From LSU Beat... BATON ROUGE — Remember that wide open tight end in the middle of the end zone on the third-and-goal play in LSU's win over Mississippi State last week? Safety Chad Jones batted away the pass from quarterback Tyson Lee to Marcus Green and foiled a sure touchdown and 30-30 tie before an extra point with 1:12 to play. If you are result oriented, it does not matter now who was supposed to be covering Green because LSU stopped State on fourth-and-goal, too, later gave the Bulldogs a safety and won 30-26. If you are process oriented, it does matter. Jones said after the game that cornerback Patrick Peterson was the only player in pass coverage since State lined up with three running backs, so Green was probably Peterson's man. LSU coach Les Miles backed this story up at his news conference on Monday, sort of. "Patrick Peterson may well have been able to provide coverage on that play," he said. "I can also tell you that our defensive staff said during the week, 'Now listen, if we make a call where we are taking the dive and we're taking the pitch, and if there's another play that we don't have covered, Chad needs to get down low and get ready to get up there and hit it." That second part sounded a little suspect to most in attendance. Peterson was asked about the third-and-goal play on Monday. "No, that wasn't may guy," he said. "I had the back, 24 (Anthony Dixon). Actually that was Chad's guy. I guess he got a little greedy and cheated up to the line, but he still made the play. No, it wasn't me. When it's three backs, I always have the back. So it wasn't my guy. I was lined up by the linebackers. When 24 comes to my side, it's normally a pass. So I just crashed the box with the rest of the team." Reporters bumped into Jones on the way out of interviews on Monday and asked Jones again. "No, that was not my man," Jones said. Later Monday, LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis was texted the question. He has not returned that text. LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette was asked to find out as well on Monday, but he has not made it public." :huh:
Clueless? :huh: Looked like a heads-up play to me. I don't think that deflection could POSSIBLY have been made if Jones wasn't expecting the pass...it was thrown on a wire (for a short pass).
It would if our defense was clueless. Or, are you taking one play, that worked, mind you, and trying to blow it completely out of proportion to the total picture? Does a defense that has had 2 exceptional goal line stands in consecutive games give you confidence in the red zone? Despite your extremely hard to look at avatar, your contributions to date have been stellar. Don't disappoint.
Well he's making a point that we got lucky on that play since there was no assigned player for the guy wide open in the back of the end zone. That doesn't make us clueless. We have to get better, however. That can't happen.
Clueless reporters and sunshine fans scare me. This reporter is trying to generate a story by trying to get coaches and players to disagree about one friggin' play. :insane: Then someone posts it here and draws the absurd conclusion that the defense is clueless. I ignore a poll giving us only the opportunity to agree or to agree. :insane:
I'm not getting down on the team guys. I thought it was a great goaline stand and I think it was outstanding. I'm just saying it was a very big play and although it turned out well, there was an obvious coverage mistake. On that ONE PLAY, reading the article, the reason we are 4-0, not 3-1, it was a mistake, one that our defense overcame (with pure athleticism). In a similar situation, knowing this, will it worry you? Goaline defense, schematically, shouldn't be that hard to know who you are covering if it is man coverage. I thought LSU ran the same defensive goaline play twice in a row if I'm not mistaken. Sorry "clueless" and "scared" may have been to harsh of words, but I've seen much worse on this forum. Honestly, as an LSU fan, anytime we stop someone from scoring a touchdown it gets me SO EXCITED...(cue random tension breaker clip) [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqCX5XqeLF8[/MEDIA]
I don't expect Jones to make the same mistake twice. Yes, but you can also let your man take you completely out of the play if you aren't on top of the whole defensive situation. Goal line defenses are neither simple nor easy. But those were also too harsh and inflammatory. If this thread had been titled "Was Jones supposed to cover or was Peterson", and a poll with button for JONES and PETERSON, we'd be having a football discussion right now.
There have been numerous reports about LSU's practice preparing them for that play where Jones tipped the ball away. Clueless? How about Well-prepared? LSU junior Chad Jones beginning to blossom as starting safety | LSU Tigers Central - - NOLA.com
