The Realists' Thread (Defense, QB's, etc.)

[FONT=&quot]This won't be pretty. I'm not like some guys around here who catch the stench of a turd and say they smell potpourri. These same guys also say, "What did you expect? We can't win a national championship every year!"

Here's the deal (will be long)...

Defense:

- None of us expected another NC this year. Most (if not all) of us picked LSU to go 9-3, or, at worst, 8-4. I know I did, however, I expected to see LSU football, not the mess we see on the field this season. There is no tenacity on defense. LSU's storied tradition is a fierce defense, and as a whole, we have nothing this year. No fierceness. No tenacity. This is NOT LSU football.

- The tackling is poor. What happened to wrap-up tackling? I expected 9-3 but was confident that we would have a solid D. What's with all the arm tackling and all the flying elbow crap? Hit somebody! Put #22, Ryan Baker, somewhere on defense...

- Why is it that the defense gets their @$$ handed to them 3 out of 4 plays, but they are sure to celebrate and jump around just before and after a big play? That is a reflection of cockiness and bad coaching.

- For having a so-called vaunted defensive line, there was no pressure on Stafford except for maybe 2 or 3 plays. A lot of us got cocky after last week's win when LSU closed out the second half of that game with a strong, pursuing defense that totaled 6 sacks - against South Carolina, who is a national leader in sacks allowed. Obviously, that was a decent team beating a lesser team.

- We are solid against the run, and then we let these huge, gashing runs kill us. It should be obvious that, this season, when we play good, fast/shifty teams, we lose. Demps and Harvin killed us 2 weeks ago and Moreno torched us this week.

- At the beginning of the season, no one expected the pass defense to be that great, but the space they were giving the WRs allowed Stafford to pick 'em apart, not to mention all that soft zone mess. When they were caught out of position, they were torched.

- Jai Eugene. Wow. He blows a coverage last week, and they replace him with Peterson, who, in turn, has played well. This week, Jai steps in for a play or two, trips over himself and gets torched for a TD. What happened to him being the stud that was trying to decide between Michigan and LSU? Pfffft...

- I do, however, think Patrick Peterson, Darry Beckwith and Perry Riley played great tonight. Coleman got burned a few times, but would still celebrate and jump around after a decent tackle. I liked him at first, but I'm slowly losing respect. Shut up and play.

Offense:

- Jarrett Lee's new name should be Jarrett "Pick Six" Lee. Jamie Howard and Josh Booty must have had a son together when we weren't looking. Now, before you chumps start defending him, "Pick Six" has inflated stats due to the large number of screens, solid receivers, and teams (especially UGA) giving up in the second half. Will opposing teams give this guy a plaque for all the TDs he gives to the defense?

- Yeah, yeah... he's a redshirt freshman. Big deal. I'd rather give Hatch (or even Jefferson) an opportunity to win the game with his legs, than have Lee lose a game with his arm. He locks onto all of his receivers, and shows extremely poor judgment. There was one play where he dropped back, two UGA defenders came in on him, and he threw a screen right into their hands, and thankfully they dropped it. That could have been a 3rd pick six.

- I have hope that Lee will be a solid QB in a couple of years, but the more I watch the guy and the more consistently below average he performs, the more excited I get about Jefferon and Sheppard, who is coming in next year. Lee is just too erratic to win against a good team.

- Keiland Williams has a fire lit under his butt, and it's very refreshing to see, especially taking into consideration how terrible our QB has been. He's running harder and making the cuts he made as a freshman.

- Charles Scott. I just feel sorry for him. He plays his heart out every game, and the rest of the team blows it. At this point, he IS the team. When you have a guy getting 5-6 yards a carry, why waste plays on throwing with an inexperienced QB? I know it's bad to be one-dimensional, but when you have a head case at QB, it's almost a must, especially when you have such a good stable of running backs. The only time they really stopped Scott was when they would audible to that stupid shotgun draw that worked every now and then.

- O-line seemed to play decent. LSU was able to run the ball effectively, and other than a few times when Lee was rushed, I thought they protected him fairly well. "Fairly" is the key word.

- WRs played as good as always. I wish they would involve Richard Dickson and Terrrence Tolliver in the game more often.

Refs:

- SEC refs suck so bad. There were so many calls (facemasks, tipped pass, holding, pass interference, etc.) that were blown. Absolutely terrible. BUT you can't always play so bad that the refs determine the game.

In conclusion:

- There's still next week, it's not the end of the world, and I still bleed purple and gold.
[/FONT]

 

I can agree with almost everything you have stated here. I would have just added this one thing -- Even though i truly believe that Les Miles is a great coach and I am very happy to have him here, the Co-DC plan is a failure.

 

I knew that the offense was gonna be kinda iffy but I thought with our great offensive line & cordinator we would be ok. We have been generally except that the line was bad against Florida & we gave Georgia 17 points. We are not good enough to overcome that against great teams..

That defense is just plain bad, very disappointing, they do not play with fire & determination. they quit when they get blocked & they do not cover good at all...

The main disappointment for me is the defense. Lee throws to many interceptions for sure but the defense is awful... not sure its gonna get any better this year & next year may not be any better.. Les better get a hold on this real quick.. Recruiting is not being helped by us getting on TV & getting blown out ever other week..

 

You're Right. I LOVE LSU. I ALSO KNOW that we can't be the best every year. RP was our downfall. Without him, we suck. With him,,,,,we could have even overcome our poor Defensive play. Not anymore. We NOW need to work on getting a QB prospect that can start fairly SOON. Our current roster of QB's SUCK. They ARE NOT gonna work out. That's been proven all season. AND................we gotta get some normalcy on Defense. Damn. I was really dissapointed tonite. Our D Sucked. And we have the talent, I guess they just weren't motivated tonite. IT's time to look forward. Cmon MILES.

 

Tell us how you really feel.

 

We lost by 14 and Lee gave up 17. Run the f'in ball.

 

Just a note on coaching - Great Coaches do not give up 50 points a game very often. I know this is the modern era & everyone scores a lot of points but but but.... ??:milesmic: The Hat needs to get it together, that defense is not playing for him..

 

Wy are you never around after a win? A lot of regulars are venting, which is fine, but you are only on this Forum to pile on.
You are a loser.

 

I was around after the SC game & I congratulated the tigers for a win. I just think we have better players that should not give up the points we are giving up... I am disappointed in our performance for the florida game & the georgia game. I agree, I am a loser (I always think the glass is half empty) but I thought we would better than this.. Did you expect this? Hey if we beat Alabama in two weeks I will be in the group praising the Tigers as always... When we win I don't post much because I expect us to win or at least be tough to beat... I watch the replays on Sunday night when we win, when we lose watching it once is enough for me..

 

You are not what the legends of Tiger Stadium/fans are made of.