I don't see how any of this is surprising at all to anyone who's followed this year's team. Stopping the run has been hit or miss all season, and sacks have been almost nonexistent, and that starts up front with the DL. The OL issues with the running game and pass protection have been there all season, but appear to be getting better. D problems have very little to do with Chavis. As I've said elsewhere, we have a ton of talent at skill positions, but not nearly as much in the trenches. Simple as that.
The only mistake Chavis made was over blitzing leaving huge gaps for Ingram to run through once he cleared the DL. Most of Ingrams big runs were on blitzes where he simply ran in open space that a DB or LB had vacated. The biggest problem with that was even when it was a pass play the defense didn't pressure the QB. Chavis picked the wrong game to go blitz crazy. The defense still played lights out and when he finally finds some decent D linemen his D will be fierce. You better be able to at least occasionally pressure the QB with 4 down linemen in the SEC. You bring the house you damn sure better get him. Right now LSU doesn't have the kind of front 4 we need or that LSU fans have become use to. Give Chavis time, he has done damn good considering where the defense was at this time last year.
Bama was uncharacteristically pass-heavy in the first half. I haven't looked at any stats or breakdown per se but overall I give Chavis props. His game plan was effective. We held Bama to 3 points in the first half, went into the fourth qtr winning and a 73 yard PASS sandwiched between two FIELD GOALS is what hurt us.
this. if Bama wanted to run the ball in the first half, they could have. with ease. they just chose to pass a bit. it's like saban was playing around with LSU in the first half, letting us have a lead and then completely dominating the second half. that's obviously not what happened, but it seems like it. i think bama has been playing conservatively all year long on offense. they just let it all out against LSU. they're a damn good team, and will easily beat florida. the only thing that really pisses me off about the game is the injuries and a few blatant bad/missed calls. still, if everyone stayed healthy in that game, we would have won. patrick peterson wouldn't have let julio score from 70 yards out, and PPs interception could possibly have led to an LSU score. if you look at the transition from 2008 to this season, you can already see that we're HEAD AND SHOULDERS better on defense. i think by NEXT season the offense will be where it should be, and good things will follow. :geaux:
We haven't stopped the run all year because we get manhandled at the line. Not sure how we went from "D-Line U" to "D-Line Who" so quickly but that seems to be the case.
I am more disappointed in Brick and Stud as both of our lines have not lived up to expectation. Cooper has done an excellent job with the secondary as expected, and Chavis finally has us playing with LB's again, but our line is not what it could be. I know ultimately it rest with Miles and Chavis. Don't get me wrong I think Brick and Stud are good coaches just not coaching there players up as I thought they would. All things considered I am happy with where we are though.
I don't know about that. Florida beat us in Tiger Stadium with a QB who probably still couldn't write out a complete sentence. They ran all over us as well. We ran the ball really well against Bama with Scott. Florida's got some pretty good runners as well. And Florida's D is only giving up like 8+ points per game. They're good and they'll bring it on that QB. I think that's their biggest edge. Florida has Tebow. Alabama has that guy.
I agree, Florida will beat Alabama. Florida probably has the best offensive line in the entire NCAA, they also have Tim Tebow, and their defense is still pretty damn good, and who knows maybe Spikes gets an eye for his trophy case.
Ha...yeah, I hope he gouges Saban's eyeball. Of course, he'd probably still beat us with one eye next year, but at least they'd be some good signs in the crowd to laugh at.
