LSU clearly did NOT have the better team in November against Alabama. I remember 0 analysts agreeing with you on that. The range of opinion went from "LSU was incredibly lucky" to "LSU deserved to win the game because special teams is part of the game". 0 analysts remotely made the claim that LSU had the better overall team. The difference in the game was not coaching, not even a factor. Neither coach made a great move or had a great mistake and the teams were prepared. The difference in the game was Alabama's defense dominated the LSU OL and LSU didn't have a division 1-A caliber starting QB (for the record, if Lee starts, the same would still be true). little Nicky did NOT suck the first time...he didn't miss any of those field goals unless I missed him sneaking on the field Les Miles did NOT suck the second time....it wasn't him that made "ole" blocks that allowed Alabama to control the LOS and it wasn't Les Miles that threw that ridiculous pass "to" Spencer Ware's back when he was blocking downfield on what should have been a 15 yard scrambling gain instead of an INT. Les Miles NOR Studrawa NOR Kragthorpe threw that pass. If you don't believe that and you still have the game recorded, please verify that. Coaching was insignficant in that game because just like the first, it was a conservative game with no huge mistakes or game changing penalties. Alabama won the game due to having the better team. Alabama lost the first game due to some flukey plays and FG kickers that quite honestly didn't earn their scholarships...LSU blocked 1 FG, the rest in the first game were just bad kicks. Oh wait, I forgot, little Nicky's bad coaching caused that.
Those "Manos de piedra" Tight ends will fall victim to the always secret and mysterious "attrition" Both Saban and Miles are great coaches...and great coaches take responsibility for losses as a coaching failure. Mise sucked because he kept making the wrong decision to keep going for risky field goals instead of field position. Miles sucked in the BCSNC because he didn't have the team prepared mentally (they were overconfident) and he had no answer for his run first game plan. TV Analysts I are more "Talking Heads" these days. ESPN has a bunch of them that are a bunch of "dumb as a box of rocks" ex jocks who wouldn't make good posters here, but because of undue adulation are on TV. The sports producers know that they don'yt have to be right....they have to just say unbased things that the public reacts to and gives them ratings. Glenn Gilbeau is a local example of that. I trust your own opinion before any analyst's.
That may be insane in your opinion but it appears to be par for the course. My comment about pass catchers is more going forward. It appears he's targeting those type guys. Both Smith and the Arkansas guy are pass catchers. Aside from Dickson, I don't believe we currently have those pass-catchers. Clement has the make-up but doesn't seem to have the hands. And apparently, Dickson hasn't panned out yet. I fully expect that Smith will play a big role in the passing game almost immediately and I hope he enrolls early.
No, those field goals were of medium length....some were even of short distance. The ONLY way I blame little Nicky who obviously I despise would be to go back and see if those guys had scholarships. Lou Holtz was infamous for NOT giving schlolarships to kickers. One season I was driving through the Carolinas when USC was losing game after game due to bad punting and missed FGS. The fans were NOT kind to Holzie who was being verbally crucified for laughably blaming losses on a bad kicking game when it was HE who refused to offer scholarships to attract good kickers. Miles had the team prepared as well as the first game vs Alabama but didn't get the breaks but in both games LSU couldn't move the ball hardly at all....thus 0 TDs in 8 quarters + OT. I do agree that Guilbeau is a complete idiot but all those ESPN guys aren't. BTW, funny how Palmer picked LSU to win the NC and the first Alabama game but after he saw that game and studied it several times, he said "Alabama is clearly the better team so I pick them to win this NC game." I trust YOUR opinion better than SOME analysts but if you can't see that Alabama had a HUGE advantage when LSU had the ball not just due to Jefferson but due to the OL getting their butts kicked (like they did in the 1st game BTW), then thanks but no thanks, I will take Pollack and Palmer's opinion on the game since they called it RIGHT DOWN THE LINE BEFORE the game even started.
To be fair, LSU hasn't had the best WR coaches on the planet much less TE coach. Ensminger is the TE coach I believe but of course McCarthy and Gonzales were the last 2 WR coaches until now. Neither of those guys impressed me one single bit including recruiting and improving players. Something is very, very wrong at the TE position and it isn't all Jefferson and Lee's fault. I guess 2007 was the last good TE year with Richard Dickson. Since then, I wouldn't give squat for consistency at TE whether D Peterson, Clement, Joseph, Jacobs, the other Dickson, etc. And once again, it isn't like LSU isn't running everybody through the TE turnstile. You have this many TEs on scholarship the last few years, you would think dumb luck would find you a decent one.
Box score from the LSU web site shows Milesthebest is wrong about Bama FGs. Bama missed from : 44, 50, 49 (blocked), 52 (OT) Bama maded : 34, 46 Those are NOT short. Those are NOT medium. Those are LOOOONG. Also, if you look a the FGs that were attempted by Bama last season from Bama's web site the following facts can not be disputed: They made 12/16 FGs prior to the LSU game and of 4 attempts above 40 yards they made ONE and missed THREE. After the LSU game, they missed both FGs they attempted over 40 yards. So that is 1-5 over 40 yards outside of LSU games. Let's see... what did they do in the first LSU/Bummer game??? Oh yeah they were 1-5 over 40 yards. SO THEY ACTUALLY KICKED EXACTLY AT THEIR PERCENTAGE AGAINST LSU FOR THEIR LONG FGS. I re-watched the first Bummer game this past weekend and those two teams were neck and neck. We ran the ball very well. We pushed them off the ball very well in that game. We won the war in the trenches and buckled down when it counted to keep them in long FG range. They could not kick long FGs. We can. We recruited better. We were the better team. And you could have called two late hits against Bummer and it would have given us a much better chance to score. So there are a lot of ifs and hand wringing, but if you actually watch the game and see the opportunities we left on the table(dropped TD, Shepard falling on his butt, etc...), the game was closer than it should have been.
First, long field goals are over 50 yards IMO at a major college level. Short are under 40, medium between 40 and 50 and long anything over that. BTW, that is pretty much the way I hear announcers call them also. I never said that Alabama kickers were good before the LSU game. I defy you to point that out. I DID say they were terrible in the LSU game and when you miss 3 out of 5 (taking out the blocked one), that is BAD! BTW, you claim the "game was neck and neck" and yet 3 sentences later you say "we won the the war in the trenches". Which one is it? Alabama had more first downs (17-15), more yardage (295-239), better yards per play average (4.9-4.1), and punted 2 times to LSU's 6 punts, and had MORE chances to score TDs and FGs because they moved the ball better. LSU had a grand total of 1 TD chance in regulation....the one where Shepard was tackled by losing his balance. I quoted above the stats that PROVE who won the trenches in the first game...NOT LSU for sure. BTW, I"m STILL laughing over you acting like that LSU had chances to score a TD...the Shepard one was it where Alabama had 2 clear ones. The pass where the TE caught the ball but let Reid take it from him on the LSU 1 yard line and also the INT that Lee threw where the Alabama player returned it down to the LSU 8 but a block in the back that was totally unnecessary brought it back (for the record, it was a good call but had NOTHING to do with the play...just a stupid decision by the bama guy). Bottom line, Alabama controlled the game. IF LSU was doing so great, why was Jarrett Lee BENCHED in the game? Did Alabama have to change QBs? Once again, Jesse Palmer who picked LSU to WIN the NC before the seasons started and picked LSU to WIN the first Alabama game said before the NC game on his selection. "I rewatched the first game about 5 times. There is no way I can pick LSU to win this game because Alabama outplayed them in the first one." Oh wait, I have figured it out....apparently, Jesse Palmer didn't notice that LSU won the trenches in that game.
I don't know about you guys, but I was at that first game (sort of)....watched it on TV at a tailgate outside the stadium. it was great....we won !!
When your kicker is 1-3 from distance in the season, you know that your kicker can't do it... a good coaching decision is to punt. That is good coaching. Saban blew it and gave us good field position. And I am sorry, but 44+ field goals are LOW percentage. Especially when you don't have a kicker you can't trust. No matter how you try to twist it. That is truth. That is part of the game. A part that we were better than Bummer at in that game. And yes, we won the war in the trenches. They dinked us with the kinds of passes that our sucky QBs could not throw. For some reason our DBs and LBs can't cover a RB out of the back field. That accounted for a lot of their production. Not in the trenches. We got out "QBed", but our lines did fine. If you are going to include the INT return as a chance at at TD, then I can include the missed late hit on Ford out of bounds late in the game. That would have put us in sweet field position. Oh, and I can also include Reid's return on the blocked kick where all he had was one to beat. Oh, and.... there are others! There always are! We made the plays and they didn't. We outPLAYED them and won. We had gas at the end of the game and crammed it down their throats in OT. The game in the trenchs matters at the END of the game. We clearly out played them in the trenches. There were big plays and LSU made them (INT by Reid, blocked kick, bomb to Shepard). Bummer did not. They had critical penalties and should have had more (leading with the head when the blitzer hit Lee that was not called, hitting Ford out of bounds). They were undiciplined and our lines won it in the trenches. Now, take of your "I am so unbiased that I will say that LSU sucked so I can impress everyone" glasses off and watch the game again. We benched Lee and we STILL WON. With such poor QB play that we switched QBs and we STILL WON should pretty much prove that we out played them. And I could give a rats ass what Palmer said. Sorry, bring that smack back to Tiger Droppings. Long posts will not change the reality of the first LSU vs Bummer game. I am done. This is the recruiting forum and this has nothing to do with recruiting.
Huh?????? A 47 yard FG for example means the LOS was the 30. You PUNT from the opponent's 30 yard line????? Really????? That is nonsense! You either try a FG if you have a kicker on scholarship that doesn't have his leg in a cast or you go for it. You don't punt from the opponent's 30 yard line and probably gain 15 yards or so in field position. LSU did NOT win the trenches and indeed LOST the trenches. BTW, when I say "lost the trenches", I mean LSU LOST the trenches when LSU had the ball. When Alabama had the ball, it was more of a draw. In fact, the yardage LSU made was more by running the option TO THE OUTSIDE! Psst, if you win the trenches, you do NOT have to run to the outside. Again, utter nonsense to say LSU won the trenches...none of the stats support that. BTW on the QB comparison, LSU and Alabama had 2 INTs. The last one by Claiborne set up the FG to send LSU to 6 points and sent the game eventually to overtime. I have watched the game and BTW Jesse Palmer watched the game at least 6 times and he came to the same conclusion that I and that the Vegas boys came to...Alabama was the better team in the first game which is why they were favored for a game played in NO by 3 or 4 points. So, I guess you actually think there is a grand conspiracy against LSU. Jesse Palmer must hate LSU because he picked them to win the NC preseason and the 1st Alabama game but then was paid off to pick against them because he thought Alabama outplayed them in the 1st game. And I bet you think the Vegas boys love to pick the worse team in a game which is why Alabama was favored by 3 or 4 at the end. Most of the betters BTW swung the point spread more in Alabama's favor as the spread went to its highest after the initial posting of the line. You are wearing rose-colored glasses and I don't give a damn whether you think Jesse Palmer is smart or the Vegas boys are smart, etc. They have more credibility that you do on this issue. Alabama won the trenches when LSU had the ball (a draw when Alabama had the ball) and stats of the first game and won the trenches (even more when LSU had the ball), stats, and score of the 2nd game. Alabama was the better team and specifically had a little better QB and a little better OL than LSU had. The defenses were a wash and LSU had the special teams edge.
