LOL, you might as well take it one step further and ask what we could have done with Tebow. Same difference, if you ask me.
"We didn't have to worry about 'was he going to be here, was he going to be in trouble the next day?' That was one of the securities we had when he left." Sounds like a few teammates had concerns too.:dis:
1. Perrilloux's mere presence wouldn't have averted the defensive implosion even if he put up Heisman numbers, so it's a moot point anyway. 2. This is not the first time a team has been forced to start a freshman QB, and it won't be the last. The situation is what it is, and at some point you have to move on. That quote is the best way to say that. Otherwise, it's an endless game of what might have been.
Reality is that the loss of RP was a big loss for LSU this year. For example, this is what 5-star LSU commit DT Chris Davenport said: “I figured after Ryan Perrilioux was gone and they were forced to deal with that quarterback situation they would go 8-4 this season,” Davenport claimed. “I think...the quarterback situation hurt the season." (LINK) Loss of Ryan Perriloux by itself was demoralizing, but what was even more demoralizing what all the pick-sixes that got thrown this year.
I never denied this. And I can safely say all realistic LSU fans knew we would suffer this year because of it. What is also a reality is that the team has had serious problems with defense and coaching that cannot be laid at the feet of Ryan Perrilloux, so there is no point in continually bringing up his name every time something goes wrong with the team. What I also find demoralizing is the prospect of waiting for RP to inevitably pull another Varsity-like stunt or worse, and eventually getting arrested, because that's where this was all headed before Les pulled the plug. This board would have gone nuclear if the other shoe had dropped on the eve of the Georgia or Bama game. I also find it demoralizing that RP would have likely dragged the discipline level of the program down even further than the already disturbing extent we've seen now (see D. Byrd and Curtis Taylor). The choice was between a 7-5 season and running the serious risk of seeing LSU's program well on the way to turning into Miami's. It was a tough choice, it has been made, it is time to move on, and time to stop using RP as a crutch for the team's woes.
We lost two winnable games to end the year without the benefit of pick-sixes, and another (Florida) where the pick-sixes wouldn't have made enough difference to change the outcome. Why is everybody so hung up on them? We all know that had they not been returned for touchdowns, our defense was going to let them score anyway. It's the same difference, except with a pick-six we get the ball back faster.
Without the pick sixes in the UGA and Bama games, we win those games--even with the poor defense. The team effectively "quit" after the heartbreaking Bama loss. I don't believe the Ole Miss and Arkansas games end the way they did if we had only lost to Florida when those games came around. Make no mistake, losing RP was devastating to our season, and no matter the other problems noted this year, we were an experienced QB away from a good season. That being said, I respect Miles incredibly for dismissing RP because he knew the cupboard was bare behind him. He really had no choice, and by late in the season, I still think dimissing Byrd wouldn't have been a bad idea, either. His attitude became a cancer.
We'll have to agree to disagree, then. The offense was light-years ahead of the defense and this isn't the Big XII where that doesn't matter. You do understand that the offense - without RP - scored AT LEAST 21 and as much as 38 points in all but one loss. No...the "O" did its job adequately.
