it seems to me that most of us, myself included, are underestimating the effects of last year. to put it another way -- we're underestimating how bad they were. i'll use chad jones as a case study. coming out of high school he was a big hitter, similar to loston. but in his three years here he's been coached into confusion. yes he looks a step slower than he was and i can't tell you why that is, but he now plays as if he's a coverage safety. how does one go from being a big hitter, scary type of guy to being a soft coverage type of guy? to me there's only one thing that does that and it's coaching. i still think we're a 2 or 3 loss team, which is really good for us, but i think we all got a little too excited about what could be. that defensive coaching staff last year was as bad as it gets. i don't think two games is enough to fix that.
I see this team as one that it going to be "gritty." Nothing is going to come easy, and no win is going to have us leaving with a "Wow" feeling the next day. People will complain next week when we don't beat ULL by 40. Same thing with MSU. Depending on what happens the next few weeks with Georgia, we might be hearing it again after beating what could be a 1-3 team (Arkansas is a huge trap game for them, and who knows how good Az. State is).
<Putting on purple and gold glasses> These first 4 games *could* wind up being perfect for LSU - the team obviously didn't come into the season hitting on all cylinders, and that's completely understandable - new defensive coordinator, inexperienced QB, replacing a lot of experience on both lines, etc. But LSU has had enough raw talent to beat their first 2 opponents, and should have enough to beat the next 2 opponents, giving the team the time and experience to improve. Facing a really tough/experienced opponent early this season could have been disastrous, obviously. But the teams we ARE playing aren't exactly "rent-a-win" teams except for ULL, and they are 2-0 right now. Think of it almost as a pre-season for LSU. We all saw the raw potential that Russell Shepard adds to the game, and he will likely see more and more of the field in each subsequent game. Now, the 5th and 6th games will require much better play, but barring too many critical injuries (see: Richard Murphy), LSU by game 5 should be hitting on all cylinders, and ready to play with and beat the big boys. Now, I really, really wish that the scheduling gods had given LSU a bye week before the Florida game instead of AFTER it, but if we stay healthy and the team really gels as I am hoping/expecting, I give us a decent shot at beating the #1 Florida again in Tiger Stadium. I was there in 1997, although this time I likely will NOT storm the field and get my finger sliced open on the goal posts.
Keep in mind the defense has been in massive flux since mid-2007. Pelini's scheme had nearly run its course after the South Carolina game that year and offenses had figured out how to put up points on that soft zone he loved to use, which worked reasonably well when we had very good D-linemen like Dorsey (and Tyson Jackson, to a lesser extent) to get good pressure with a 4-man front, but it suffered significantly after Dorsey started playing hurt. 2008 was supposed to be a continuation of that same style of defense, but ended up being a far worse coaching failure than anyone could have imagined. Now in 2009 Chavis is looking to implement a faster and more aggressive style, and moving players into other positions. With that sort of inconsistency it can be difficult for returning players to perform at the same level of effectiveness. At the risk of once again catching flak from certain members on this forum for restating, it's going to take a good year to fully adjust to the new scheme and become a dominant defense. There's already been massive improvement since last year. Watching the Vandy game yesterday, players knew what their assignments were, and subs weren't running out onto the field with 3 seconds left on the play clock. LSU will have a good defense this year, but not elite or dominant. I see this group being a lot like the 2006 team in the sense that LSU could turn into a very scary team to play against by season's end, but it will take another year for all the pieces of a championship team to be there. Still say 10-2.
I can see how you could come to this conclusion. When I rewatched a little of last years game against Auburn a few days before the season, I was struck by how many of fatal flaws on defense were evident. But I don't think we were really bad by anything other than a NC standard. We were still one of the 15 best teams and yes I know we all want better than that. I just don't know what to make of this team so far this year. The schedule is kind enough to give us time to work out some of our issues before we face a higher level of competition.
Auburn gifted that game to LSU with the worst special teams performance I've witnessed from an Auburn team in more than 25 years. It was an abyssmal performance, and Auburn still should've won because Crowton was playing so conservatively. Miles should be writing Eddie Gran a check for that W. IMHO, LSU is still the team to beat in the West. You've got the talent, depth, and coaches to be beastly, although there are some question marks left to be answered. The main ingredient that appears to be missing is an intensity-level that comes with veteran, solid defensive leadership. As an outside observer, that's what appears to be missing recently compared to recent LSU defenses. BTW - don't take time to look in the rearview mirror .... someone might be gaining on you in the West. :yelwink2:
on defense we were not a top 15 team. that's what i'm mostly talking about. the culture of our defense has completely eroded away. nobody is afraid to play us any more. we can't tackle correctly and we definitely aren't snot-knockers. i'm not saying this to bring down what we're trying to build now, i'm saying it to put in perspective if only for myself. we were bad bad last year on defense. i mean lou tepper bad. it's going to take a season or two to get back to where we were.
Good point and I think the young guys know this. It seems so many times I see them goin up field and not staying at home and BAM, play goes to the sidelines, or they are so worried about a big hit they just flat out miss a tackle. It seems as if the coaches are wanting them to slow down and play at home. At least, my reasoning for the play calling..
