THE GOOD 1. The offense was balanced and effective with almost 700 yards of offense in only 24 minutes. 2. In the first half the offense scored 20 points in less than 8 minutes, despite a muffed punt, a missed field goal, a missed PAT, and a Pick 6 interception. 3. When the power running game is working it is a thing of beauty. All four running backs had big plays. 4. Halftime adjustments were made. In the second half, the offense scored 28 unanswered points and the defense allowed a single first down late in the 4th quarter. 5. Beckham and Landry continue to dazzle as receivers. 6. Never-used offensive linemen Pocic and Washington started and excelled. The line dominated. 7. We only needed our punter once, late in the 4th quarter. 8. A number of reserves got to play. 9. Mettenberger shook off the interceptions and kept his head in the game for 328 passing yards. 10. Terrence Magee should probably be the #2 running back. He may have moved up. THE BAD 1. We're still getting way too many penalties. 2. Tackling remains very poor. Too many defenders arm-tackle and do not wrap-up. 3. Time of possession heavily favored the opponent in the first half. Only 7+ minutes for LSU! 4. Mettenberger still throws to Beckham in double coverage. He did not learn from last week. 5. We have a number of injuries, notably 2 offensive linemen, both fullbacks, and our kicker. 6. Our big and quick defensive linemen still have trouble shedding blocks quickly. 7. Beckham drops another easy punt for a turnover. 8. The kicking game dropped off. A missed FG and PAT, a kickoff out of bounds, a muffed punt. THE UGLY 1. The defense in the first half could not get off the field. Talented athletes who didn't know where they were supposed to be. Even studs have to play smart football in this league. 2. Mettenbergers pick-6 interception. Miscomunication with the wideout. Should never have been thrown.
"4. Mettenberger still throws to Beckham in double coverage. He did not learn from last week." To me this should be an ugly. He forces it to odb no matter what and a better d like bama's will make him pay. There are others that are open if odb is double or triple covered.
Pretty dead on Red. I was impressed by the OL line play, the backs and ODBjr & Landry. I thought Melvin Landry played very well at FB. I'm worried that Mett has too much confidence in ODB & Landry though and as you said forcing balls to them is a problem. That said I think the O showed pretty well. The D is still a mess though Hunter and Rasco have stepped their games up considerably as has Kwon. I was glad to see successful blitzes and thought the DB play was better all around. Our Achilles heel though is the middle. Johnson cannot get off blocks or keep his feet and Ego though good for a few excellent plays a game is also too often blocked by one. With the DTs not requiring a double team the MLB has little chance to do his job. I prefer Louis to Welter as I see him step up into the hole and attack much more often. Welter too often takes on blocks rather than attacking the ball. On a positive note; in the second half it seemed the D was playing together more and flowing to the ball and attacking as a unit much better. If this is a trend and continues then the light at the end of the tunnel isn't an on coming train. One final point LSU is the only team in FBS that has played 9 straight games without a bye. I think that showed in the last 2 games. (not an excuse just an observation). The week off before the gumps and another before the faggies should help.
One of the late halftime or end of game shows started off with something like, "Why, does LSU do this?" Talking about letting Furman in the game. They went on to say, yeah LSU won big, but why do they let poor teams in the game in the first half. It wasn't a really critical piece, just very puzzled why it seems to happen over and over.
GOOD > Jennings played > Purple uniforms looked good > Nice cool weather BAD > Jennings needs work and will likely be the starter next year UGLY > Jennings didn't play more > Stadium looked empty at the end; what was the actual attendance? > DL was dominated in first half?
I think it is way early to anoint Jennings. I understand Les wanted a mobile quarterback for certain situations this season. But next year the number-one criteria will be a SEC-caliber arm and I think it will be a wide-open competition between Jennings, Rivers, Rettig, Bolden, and the freshman. If Jennings has an arm, he will have a leg up. If not . . .
Well said. I also mentioned the 9 consecutive weeks bit in the game thread. It doesn't excuse the problems we had through the first 7 games, but sure can explain the lackluster play the last 2.
The most amazing thing to me about this is the number of times in the last 2 years Mett has been thrown poor passes and been bailed out with an amazing catch....by Jarvis Landry. How does he keep forcing the ball to OBJ when he knows he's got college football's most comfortable security blanket on the other side?
Here's what I don't get...and I didn't see the game; heard it on radio. Jennings entered the game, and immediately the offense went to the pistol formation. OK, if your intent is to get Jennings playing time in preparation for the future, why wouldn't you send him out to run the normal offense? Why send him out with special plays or formations for him? And if its your intent to use him in special packages meant for him, why not use him in meaningful game situations, rather than when you're up 4 scores in a non-conference game?
Are we real sure that Jennings isnt just the "2nd quarterback" and not the "backup quarterback" if you get my drift.
