd best line going into the fall? I haven't picked up the issue to see why. I have to do so because I certainly can't wrap my mind around how they came to this conclusion. Sorry for the brief hijack...back to regular programming.
