You can cry over what shoulda, coulda and maybe woulda been... if only this or that would've been done... but I like to be a little more positive about things. Our defense did hold the Gators to 13 points, and regardless of how you see the game, UM loves to put up points... but failed to do so against us. That in itself is a victory for us. I see that as a solid positive stepping stone for the defense and something to build off of. It's no secret that offenses that stall drives or fail to gain any momentum don't see the field for very long... and the way our offense has left the defense hanging in games, basically expecting our d to pitch shutouts to give us a chance is not fair to our defensive guys. So lets give props where props is due. Obviously there's issues that needs fixing, but like the last 6 games, I doubt we'll see any real change. Hell we might not see 30 points in a game for the rest of the season... but i'll still root for the Tigers.
Ok, i am one of the people who has praised this defense. The reason i have praised this defense are really quite simple, from where this defense was last year, clueless, out of position, not knowing what to do, looking over at the sideline with their shoulders shrugged, i would say we are miles ahead of where we were last year. The secondary has gotten better, they are more physical, in position to make plays, and actually do make plays. The secondary has had its low points this season, but we are not even talking about same ballpark compared to last year. The most improved group of players on the field are the linebackers. They started off sluggish, but they have gotten better, each and every week, and other than Patrick Peterson, and Chad Jones, Kelvin Sheppard has been the most improved player on the defense. The back 7 could be in the conversation with the best back 7 in the NCAA. The front 4. Lets face it, we haven't recruited a dominant defense lineman since Dorsey. Al Woods was supposed to be that guy, but he has been a bust. Until we get that guy, that Chad Lavalais, Kyle Williams, Claude Wroten, Dorsey type player, the run stuffing nose tackle, and some tall speedy strong defense ends, this defense is going to struggle with the run in the SEC. Our defense line is the problem with this defense, because of their inability to stuff the run, and their inability to create problems in the backfield. But.....they come up big when they absolutely have to. So i will continue to praise this defense because they have gotten better week in and week out, and along with the special teams, seem to be the only facets of this team getting better weekly. Is this defense there yet.....No. Are they on their way....Yes. Maybe some of the young guys who aren't playing right now will be the next Chad Lavalais, or the next Kyle Williams, but unlike the offense, at least we see heart, leadership, desire and passion from this defense.
First, I saw teeboow put his head down many times, and many others on UF's team. UF 100% played their plays. Dont try to pawn off that UF came in and just played around. On the D side of things, what people are so impressed about is the WEEK to WEEK improvement that shows. Over all no, not perfect, but as we watch them play each week, they make us proud, they get better, and they give LSU the CHANCE to win. Thats the point. I dont think any LSU fans have claimed a moral victory of the UF game. In no way did we win that game. Uf's D was better than ours and so was their O. UF was the better team and the better team won. What I think some Fans look to is the fact that LSU's D stayd in there and didnt give up and held UF to 13 points. Aside from the 51 from last year..
I think, that given the offenses woeful performance, the pressure that puts on a D (ie no rest between series, no point cushion) the D has been playing very good. Bend but not break is a gameplan I hate, but just maybe Chavis knows what he has to deal with and is giving these guys the best possible gameplan. I am not a big stats guy since all the teams dont play each other, but LSU is 75th in the country in TOP, and 72nd in scoring. Not a good combo, if the offense was quick strike that would be fine, but we arent. Our D is 11th in total scoring, and we have played some decent teams. Washington, Fla, GA, And our D has been strong with all of them. I am not CLM's biggest fan, but maybe all that talk about how strong the OL was was just that talk to hype them up. I do not think Les is a great coach, but he does motivate, hell I get excited listening to the passion in some of his talks, maybe he was in those guys ears all summer talking them up in hopes that they would play to their max potential. They havent. So in short, our D is that good, the O puts way too much pressure on them. IMO of course.
Damn you mean there's 48 other teams out there (roughly) that score less than we do? Well hell I feel better now.
slUT and 0U are deadlocked at 6 right now and neither one of them have a great defense. but this will be billed a defensive battle, not a offensive struggle.
The offense is not improving and you complain. The defense is improving from last year and the beginning of the season, and you complain. You are a tough cookie to please. Are you married? :nope:
I agree that the D played solid, but not great because of all the penalties and the inability to stop the run up the middle at times. HOWEVER, I'm tired of hearing about Florida's "reluctant" play and Tebow's "tentative" play. Florida played how Florida plays. They were just doing it against a defense that doesn't seem to break that much. I thought Tebow played a little tentative in the first half (probably moreso after Peterson rocked him on a corner blitz), but I didn't see any difference in the 2nd half. I didn't see him throw the ball away or run out of bounds when he had about four guys trying to kill him early in the 2nd half. No, he risked getting clobbered and faked out/got past all of them for a big pickup. If he was that damn tentative and Florida was playing that cautious, he wouldn't have had 17 carries (his 2nd highest total this year). In fact, if he would have ran more it would have been better for LSU. Florida was killing us with the RBs shooting through the middle because our D-line couldn't handle that quick burst they have through the middle. We're not fast enough. But Tebow takes a little longer to build up steam and our D-line and LBs could handle him. By the way, was Urban conservative when he went on 4th and 2 in the 1st half? No. But he damn sure changed after LSU's D stuffed it. Was he conservative when he tried to pass toward the end zone with under five minutes left? No, but after LSU's D picked it off, he decided it would be best just to keep it on the ground and get out with the W. By the way, our offense could have had the ball another 3,761 times and we still wouldn't have done $hit. Why? Because our playcalling was terrible, our use of talent was even worse and our O-line and JJ were having simultaneous breakdowns. It had nothing to do with the D not giving them enough opportunities. Florida ended up with 13. How is the final score inaccurate. Let's face it, the TD catch should have been called back and they would have been backed up another 5-15 yards depending on what they called. They might have gotten back into FG position at that point, but who knows? We could have went in 3-3 at half possibly or 6-3 at worst. If those refs could see those wimpy offsides penalties they kept calling on LSU, then they certainly should have been able to see that BLATANT penalty that the Florida player committed on our defensive back. That was their impact play of the game and it shouldn't have been. So yeah, the final score might be inaccurate in that way. So now they were scrimmaging? Ha. Florida is a running team this year (even more than the last few years). It's what they do. They've killed other teams doing it, but they just didn't kill us doing it. No doubt, their offense was superior to ours and they had some long, effective drives. But our D just is tough to play against once a team gets around the 20. It would be great if they were tougher before that spot at times, but that's how it is right now. Points are the bottom line and the D had LSU in this one pretty much up until the end. Like I said already, Urban was trying to get another score late in the 4th, but LSU picked it. Tressel would have never passed in that situation. Finally, if our D wants to be great, we need our D-line to do something. They are not playing well and the coaches should keep shuffling guys in and out until some players start making an impact. It's okay to not get sacks sometimes, but when your whole D-line can't get one sack against ooh la la and State (who clearly have inferior talent), then they are not earning their playing time at LSU.
