I've heard a lot of people exclaim how great our defense is playing. Relative to last season, yeah. But I wouldn't call our defensive performance to date great. Florida rolled on us outside of the 20s, reportedly didn't have a three and out all game, dominated the time of possession 36.5/23.5, and averaged 5.1 yards per play. That's not great stats. Claim a moral victory if you like, but our defense was dominated by their offense according to those stats. Our line was manhandled most of the night and that has happened most of the season. Pressure on the QB was a little better than nil in our best performance of the season in that regard. LSUSports.net is quick to point out this is the lowest point total for Florida since 1999 which is something to be proud of. We had fairly crisp tackling and the coverage was loose but seemed to keep the receivers from busting a big play. Of course, when FU needed a reception they got it. When they needed a first down, they got it. We couldn't get off the field. We couldn't shut them down. Because we couldn't get off the field, our offense had fewer opportunities, which was another contributing factor to our dismal offensive performance. I also can't believe so many folks are dismissing the reluctant play of Florida's offense. Tebow was not going full steam ahead, he played tentative all night. Yes he ran, but not in traditional Tebow style. There are those here who want to give our defense full credit for that and I believe that is fully disingenuous. Meyer the crier was playing as conservative as his *hole gene would allow.
Our defense has vastly improved since last season. But to say we held Fla. to this low point total is inaccurate, to be kind. Your post is pretty much nails it.
I think the Gators had a great game plan and they should. They have a top senior QB and a great OL. They wanted to play ball control and didn't think we would score much. We got 3 points in a awesome college football war! Love the effort and hitting. T makes the Gators go and he makes great calls 95% of the time. Love our red zone D and I would call it a very good D but not a great D. the 03 team late in the year was a great D and the 69 and 70 D teams had great D!!! I love our improvement from last year and how we have a very top end special team group. We have cut penalties a ton compared to last year but I know against the Gators that didn't hold up.
I think under the circumstances the D did very well against UF. Considering the O couldnt sustain a drive they didnt have much of a chance. The D has improved a hell of a lot under Chavis. The D does need to improve on the penalties. Many of which are the reasons UF drives were sustained. LSU still gets mired at times in missed tackles and poor angles. Most of which is from the DL, who have a lot of trouble making tackles behind the line. We do need a better pass rush because no matter how good the DBs are you cant cover SEC receivers all day. Overall we have a pretty good D, its not great like LSU has had most of the decade. But they are more than capable. If we can improve on the DL or help out with more blitzes then we OK there.
Agreed. The amount of points they gave up against Florida was great and obviously that is all that matters for a specific game. But Im sure I wasnt the only one concerned that Florida was essentially scrimmaging out there. They ran two-hundred dives for fun - because they didnt have to do anything else - and they knew their defense just had to put at least nine or ten players on the field and they would be fine. People are excited about holding Florida to 13 points, which was great. But their gameplan was prepared by a Jim Tressell coached team.
i agree with your post however the D has shown improvement not only from last season but from earlier this year, something the offense has failed to do. even spec teams has gotten better. the D isn't where i want them right now, but the D may also look a little better when the offense stays on the field longer. i think most of all fans want to see improvement as the year goes on, that has happened with chavis' boys.
