And this will help out JJ more than anything else if he can't develop a touch on his deep balls. With no running game last year it put him in those 3rd and 8/9 situations far more than he should have been in. You get those down to 3rd and 3/4 with a decent short-to-intermediate passing game and it makes a world of difference.
And in other SEC sports news, Kentucky couldn't buy their way into the Final Four with Calipari and his crack team of stud freshmen. :grin::grin::grin::grin::grin:
Yeah, Les. How do you expect opposing coaches to gameplan with this crap. You are even negative for Spring game? At least you're consistent.
I just thought they should have allowed JJ to throw the same outs and screens he was completing with ease at the end of the game like they did with Lee and throughout the whole game. Throwing deep balls all day is not a good way to gain any sort of confidence or timing especially when the D knows what is coming for the most part and WRs are having issues with catching balls. Either way Lee and JJ had a bad day and even though Lee looked a little better I am still concerned what would happen with actual pressure (no non-contact jerseys) which has been his downfall since the beginning. We saw that on the screen play again and that concerns me along with the deep ball calls when JJ was in the game. Lee threw a total of 1 deep ball all game and that is what should have been done with JJ given the limited reps. We have to give the DBs some credit as well. They were all over the field today wrecking havoc which is a good sign. I think the run D would have been much better with Sheppard in the game but he had a minor shoulder injury. Chauncey was also out after having surgery last week. I think it was a shoulder injury as well but can't remember. When everyone is healthy we will have fresh guys in on the Dline all game. Running game has been the strong suit all Spring which is key IMO. A good run game and a sturdy defense will bring consistency this year. Takes pressure off the QBs and controls the clock, etc...
I would say this. I watched the game today. Twice. It looked worse the second time around. I'd say this team has some talent as evidence of the recruiting classes the last 5 years. Even though we have talent my first instinct was 8-4. The second time I watched I said, 7-5. I'd say watch Alabama, Auburn and Florida's spring game and form your own opinion about how far away we are. This season is going to be up to the QB position as it is at any level. If that is truly the case I think we are in big, big trouble. I supported JJ for most of last year and still don't believe in Lee but outside of 1 pass he was much better than Jefferson. Positives from today Ford - the guy is a player Run blocking - much better than a year ago Mingo - 20-30 more pounds this guy is the next great one at LSU Lee - yes Lee. Outside of one throw he was clearly better than JJ but I don't think he can perform under pressure. Negatives from today Jefferson - Unless Gonzalez changes this guy's pysche we are in deep crap. He is our starter and that is not good. Tackling - was terrible. That can be fixed. Last and most importantly, it's Spring. We are 5 plus months away from the opening kickoff. We cannot judge anything at this stage of the game. What we did see today is we are a long way's away from our last NC team. A distance memory. What it seems we lack on this team is leadership. We have plenty of time this summer to fix the problems. Unfortunately for us the biggest problem is at the most important position on the field.
Is it possible that, if JJ stays the same without any dramatic improvement, JL could end up as the starter this coming season? JL, despite his pick, seems to project a better ability to run the offense, and seems to have shown improvement. Wasn't it windy today during the game? On the contrary, I think Lee can handle the pressure based on the adversity he had to face two seasons ago. From the way he played today, I am somwhow optimistic about Lee in being able to help the team.
Nowhere even near the point where that could plausibly be used as an excuse, and I was there. Honestly it looked like a wash to me. Jefferson threw more deep balls (badly), but his short stuff looked fairly decent. Lee threw a lot more short routes and got into a little bit of a rhythm, where JJ didn't look like he got those same play calls until the end, where it looked like he got a little bit of something going. All deep balls were terrible, by both QBs. I understand the optimism about Lee, but after the LaTech debacle, he needs to show that he's capable of coming in an actual game, either in relief or mop-up duty, and adequately run the offense before he has a real shot to take over the starter job.
Well, let me say this: I admire Lee for his toughness and competitive spirit and I hope he has the best success if he should get in any game for any reason. And I'm still thankful that he came in and Qb'd us to a victory at Auburn a couple of years ago in a really tough environment. But with that said, if he somehow ended up being named the starter for the beginning of this season, you could forget about this season in my opinion. And you could forget about Les Miles being the coach in 2011 (in my opinion)as well. Yes, Lee's numbers were a little better in the spring game. But he was only 10 for 20 for 114 yards compared to JJ's atrocious 8-23 for 94 yards. There ain't much difference there. And people can say whatever they want about how horrible the whole pick 6 play was from the beginning, but at the end of a game, it's a TD for the other team that the QB is ultimately RESPONSIBLE for. If a play looks ugly, you throw the ball away. So with the pick 6 added in, you just have two bad performances at the end of the day. But make no mistake, there aren't many things that completely change a game like a pick 6. The other team picks up momentum while your QB totally loses confidence when that happens. They interviewed Jefferson after the game and he said he thought they did pretty good passing. Huh?? He completed like 35% of his passes for under 100 yards and JL completed 50% of his for just over 100 with a pick 6. That's not pretty good. I know it's just a practice game, but still... And let me say, I don't see any evidence that JL would handle adversity in a game well? So far, he's shown just the opposite. That La Tech game he started last year was the #1 lowlight in a year filled with BAD offensive performances. And that wasn't even an SEC team we were playing. If JJ is regressing, then they better switch Shep back to QB and make the offense revolve around him (I know - 0% chance of that). I'm just saying that because if JJ is so bad that they would consider putting JL out there as the starter, they'd be better off running a wildcat/spread offense with Shep at that point. Because I think all confidence would be lost with JL as a starter. He's not shown that he's capable of being a QB in the SEC based on his performances. So to me, he shouldn't be playing unless there are injuries in front of him at this point. Otherwise, there is a problem. It's good to see that the running game looked good. But then again, they usually do in the spring game. It's hard to say how good they are because our D-line has been weak. I think LSU really needs Ford to be the real deal and he looks like he has great potential. Shep continues to show that he is great when given the chance to carry the ball with like 8+ yards per carry in the game. RR should be awesome if they'll actually throw him the ball. So they have some potentially huge play makers on offense. But will they get the ball enough? If our D-line is not better than last year, I expect similar results. It's hard to be aggressive on D when you just don't get any push up front. But it's still early and there are a lot of new/young guys that will be playing. Plus, the team is divided so it's not the full picture. So here's to hoping...
