First off, let me say this: For the sycophant: Please, I ask, for one moment in your life to take off the inch think purple and gold glasses, so you can actually be objective, intelligent, and logical when talking about LSU. For the unrealistic fan who says he is a realist: Quit being negative. Just because you live life being a downer so you get that special feeling when something good happens doesn't mean you have to be an idiot on TF. Get a grip. For all Tiger faithful: Be honest. Okay... here are my thoughts about the Ole Miss game and what's ahead. Pros: Our D line is the best in the country. Did anyone see Dorsey getting triple teamed at one point in the game? So far, I feel we are doing very well against the run, despite Schaeffer running on us today. We did allow a lot on the ground, but if you take away the 2 or 3 big runs, it wasn't nearly as bad as it seems. The LBs played well also, despite a couple missed assignment/mismatches. The tackling was good. Overall, I think the safeties were solid. The O line played great in the running game, as well as all of the running backs. The WRscaught just about everything and blocked well. Flynn didn't turn the ball over. Initially, the play calling was great. They spread the ball around really well. Kick return game is pretty dangerous with TH back there, as long as they can stay away from those daunting illegal blocks we get just about every game. Cons: What's with all of the penalties? Yes, 9 is better than 14, but all of those penalties are expected from a struggling, underachieving Ole Miss team. Zenon and McCrary seem to have been exposed or something. They've been caught out of position several times during the season. There were some huge zones leaving a lot of space for WRs to get open. The blitz didn't seem to work as well this week, at least not to me. Pass protection wasn't great, causing Flynn to scramble or get hit/sacked. Why can't we just run? Yeah, Flynn is good. Yeah, Doucet is a future NFL receiver. But when you average 5.7 yards a carry as a team, why not run more? Run it down their throats! (Scott - 22 ypc 1TD, Hester 5 ypc 1TD, Williams 8.2 ypc 1TD, Holliday 6.3 ypc, Murphy 5.7 ypc) I feel like our offense stalled at some points, especially in the first half. We marched 98 yards down the field and scored, then fizzled out. If you take away the kick return for TD, we would be tied 7-7 going into the half. Special teams still sucks on punt returns and coverage. Lloyd Carr is expected to announce his retirement Monday. I hope this won't cause a lot of confusion or distraction. I'm beginning to wonder if Pelini is entertaining the idea of being the head coach elsewhere, which may be translating to our uncharacteristic mistakes on defense. Conclusion: I know it seems my cons part is bigger than the pros, but right now, I'm a little concerned... not a lot, but a little. Arkansas beat Ole Miss - 44-8 LSU beat Ole Miss - 41-24 Does this mean that Arkansas' D and O is better than ours? I think McFadden is gonna try to run like hell against our D to get the Heisman. I just wouldn't want a ton of penalties or McFadden successfully running (like Schaeffer) out of the QB position to ruin our season.
I think the difference is that if Mcfadden passes out of the wildhog, the recievers will not be running the complex routes and totally spreading us out like we would normally be doing for a duel threat QB
What is most worrisome is that if we enter the Arkansas game as banged up as we did for this the Ole Miss game, it's gonna be a long day next Friday afternoon. Arkansas will not stop at 24 points. It's apparent we will continue to struggle for the next 2 games on defense. We just have to outscore our opponents. Luckily, we have the best set of skill position players in America.
I just remember last year's game. If it weren't for Nutt's heinous coaching on his last series of the game, where he passed on all downs, they could have easily ridden McFadden and Jones to a victory over LSU. Thankfully, he (Nutt) is a goon of a coach.
I think most of your analysis is pretty good. But comparing scores, while interesting sometimes, doesn't really mean much. Alabama beat Arkansas 41-38.
I agree with your analysis as well, even the speculation about possible distractions. And as goldengirlfan says the transitive property doesn't apply to football. What disturbed me most about yesterday's game was that Ole Miss had 25 freakin' first downs. I look at first down stats as a meaningful measure of dominance. I keep looking for us as the #1 team to step up and dominate a decent opponent, and we haven't done so since early in the season. CBS Sportsline's bowl projections today have us playing WVU for all the marbles. I'll be ecstatic to be in the MNC game no matter who we play, but of all the teams in the hunt as most concerned about those guys because of Pat White and our inability to deal effectively with a running QB.
I see your point and would agree....but have we not delt with two running QBs so far this year? Tbow and Schaeffer? I feel LSU will step up and beat ARK and I think Tenn and do well in the BCSNCG.
Pat White and Steve Slaton would certainly give us fits based on the way the defense has performed at times this season. But, I most certainly agree with what you are implying, which is that we can put up 50 against WVU.....At least I think you were sort of heading in that direction.
Yes....our O will step up and help keep their O on the side line. We can run the ball and control the game with the talent we have. Keep our backs fresh and put some pressure on their QB we will do well. JMHO
