Mike Detillier's column in today's Courier/Comet sums up a lot of my feelings on this team. The link won't work so go to the Comet and Courier and read it. It's a good summary of the season. I tend to be a glass half empty guy when it comes to the Tigers and what I saw on Friday was more of the same garbage that we've seen since the Washington game.
I know I'm in the minority here but I don't see how Les Miles and Gary Crowton lost this game. Our CB's had about 6 ints dropped, our wideouts caught every third pass, JJ threw every third pass low, and the field was a wreck. The game could not have been played in more optimal conditions for Penn State. It neutralized our speed and athleticism and became a power game. They have a great defense especially in the front 7. Sheppard didn't play and I'm surprised by that but he's not the optimal back in this situation. I would have given him a shot but I'm not sure how effective he would have been.
We certainly made a ton of mistakes, playing wise. Looking at Penn State's stats vs. ours, the score should have been worse than it was. I think that some people are just laying blame on Miles and Crowton because they are the HMFIC's and the ultimate responsibility for a win or a loss is theirs. Chavis has also been blamed by numerous people. All in all, there are enough mistakes for everyone players, coaches, and refs to own up to:tigereye:
Here you go: What now, Les? My favorite part: Yet another reason I'd love to give my personal thanks to D. J. McCarthy. One former NFL head coach who watched LSU play late in the season with me said, “This is as talented a group of college receivers as I have seen all season. Yet they seem to have major concentration problems, they don't flow back to the quarterback when he is in trouble, and they don't run their routes properly. (Les) Miles better make some major changes on the staff not only in their running game approach, but in their passing game. The state of Louisiana seems loaded with excellent receiving prospects each year and you have to play to the strengths of your team. I am shocked to be honest on the poor habits these receivers have in catching the ball properly and running good routes.”