Recorded the game and just watched it. Holy sheeet. Hesus, Mary and Joseph. Un-F.R.E.A.K.I.N-believable. But before we tar and feather Les Miles, lets try to put the passion aside and consider the evidence. The offense is pathetic. Miles fault? Uh no. Let me see you or anybody else have a good offense when your QBs simply do not have the skills to give you even a mediocre passing game. I've seen enough of JJ. Hard for me to imagine him being anything more than a slightly below average LSU QB at BEST. At best. Equally as likely is he remains a BAD LSU QB. Can't blame JJ's QB skills on Miles. The debacle at QB is weighing on the whole team. And tonight we saw why the answer wasn't simply to bring in JL. While I think JL should now get 90% of the QB minutes and is LSU's best bet moving forward, he clearly is not the polished passing machine miracle the pie in the sky crowd was hoping for. He had some great plays and some pitiful plays. LSU's QB play was horrific tonight. Horrific. Can't hang that on Les. All those interceptions? Not Les's fault. JL's intentional grounding? Not Les's fault. False starts by senior guards? Not Les's fault. Murphy dropping the ball? Not Les's fault. JJ not being ready for the snap at the end of the game? Not Les's fault. Rewatch the game. The offense screwed up again and again, but I'd like to see the Les bashers point out SPECIFIC examples that were Les's fault and not just have the weak counterargument "if they are making so many mistakes its the coach." The last 32 seconds were not a textbook example of execution. Switching QBs was an arguable decision for sure. But did you really want to see JL throw it into the endzone again? Just minutes before he'd been picked in the endzone. Made sense to have a running QB in and especially the QB who'd been getting the majority of snaps in practice and who had the most game experience. COLD HARD FACT: We have not had acceptable QB play since 2007. Any coach in the nation would be a basketcase with the 3 years of QB play LSU is enduring. I doubt any coach in the nation could have done more with what LSU has had to work with. The last 32 seconds: No timeouts. A young team. Weak leadership at the most important position, QB. This was a receipe for disaster. Any coach in the nation would be on the edge of disaster if they were on the sideline in the exact same situation with the exact same players. Even pro teams would be challenged to pull it off without a hitch. If I blame Les, its indirectly for letting us be in the situation where we dont have better talent at QB. Not even sure I blame Crowton at this point. Our QB play is horrible, receivers dropping the ball, backs fumbling, penalties here, penalties there. I'm sorry, but a big chunk (not all) of blame for this has to rest with the players themselves.
One of our QBs is horrible. The other played decently but the jury's still out. Not switching them back and forth throughout the game could have given us a better picture of JL.
I have defended Miles a lot lately. And I sent a text at halftime saying that the first half was one of the best coached, and worst executed halves I have ever seen. I truly believe that first half was great from a coaching perspective. I am tired of trying to defend Miles. I think he lost his "edge." I remember in 06 and 07 he was snappy and energetic. I don't see that in him anymore. I wonder if he tires of all of this. The ending is on every single person associated with the offense: Jefferson, the OL, Crotwon AND Miles. I really do not think Miles called for a different formation with 15 seconds left, but he has to step in if that is the case. Issues abound with this team.
If this were the first time a Les Miles team was caught with its pants down in a 2-minute offense and unprepared for proper clock management I would agree with you. It was not. If this were the first time players committed double-digit penalties in crucial situations--not made by freshmen, but senior players--I would agree with you. It was not. If the current QB situation (not to mention heading into next year) was the first time Les Miles got burned with recruiting at the position, I would agree with you. It is not. Crowton's issues and tendencies on offense are well-documented. If you don't blame him for this clusterfk, have a look at his stats or better yet have a chat with BYU fans. Trust me from first-hand experience, they'll be happy to tell you. Les Miles cannot simultaneously be the head coach and be exonerated for the play of his team. He cannot make claims to fix or address problems and not be called on it when almost exactly the same major problem occurs again. At some point enough is enough and a spade has to be called a spade.
Is HC not responsible for: - Judging best potential talent - Coaching it to proficiency - Calling plays that do not tempt proven incompetent QB into 3 INTs - Ensuring QB is respected team leader - Realising that mega-talent at WR CANNOT be exploited by JJ Given that QB play affects the entire team, CLM has a lot to answer for. Stats do show dominance by LSU, many errors. But fact remains: - JL won this game - OC & HC lost it - TN gave it back On top of that, HC is a walking PR disaster, and now a laughing stock after tonight's PC
I agree that the players have a lot of blame for this shi t we are seeing on offense. But to try to paint a picture where Les is innocent is ridiculous. I can't believe I even posted in this thread. Can't believe others did either. Sorry, not trying to be a dick. But it's not the time to be defending Les anymore. I am one of the most ardent Les supporters, but he'll have to earn it from me from here on out.
right on Fish. To the original poster, I can tell you that it is Les Miles fault that Jordan Jefferson went out on the field in the final moments of the game. That was a mistake. I thought Jarrett Lee showed maturity when he threw the ball away on first down. He deserved to be the quarterback through that last drive. He deserves to be the starter, and if he doesn't start next week, honestly it shouldn't shock me, but it would.
Maybe I missed it; sorry for not reading EVERY post, but doesn't some blame attach to The Hat for not having gone out and found a JUCO to quarterback this team? It's been obvious for a while that these guys are not the answer. Maybe this is just another example of Les buying what Crowton is selling (maybe GC told him JJ was good to go)? bisonroo :geaux:
