Airstrike:Is the LSU passing game back or...

Personally I think that last drive that ended in the halftime had alot to do with it.....they liked what they saw, and decided from there to open it up! I mean 95 yards in first half(about 40 of them on last drive) then 335 in second half.....wow!!

 

I wouldn't go so far as to say the passing game is now an air attack, but to go the the extreme that SIU goes to is just plain ignorance. To make the claim that in this game the passing game wasn't working, just shows how much someone would go to to keep their dislike of Miles and Crowton going.

I'm not saying we were perfect by any means, but in this game, JJ and JL both had as close to a perfect game as any QB could. In this game one does have to give Miles and Crowton credit for making half time adjustments that attacked and exposed Bama's weaknesses. You can say what you want about the rest of the season, but in this game you would be just out right ignorant if you really believe that the passing game was ineffective.

Did this game save Crowton's job, for the love of everything Purple and Gold I certainly hope not. I would agree that he does need to go, but in this game he called an effective enough game plan to outcoach and beat the almighty Saban. Yes, like it or not Saban was outcoached, and his players that are so well disciplined and their talent is coached up, unlike many would claim for Miles and his coaches, were outplayed.

 

Few points.

1. Bama has not had a great pass rush all season. LSU's offensive line played well. QBs had time.
2. The coaches saw a coverage trend (probably against an offensive alignment) that they could exploit. So they did.
3. Jefferson/Lee and Tolliver/Randle completed the deal. Jefferson's passes were full-up strikes. Lee's was nice as well. Reuben was as smooth as he's supposed to be.

Jefferson's strike to Randle for 75 yards came under a bit of late pressure as well. Jefferson stayed firm and delivered a perfect pass.

Lee's strike to Randle showed a very strong arm and patience as well, stepping up but not panicking.

Is LSU now a passing team? Nobody believes that. But confidence is probably more than half of the battle. These kids all have incredible physical skills. It's a mental game (both knowledge and confidence) at this level. I think both QBs are showing moments of confidence and composure.

I'm not defending Crowton per se. The lack of adjustment all year long has been glaring.

But it wasn't last Saturday afternoon.

And Jefferson and Lee both showed they could make it happen in the clutch.

 

I think Jordan showed glimpses of what we thought he was going to be coming into this season. He played his best game of his career without throwing for 250 or 300 yards. He protected the football, he threw the ball downfield, and in doing that, he threw strikes. His problem last season was he never gave his receivers a chance to make a play after the catch. That pass to Randle was the most beautiful pass I have seen an LSU quarterback throw since 08 when Lee hit Chris Mitchell against Auburn.

Are we out of the woods now? Is Jefferson Marino? No, but if we can execute the offensive gameplan, and the defense plays like they played, I don't think there is anyone in the country who can beat us.

 

This+ :thumb:

 

It was a glimpse of what "could" be but I honestly don't think LSU will come out and be able to continously duplicate that passing performance. JJ played decent, but let's remember there were STILL a lot of bad passes and a lot of drops on offense. JL played ok and made a big pass near the end of the game but he wasn't having a huge game either before that.

I think a lot of people are hyped because of it being Alabama that we played against. But the offense still looked very bad at times. I hope we are able to continue to progress from here but we're certainly not an "airstrike" offense.

 

yeah i don't think anyone is getting ahead of themselves. that pass to Randle did something in the 2nd half. It opened up the running game which is this team's bread and butter. When you throw the ball downfield with success, the defense has to respect it by pulling a man out of the box. Notice Ridley was breaking off chunks of yards in the 4th quarter.

We don't need to be Texas Tech of the last few years, we just need to be able to throw the ball downfield, and it will open up what we do best, and that is pound the football.

 

This games goes to show that if you have a modicum of a passing game, it opens up the run and keeps the defense out of the box. Our QB's were not perfect by any means. But, they were effective enough to keep the Bama D off kilter in the second half. This is all we need performance wise to win games. The D does it's job well, which helps lessen the defeciencies on offense. I think we have a great shot at winning out. Arky worries me some. Our D will have to play a nearly perfect game against them.