AJM has looked pretty good so far playing less than stellar defenses. The fact is he's a young QB who hasn't come close to seeing the type of defense LSU will throw at him tonight. Saban will want to break him in as gently as possible to help him get into a flow and build his confidence. Look for a good amount of Trent, screens and short stuff to keep the Tiger defense from getting too aggressive. Hopefully we'll see a lot of showing blitz and dropping back into coverage like Brooks did for his INT against Auburn.
There is a lot of talk on the Bama boards about how easily West Virginia threw the ball on LSU. They think it is our weakness and they expect Bama to come out throwing in the first half. Richardson is also a good receiver.
Short passes and screens are the best ways that a QB can beat a fast defense, however, if they go to that well too often, LSU will pick one off. Short passes that are intercepted tend to be taken to the house.
I love it, We will attack McCaron and the Bama offense. We only played that way vs WVU because they had a well established QB, better weapons plus it was an earlier game in the season. I am sure that our defense is better and this team has better chemistry on both sides of the ball. Some of that was definitely playing to our strengths because it was early.
I expect them to do a lot of this all game. Look for them to attack with Richardson on runs and screens, as well as trying to attack our LBs with short- to mid-range stuff, especially to their TEs. Of course, they will throw downfield to try to keep us honest as well. I'm looking for quite the chess match tonight. Time for my next drink... cheers
