True or false? I was thinking about this last night listening to the game. Our entire team, offense & defense, has been incredibly streaky all year. One moment we look amazing, the next we look terrible. One moment our offense is driving 80 yards for TD's, the next it looks like we couldn't get a yard to save our life. And on defense - big plays have killed us. We're limiting the opponent 70+% of the time, but then all of a sudden our D doesn't look like it could stop a high school offense. It's easy to blame the co-DC's for our defensive woes (almost everyone here was just waiting for them to screw up because you were against it from the start). IMO, the team has taken on the characteristics of Lee - talented, but undisciplined & mistake-prone.
I think the team takes on the mentality and characteristics of the coaches, and Miles has seen out of it all year. The pansy schemes on defense have lead to a pansy defense. We can't blame Lee for the whole team being lackluster. There is no motivation. The defense celebrates after getting a good tackle that follows a long gain or while getting blown out. Coaches don't get in these guys' faces. They seem so complacent this year.
I'm seeing an overall lack of the intensity and focus we have come to expect in the last few years. In the last drive against Tulane when there were a bunch of reserves playing, they played with a lot more intensity than the starters had been. Complacency has slipped in somewhere and I don't like it much.
I don't think it's true, however the play of the QB has such a huge impact on the game it can bring a team down or lift them up. I'm sure every time he scores a TD for the other team it has a big impact on morale and momentum.
I can see where that argument can be made, but I think it has a lot more to do with emotion and momentum. The easiest ways to gain the MO is with big plays on wither side of the ball. So the QB has the most opportunities to create those MO swinging plays and build off of them. This team is really flat most of the time though. That is 100% on Miles IMO. His job is to make the team ready to kill. We just seem to go through the motions a lot of the times. I think there is some definite tug of war going on on the sidelines between players and coaches, coaches and coaches, and players and players.
This is the culmination of several things, IMO, and in reality it's not all that bad. -It's the year after a national championship. This affects almost EVERY team. What did LSU do in '04? Texas in '06? Florida in '07? Three or four losses, that's what. -We've been raped of seasoned leadership in the past two seasons: Russel, Bowe, Davis, Landry, Steltz, Dorsey, Highsmith, Jackson, Hester, Flynn, etc...those guys are not born, they are manufactured. Our guys will get there. -It's an even year where our toughest SEC tests are on the road...and we happened to have the incredibly bad luck of having the best in the East on our schedule. You'd need a seasoned group to navigate that. -New coordinators almost never work out in the first year. Crowton was a nice exception but it's not typical. Let's just get out of this year and watch our boys dominate and get sweet revenge next year. :LSU231:
Emotion & momentum are often decided by the QB, like you said, - especially with Lee though because of his pick 6's, which definitely affects our defense as well as our offense's psyche. IMO, Lee is playing very flat & setting the tone for our team. He's nervous & indecisive, he's not taking control of the huddle & he's not being a leader. I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised... It's always there to a degree.
I don't believe there is much correlation between the quarterback and the defense. I've seen a lot of great offensive teams and the defense played lackluster, and vice versa. Almost all of Charlie Mac's teams were stout defensively and played with intensity. I don't know if he ever had a team that led the SEC in offense. Despite Miles assertions, I don't see much leadership on defense on this team.
To blame Lee for the worst defense LSU has fielded in years, is beyond ridiculous. The problem is that there isn't one leader for the defense but some silly co-defensive coordinator mess and neither one seems to have an effective scheme. This team is loaded with talent. LSU needs to drop some coin and hire a top notch defensive guru before al this talent is pissed away.
