THE GOOD 1. Our quarterback threw no interceptions. 2. Our corners are very, very good. 3. Our kicker is very, very dependable. 4. Our defense is scary fast. 5. We continue to commit few penalties. 6. We continue to force turnovers. 7. Special teams continue to perform well. 8. Studrawa looks like he's dropped about 150 pounds, to a svelte 300. THE BAD 1. Our quarterback threw no touchdown passes. 2. A 97-yard passing average against SEC competition won't cut it versus upper tier SEC rivals. 3. Five field goals should have been four touchdowns and a field goal. 4. Shepard has speed and moves . . . but must develop some hands. 5. Running five or six designed quarterback-keeper plays a game will get our starter injured in time . . . and we have developed no backup. THE UGLY 1. Les will never give Lee any meaningful playing time, no matter how poor the starter plays, even with a huge lead in the 4th quarter. Lee might as well transfer right now.
I love this thing you do and basically agree across the board. Not a pumper, not a hater. Can't give you REP, but I would if I could.
Ridley and Blue have amazing acceleration. Once late in the game when Blue took the carry, I thought it was Ridley at first. I can see why the coaches are high on him. I didn't even know his name until recently.
There is a reason why Lee doesn't get PT. JJ is all we have. We better pray he stays healthy, even as poorly as he has played. Great points on everything else btw, Red.
I've not been a Les basher or a JJ basher. But I'm surprised Lee got so little PT yesterday. I continue to think that JJ has not performed well enough to continue getting just about all the minutes and instead should be sharing the minutes. If LSU's offensive production continues to be poor by the time they are into the meat of their schedule and if Les then has to make a QB change, then Les is going to have some serious explaining to do about why he didnt get the backup(s) more playing time when the competition was less formidable. Conversely, if JJ has developed into a consistent and capable SEC QB by season's end, then I was wrong to second guess Les and will admit it.
I think the key is that they were ahead the whole game and there were no TOs until the late fumble. While JJ was not spectacular (tongue in cheek), he was not horrible and did what was asked of him. I mean, he is not "calling" the option to the weak side, right? He is just trying to do it to the best of his ability, but he is just not an option QB. He did have a few dropped balls b/c Shep is not a natural receiver. I hear what Red is saying about others getting PT, but I think QB is different. Could they have put him in sooner, yeah, but I think MSU coming out and scoring right away in the 2nd half derailed that plan. I was really glad to see LSU answer that TD immediately with a TD of their own, and by the offense, as opposed to INT or STs scores. Personally, I take away more positives about JJs performance from this game following the Vandy debacle. Even though the stats are the same, he looked a lot better in this game, IMHO.
Certainly can't argue with that but consider this. JJ finally seemed to have gotten some rhythm and I was torn by what I would do as a coach. Pull him and give his backup some preparation or let him continue to build his confidence. I felt I would probably have to let J. Lee in two series earlier but can't blame Miles for either choice. If J. Lee goes in and throws an INT we leave that game with a cloud over the win. Also, I've felt like Miles has put it on cruise at times so if we expect our team to "finish" we need to show them we mean it by keeping the starters in and playing, sometimes sending a backup in sends a bad signal.
JJ improved from the Vandy game, but not to the point where he silenced all of his critics. I wished I could see Lee throw the ball, but it'll have to wait until some other time. I'm a fan of clock management, and we did that effectively in the fourth quarter. I don't think we should have gone into pass heavy mode, but a couple of passes with Lee wouldn't have hurt anything.
