I am an LSU fan and have lurked at tigerfan for a couple of years. It is clear to me that over the preparation period Bama reviewed and accounted for every successful LSU play. * Screen Passes - They kept their corners and S/LB close to the line and didn't drop back until the WR made a football move. JJ starring down his receivers on screens didn't help throw them off. * Option - It was clear that Bama practiced the speed and read options extensively as they played with discipline and the LB's never committed until the ball was pitched. JJ appeared to make the decision whether to pitch it or not before the snap. It makes no sense to pitch the ball 3/5 yds back when the LBs are in containment position. I do not recall JJ ever going down on a pitch, which means he didn't get his man to commit. Perplexing. * Runs - Sadly, it seems that Saban/Smart had pretty much figured out the "tells" for when we run the ball. Not that it's too difficult - I formation with 2 wide or evertime you see JC Copeland you're running it. It would seem wise to run more draw plays, or delayed hand-offs out of the gun or out of of our 4 wide passing sets. No, running out of the pistol is not a surprise. Hell, I don't think we even executed any designed QB keepers. * Passing - Bama clearly had their priorities in order. It appears they committed to a) stopping the option b) stopping the inside run c) containing the screen, quick slant by dropping down and sitting on receivers. Once you figured out what Bama was doing, vertical passing and mid-range passes where your only options. I don't think Bama has the greatest cover corners or greatest safeties. I think they don't get tested often because Bamas front 7 provide so much pressure. Either way JJ and/or the game plan was not up to the challenge of providing passing pressure to open up the inside, short yardage situations. * Defense - G-d bless you. Containing the Bama offense to just FG's until the final quarter is a miracle. Our heavy D rotation has it's advantage burned up when your offense goes 3 and out every time. Sometimes, I don't understand the tendency to play zone and not attack the QB. It seemed that in the 2H when we blitzed and attacked more we shut down their offense more often. Not that our Offense did anything with the opportunities. * Bama Offense - Great job throwing to the outside towards the sidelines, which kept their passing game towards the edges and away from the middle, which nullified our DB's ability to go for picks. They did a great job of committing to the play action and changing their formations. They also did a great job of including their TE. I think Deangelo Peterson, on our side, had 1 catch the whole night. It is just perplexing to me, why we can't have a decent offense. McElwain is the real deal. I just can't fathom with so much football talent why we can't have an offense that is at least 50% as good as WV, OK St., etc. Imagine their schemes with our talent, backed up with out deep Defense. Oh well, let the Mettenberger/Kiel reign at LSU commence. I for one hope we see better results with top QB talent. PS: I did notice on replay several instances where our wide receivers where open down field, but you needed a QB with a quick release, who wouldn't hesitates. *cough I wonder if we had one of them type of QB's on the bench. <Amerikhan>
My only complaint about the defense was the lack of variance in the blitz package that would have at least given us a chance to hit McCarron early in the game. Sure, Bama did a great job of rolling him away from the play to keep him upright, but we never seemed to try a delayed blitz until we finally got him in the 4th qtr. Puzzling. Your analysis of the offensive woes is spot on. GEAUX TIGERS
