The light just seem to come on in that 2nd half for our defense. People in the right position. We were as aggressive as you could ask for. Only 1 mental lapse on the Eugene debacle (that won't happen again, I guarantee you). Striking fear in the QB's heart. I don't think Garcia wanted to be on that field anymore. The offense now knows it can use Hatch and Lee effectively and seemlessly. It also just discovered we have more than 1 tailback. If one isn't effective, more than likely the other one will be. Mix and match, and keep them off balance. We got that swagger back on D. We're gonna need it the rest of the season. Solid road win on the road in the SEC. 164 yards rushing to only 39 for SC. Good stuff. That's how you win.
I disagree. If you watch it again, Garcia, to me, looked like he was pretty close to the line of scrimmage and about to run. Eugene stepped forward to stop a first down (it was 3rd and long), and the QB fired off a pass at the last second. I know he probably wasn't supposed to break off his coverage, but he wasn't being stupid like the announcers made it sound. I'm still not comfortable with either QB, and had we run more often tonight, it wouldn't have been so close. I understand wanting to be balanced on offense, but when you are gashing the defense for 6-7 yards a pop, don't drop back and throw with an unreliable QB. Williams looks like he's back, too. RUN MORE.
One complaint I have tonight and have had all season is that LSU seems to push forward for 4-5 yards damn near every play in the power eye, but insists upon going shotgun all game long. I think, especially early in the games on the road, that throws Lee into the lion's den, instead of easing him into the game.
I like how the offense looked composed when they ran the muddle huddle. SC defense got bent over a couple of times not being ready at the line. Best the defense has looked all season coming out of halftime. I also liked how rotating QB's did not look too predictable.
What I like best about the QB rotation is now Lee won't feel all the pressure of being the one to lead this team.
The Tigers are still blessed with a load of talent, but obviously their confidence got shaken last weekend. Someone has to step up and be the leader on this team, I don't think thats really happened yet. Lee, I believe will be a great Tiger QB in time and fill that role on offense eventually, but he.s still young and developing. Yes the "D" played great in the second half, Question is, who,s the man on that side of the ball...its one of the things thats hurting us this year. In my humble opinion.
I agree overall with the positive tone of this post, but I have two concerns, both regarding the offense: 1. We don't commit enough to the run early in the game. The strength of this team this year is that we have a strong off. line, a "stable" of stud RBs (particularly CS, but KW finally looked like he was running hard again), and yet CGC gets cute early in the game for the sake of being unpredictable. I read week after week on this forum how many of you are in love with CGC, and how he is a "genius", but I have felt strongly for the last two years that he outthinks himself in some games, esp. early, for the sake of being unpredictable. With RBs and young QBs, IMO, it is important to get them into a rhythm of the game and not call some of the risky plays they call in the first half (like a telegraphed throw 3 yards behind the LOS with multiple defenders coming up). It is a rare site to see 3 consecutive runs in a LSU gameplan, unless we have a lead late in the game. I am not suggesting that they do this all of the time, but to establish a running game, you have to give CS the rock. In the second half, we take it 83 yards in a 6 minute drive that featured strongly the running game with some timely short to medium range passes mixed in, and that to me is what we should be doing drives 1,2, and 3 of the game. 2. The QB swap has strengths and weaknesses. The weakness, until last night, is that Hatch is not passing at all and has become predictably a run set. Finally, he is passing to the TE and short screens to WR/RBs. That needs to be done more if they are going to continue this QB swap out thing.
The D looked better, but they had a frosh QB starting his first game. He was rattled the second half, that was not Tebow back there. They have no running game, so we didn't have to respect it. They have a tough D, but not so tough O. I was very glad to get the W on the road against a solid foe, but that was not Fla. or Ga. out there. I was happy to see Keiland show up tonight, I'd like to see him take some load off of Scott. Murphy is still lost.
I agree, Id like to have seen LSU commit to the run early and stick with one QB. Last night LSU started out running very hard. Once they brought in Hatch it seemed to throw everything out of rythem. Then on top of that they brought Holliday in. For those plays you knew either Hatch or Holliday was going to get the ball. Had LSU kept running up the gut I think we drive down for a TD, not a FG and really establish confidence and a rythem to the game. Instead there were uncertanties and a loss of rythem with the QB changes and predictable play calling. The first half was sloppy with the QB changes IMO. The dropped passes were horrible. I sure hope LaFell hasnt gone back to the drop syndromed that marred him for a while two years ago. The D was being shredded in the first half with no blitz or adustments. Too many players are out of place and despite a good rush form the DL the coverage was getting beat. I think we need to play more DBs to compensate as well as blitz. On to the second half. I was very pleased to see how the D came out. They came out and played LSU football! It was a welcomed site to see them hit hard and cover well. The adjustments were finally met. The blitzes really helped a lot. Id like to see LSU keep that up. Good job at the half by the DCs. Although as mentioned, USCE is a one dimensional team. We will have to see how LSU plays this week against UGA. LSU will have to bring the blitz. The QB changes were much smoother in the second half, but the key was it was a bit more less predictable. Despite the success. Id much rather stick with Lee and bring in Hatch for a series or a couple of plays here and there. No matter what USCe is a very good team with a ferocious D. It was a good win in a tough environment.
One thing the announcers last night pointed out - in a VERY positive way - was that CGC DID balance the tendencies of the quarterbacks a bit. Lee ran an option play; Hatch PASSED for a TD. The ESPN crew repeatedly used the word "seamless" to describe the way the Tigers used two QB's and two RB's. I REALLY like using both. It does take a ton of pressure off of both QB's. If they keep mixing it up, I think it will really give the opponents fits trying to guess what's coming. CS and KW both looked good last night. I also liked seeing both of them in the backfield. Again, the opposing defense has to wonder who's gonna get the ball - instead of just teeing off on a single back. I'm not ready to see the good 'ole wishbone come back, but I think J Lee would have been a really good wishbone QB. And a backfield that could use CS, KW and Trindon would be scary. All in all, the Tigers just looked much better last night, esp in second half. I like that speed rush package! :geaux:
