What boneheaded mistakes did he make throwing the ball against Auburn? The red zone INTs in the first few weeks were bad, and the fumbles were bad, but I thought the actual throws he made Saturday were pretty good. He threw a few away and hit a bunch of receivers in the hands.
I hear this a lot in regards to Miles--both the "not a good game time coach" and "lost his fire." Do you honestly think Miles would have amassed the record he has, playing the competition he has, if he was a poor game time coach that lacks intensity/fire/drive?
Yep, the same coach that won 13 games last year. Name the other team that won 13 games last year? Lots of talk last year with a 19-6 win over Moo. St. After the Moo St. win, people were saying some of the same things.
The o-line has been overrated since Miles stepped foot on campus. He recruits BigTen style road graders who can't pass block.
You sure about that? Chris Faulk was widely considered the best LT in the country and a surefire high first round pick. Ciron Black went into his senior year as a top rated LT but was failed by his knees. Hurst came into the season with a great deal of buzz and was considered a within the first 2-3 round pick. Blackwell, although he didn't get drafted, had been an extremely consistent lineman and was very good at his job. Joseph Barksdale, a converted D-Lineman played a very effective LT in 2010. La'el Collins is going to be the first LG taken when he decides to come out whether it's 2014 or 2015. These aren't what you call Big10 guys...but even if they were, I'd take a Joe Thomas or a Jake Long ANY day of the week. I know our line struggled in 2009, mostly because of youth. ALL lines struggle when they're young (Bama 2010 ring a bell). The line was really good last year, save for one game, albeit the biggest game of the year. It happens. I still would prefer we had a full time line coach, but these guys are better than we give them credit for. The biggest problem with our line this year is by far injuries. Faulk is out. Hurst is banged up. Lonergan is banged up. Hell Josh D isn't really 100% himself. Talent is the least of my worries. The talent is there. You simply do not lose the best LT in the country and expect to just keep going business as usual. That doesn't happen anywhere. But I don't expect a switch away from Josh D. anytime soon. At all really. He's got the talent. But it is a new position and I choose to believe he's working hard and will improve. If he makes it through Fla./SC/A&M, he'll do fine against Bama. Gotta have faith.
Great post, but could I add a few things. OL is a hard one to project players coming out of high school. Great in High School does not always transfer in college. As for Les and players coming out of high school, he and the staff do a better job than most. Les moved Barksdale (a 5* DT) over to OT, Barksdale was drafted in the 3rd. round. Chris Davenport, another 5* DT has been moved over to OT. Many times players play out of position in high school because of need. Good staffs know who to move. Looking back, Russell Shepard is one that may have done better on the other side of the ball, at CB. You know is brother Nick was a CB/Safety in high school. You look at the former QB's moved to DB in college just at LSU. A healthy OL is needed on this team, we were just starting to add some depth. Thats football.
