SB Nation - Charles Scott

LSU In Review - Weeks Two And Three

BSD — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:48:23 -0000

2 months ago: LSU running back Keiland Williams (5) gets away from Louisiana-Lafayette defensive tackle Jordan Topp (98) in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

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Week Two - Vanderbilt Commodores

Final - 9.12.2009	1	2	3	4	Total
Vanderbilt Commodores	0	7	2	0	9
LSU Tigers	7	6	3	7	23

Complete Coverage >

In week two the LSU Tigers defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores on a rain soaked home opener night game in front of a crowd of 91,000 fans.

Running back Keiland Williams was the star of the night scoring two touchdowns and rushing for 72 yards on 10 carries. Charles Scott added another 49 yards on 13 carries as the Tigers outrushed the Commodores 178-122.

Quarterback Jordan Jefferson dinked and dunked his way for 138 yards on 20-of-29 passing. Brandon LaFell caught 7 passes for 38 yards while senior R.J. Jackson caught six passes for 55 yards. LSU used a little trickeration on their second series when backup quarterback Russell Shepard entered the game. They ran a wildcat play with him where he gained 13 yards. Then on the next play he lined up at reciever and caught a pass for eight yards, but he fumbled at the end of the play.

The LSU defense shut down Vanderbilt quarterback Zac Stacy holding him to just 88 yards passing and under 50% completion. The Tiger defense dominated the night all together holding the Vanderbilt offense to just 210 yards and 7 points.

But LSU was far from perfect on the evening. A poor snap on a punt gave Vanderbilt a safety, and Jefferson threw a pick near the goal line. LSU was fortunate that the latter play was overturned on a defensive holding call. But it was a solid win in the second week of the season for the Tigers.

Quotes From The Game

"Any time you play imperfectly and you come to the postgame, you have to recognize that first things first -- you'd much rather win than do any other thing. That being said, I think we've got to play better. ... There were no style points for this one. That's a fact." - Les Miles

"The defense saved the offense's bacon tonight. We had too many 3-and-outs, and more than one negative possession in the second half. Vandy had great field position for most of the 2nd half thanks to three consecutive possessions in which we ran a total of nine plays with two punts and a bad-snap safety." - And The Valley Shook

Week Three - Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns

Final - 9.19.2009	1	2	3	4	Total
Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns	0	3	0	0	3
LSU Tigers	7	10	7	7	31

Complete Coverage >

Week three was a sleeper against the Ragin Cajuns. The amazing statistic of the game is that the Cajuns doubled their all-time scoring against the Tigers in Tiger Stadium. In 12 total games played at Baton Rouge, the Cajuns have been outscored 618-6. They have never scored a touchdown. Ever. Wow. The Cajuns gained 272 total yards with 109 yards rushing. Safety Chad Jones had two interceptions for LSU.

The LSU offense wasn't spectacular, but they were good enough to win. Penalties and turnovers plagued them and held the score lower than it should have been. On the day, LSU only gained 330 total yards. Jefferson completed 16-of-25 passes for 165 yards, 2 TD, and 1 INT. He was also sacked once and fumbled. The LSU running back by committee gained 164 yards. Charles Scott gained 63 on 12 carries while Keiland Williams tallied 41 yards on 10 carries.

Though it was an easy win, it was a particularly brutal game from the injury standpoint for LSU. Tight End Richard Dickson suffered a concussion. Jefferson mildly sprained his knee. DT Josh Downs left with a knee problem. Right tackle Joseph Barksdale had to leave the game as well.

Quotes From The Game

"Our quarterback was not necessarily in a groove early, but we have some talent and we have the ability to make plays. We're not hitting on all cylinders just yet." - Les Miles

"The offensive line should be dominating teams like this and is not doing so. Jordan Jefferson misses open receivers at times. The defense is much improved from the Washington game to now, but still gives up the occasional long, methodical drive or big 3rd down conversion. " - And The Valley Shook

"He's a young quarterback. (Jefferson) He sees some guys open and he's 'Ooh, ooh . . .' and he's not comfortable in his mechanics. He rushes. We've got to get him in practice and do it again, do it again, do it again." - Les Miles

If College Football Had a Playoff: #13 LSU Tigers @ #4 TCU Horned Frogs

Jeremy Mauss — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:07:10 -0000

More photos » by Will Powers - AP

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Before we get to game four the previous matchup of #12 Penn State @ #5 Florida came down to the very end with Penn State completing the first upset, and becomes the second lower seed, but first true upset in the "If College Football had a playoff." The vote was very close 93-87.

This matchup features TCU who is the top non-BCS seed and has dominated nearly every game and has played three teams that are currently ranked or were ranked in the top 25 during the season. This TCU team is top 10 in offense and defense, so LSU will have a difficult time trying to stop them or to moving the ball.

The LSU running game is balanced but nothing dynamic and unless LSU can have moderate success they will eventually become one-dimensional throwing the ball. However, LSU is 13th in total defense which would be the best defense to date that the Horned Frogs would face, and the fastest defense as well surpassing the Utes in that category.

To give some help to those who are not sure who would win I turned to What if Sports to simulate this game. The winner would be TCU in a minor blowout 2 6-3; LSU did have the game tied at 3-3 but then TCU ran off 23 straight points. The Horned Frogs rolled up 320 yards and had the edge in time of possession 38 minutes to 21 minutes.

What if Sports is not the decider in this game, you yes you! The readers of this site decide who moves onto the next round.

So gather your friends to stuff the ballot and check back daily at 12 PM eastern time to vote for the next matchup, and voting is only open for 24 hours. As they say in Chicago vote early and vote often.

TCU Stats

Passing

		Passing									Rushing					Sacks
	G	Rating	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	INT	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Sack	YdsL
Andy Dalton	12	93.0	174	279	62.4	2484	207	8.9	22	5	107	522	43.5	4.9	3	-	-
Marcus Jackson	7	265.0	2	2	100	23	3.3	11.5	1	0	17	48	6.9	2.8	0	-	-

Rushing

		Rushing					Receiving
	G	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD
Ryan Christian	11	14	66	6	4.7	0	19	244	22.2	12.8	3
Andy Dalton	12	107	522	43.5	4.9	3	0	0	0	0	0
Skye Dawson	7	13	111	15.9	8.5	0	0	0	0	0	0
Yogi Gallegos	1	1	4	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
Antoine Hicks	12	9	20	1.7	2.2	4	14	309	25.8	22.1	4
Marcus Jackson	7	17	48	6.9	2.8	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jeremy Kerley	12	14	50	4.2	3.6	3	37	457	38.1	12.4	2
Ed Wesley	11	93	605	55	6.5	4	7	142	12.9	20.3	2

Receiving

		Receiving
	G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	TD
Logan Brock	5	5	67	13.4	13.4	0
Ryan Christian	11	19	244	22.2	12.8	3
Curtis Clay	11	14	188	17.1	13.4	2
Evan Frosch	3	3	33	11	11	0
Antoine Hicks	12	14	309	25.8	22.1	4
Bart Johnson	12	26	350	29.2	13.5	0
Jonathan Jones	3	3	30	10	10	0
Jeremy Kerley	12	37	457	38.1	12.4	2
Billy Pizor	1	1	10	10	10	1
Ed Wesley	11	7	142	12.9	20.3	2
Jimmy Young	11	27	430	39.1	15.9	3

Kicking

		Field Goals								PAT
	G	0-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	FGM	FGA	PCT	XPM	XPA	PCT	pts
Ross Evans	12	-	-	-	-	-	14	17	80.0%	60	62	100.0%	102

LSU Stats

Passing

		Passing									Rushing					Sacks
	G	Rating	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	INT	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Sack	YdsL
Jordan Jefferson	11	93.0	169	272	62.1	1964	178.5	7.2	16	6	104	160	14.5	1.5	1	-	-
Jarrett Lee	6	73.0	16	40	40	197	32.8	4.9	2	1	3	-23	-3.8	-7.7	0	-	-
Russell Shepard	10	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	45	277	27.7	6.2	2	-	-

Rushing

		Rushing					Receiving
	G	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD
Trindon Holliday	12	23	116	9.7	5	1	3	36	3	12	0
Jordan Jefferson	11	104	160	14.5	1.5	1	0	0	0	0	0
Brandon LaFell	12	4	6	.500	1.5	0	52	705	58.8	13.6	10
Jarrett Lee	6	3	-23	-3.8	-7.7	0	0	0	0	0	0
Richard Murphy	2	2	10	5	5	0	1	4	2	4	0
Charles Scott	9	116	542	60.2	4.7	4	8	54	6	6.8	1
Russell Shepard	10	45	277	27.7	6.2	2	5	34	3.4	6.8	0
Keiland Williams	10	70	368	36.8	5.3	4	4	22	2.2	5.5	0

Receiving

		Receiving
	G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	TD
Richard Dickson	9	20	150	16.7	7.5	0
Trindon Holliday	12	3	36	3	12	0
R.J. Jackson	4	11	141	35.3	12.8	0
Mitch Joseph	2	2	18	9	9	0
Brandon LaFell	12	52	705	58.8	13.6	10
Chris Mitchell	7	10	65	9.3	6.5	0
Richard Murphy	2	1	4	2	4	0
Deangelo Peterson	4	5	82	20.5	16.4	2
Reuben Randle	7	10	146	20.9	14.6	2
Charles Scott	9	8	54	6	6.8	1
Terrance Toliver	10	47	654	65.4	13.9	3
John Williams	1	1	17	17	17	0
Keiland Williams	10	4	22	2.2	5.5	0

Kicking

		Field Goals								PAT
	G	0-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	FGM	FGA	PCT	XPM	XPA	PCT	pts
Josh Jasper	12	-	-	-	-	-	16	19	80.0%	34	34	100.0%	82

Poll

Who wins?

TCU

475 votes

LSU

335 votes

810 votes | Poll has closed

Alabama & Florida Common Opponents: LSU

Year2 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:20:01 -0000

As a part of SEC Championship Game week, we're taking a look at Alabama's and Florida's common opponents in alphabetical order. Now up: LSU.

	Alabama	Florida
Game Number	9	5
Score	24-15	13-3
Passing Yards	276	134
Rushing Yards	176	193
Total Yards	452	327
Passing All.	158	96
Rushing All.	95	66
Total Defense	253	162
3rd Downs	4-14	5-12
3rd Down Def.	5-14	1-9
Turnover Margin	Even	Even

Alabama went into its home tilt with LSU coming off of its near death experience with Tennessee. The Tigers were the first to score out of the gate, and though Bama would take a second quarter lead, LSU pulled ahead by five before the half. A Leigh Tiffin field goal pulled the Tide closer, but it wasn't until Julio Jones took a bubble screen 73 yards to the house with 10 minutes to go that Alabama would take the lead for good. A late field goal sealed the win. Alabama got some help thanks to injuries to LSU's Jordan Jefferson and Charles Scott during the game.

Florida went into its game with LSU off of a bye week, normally the best time to take on your toughest road task of the season. It was, however, Tim Tebow's first game back after sustaining a concussion against Kentucky. Tebow was sharp in what little passing he did, connecting on 11 of 16 throws. Of all the conservative game plans that Florida dialed up this year, this one was the most risk averse of all. Thanks to LSU having just one sustained drive and not looking good on offense whatsoever, Urban Meyer was content to let his defense win the game. The Gators' offense played its part by rushing for nearly 200 yards and gaining a 13 minute advantage in time of possession.

The game shouldn't have been as close for Alabama, as the Tide had a sizeable lead in yardage. You can see where some issues arose: third downs. Bama was just 4 or 14 on those, though the defense turned around and did about the same to LSU. Also, Greg McElroy didn't have one of his better days. He completed only about 55% of his throws, and absent the 73 yard touchdown from Jones that had nothing to do with the guy tossing the ball, he barely broke 200 yards on the day. Despite everything Bama had going for it, this one wasn't over until Jones' score. You somehow knew Jarrett Lee wasn't leading a comeback on that defense.

Florida's offense wasn't exactly at peak performance either. The Gators only punted once, but they also missed a field goal, turned it over on downs, and Tebow threw an interception. They went about as vanilla as possible, as this was the game where "dive play" became a dirty word to Gator fans. Meyer was just running clock all game, something that was frustrating to no end for those watching the game. LSU was never truly out of it until Florida's field goal with a little over seven minutes to go, but with consistently bad field position and no coherence on offense, LSU wasn't really in it for much of the game either.

It's tough to say who had the better performance. Alabama couldn't really take over until late. Florida led for most of its game, but the Gators were never more than a single defensive breakdown from getting tied up for most of it. UF probably could have tried to make the score a little prettier, but with a still recovering quarterback and a dominating defense, they never seemed to feel the need to. Alabama wasn't just running out the clock from the second quarter on because it was in control though, and that's the difference between the games. Plus, Bama was at home, Florida was on the road, and two key cogs for LSU went out injured during Alabama's game.

Better performance: Florida, but not by much.

See also: Arkansas, FIU, Kentucky.

Saturday Lessons: November 14

Year2 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:00:32 -0000

More photos » by Brett Flashnick - AP

Not pretty, but effective: your 2009 Florida Gators.

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Florida and Alabama just keep doing their thing.

This was probably the last realistic chance for Florida to lose prior to the showdown with Alabama, given that its game was on the road and South Carolina isn't a bad team. It would have been the irony to end all ironies for Steve Spurrier to spoil the Gators' attempt at an undefeated season, but UF just won the way its been winning all year: adequate offense and (mostly) stifling defense. Florida completed its third perfect SEC record ever, after 1995 and 1996, and they have just FIU and FSU (who plays less defense than Georgia does most days) to go before heading up to Atlanta.

Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide made sure there would be no cowbell magic for Mississippi State. Mark Ingram was his usual great self (149 yards on just 19 carries), and Greg McElroy found his early season form once again as he was efficient and didn't turn it over. The defense was brilliant as usual, holding the Bulldogs to just a field goal and snaring three interceptions in the process. A pit stop with Chattanooga and the Iron Bowl remain for the Tide before they pack for Peachtree City.

No one dominates without help, and USC's help is about gone.

I've said this before: no team dominates a conference without the teams around it being subpar. FSU dominated in the 1990s in part because the ACC was terrible during that time. Miami had a great run in the early part of this decade thanks to the Big East not being very good. Florida and Alabama now are dominating the SEC (a combined 30-1 the last two years) thanks in part to regimes getting stale and/or falling apart in at Auburn, Tennessee, and Georgia. There is no exception to this rule. You can't dominate without weakness around you.

USC dominated the Pac-10 for much of this decade thanks to a lot of lousy coaching elsewhere. The conference didn't have a lot of coaches that could stare down the titan on a consistent basis. Jeff Tedford and Mike Bellotti did occasionally, but without any consistent threat, USC ran roughshod over the league. UCLA went nowhere with Karl Dorrell, as did Arizona State with Dirk Koetter. Oregon State took some time to get going under Mike Riley. The Washington schools fell apart after Rick Neuheisel and Mike Price left. Stanford went through several bad coaches. Arizona has only recently done anything under Mike Stoops.

Teams are upgrading now though. Oregon with Chip Kelly is 2-1 against USC. Stanford under Jim Harbaugh is 2-1 with two wins in L.A. Oregon State is hitting its stride under Mike Riley and is 2-2 since the Pac-10 went to the round robin format. Washington at least hired someone who knew all the secrets in Steve Sarkisian, and UW is 1-0 under him. Sure this was going to be a down year for USC, but this big of a crash was not inevitable. The rest of the conference is catching up, and it's because it's getting smarter about coaching hires.

LSU is not the same without Jordan Jefferson.

An eight point win over Louisiana Tech is not impressive in any way this season, and Jarrett Lee completed just 7 of 22 passes for 105 yards and a 4.8 yards per completion average. Keiland Williams had a good day in relief of the injured Charles Scott, but really, without a functional passing game, LSU's offense is seriously hampered. The Tigers didn't put up as many points on LA Tech as Auburn (36), Navy (32), Nevada (37), Idaho (35), and Boise State (45) did. For a home game where they didn't turn it over, that's not good.

Regrouping is not part of Lane Kiffin's master plan, apparently.

I will grant pretty much any team a distraction-fueled mulligan the week that three players get arrested for armed robbery. However the Vols practically didn't make the trip to Oxford, mailing in a pathetic 42-17 loss to Ole Miss. Some slippage would be expected without starting safety Janzen Jackson, but they allowed Dexter McCluster to serially kill them for 282 yards on the ground. Tennessee normally doesn't give up that much yardage to entire teams, much less single players. UT is still without a sixth bowl-clinching win, but fortunately for the Vols' postseason hopes, they still have Vandy left to play.

Good luck figuring out the Rebels. Again.

Ole Miss, meanwhile, played like we would have thought they would in the preseason. I'm not about to get all that excited over it since I said the same thing after the Rebels' win over Arkansas, and they lost to Auburn the very next week. A win over LSU would give them the tiebreaker for second in the SEC West, something that seemed out of the question not that long ago. That does assume though that they don't find a way to lose the Egg Bowl, which given the inconsistency from the team this year is not 100% out of the question.

TCU may have a point.

A lot of folks assume that if a major player from a major conference played in a non-BCS conference, they'd win pretty much all the games by blowouts. Well, that's exactly what TCU has been doing, with its only close wins being at Clemson (who's not so bad) and at Air Force (who's going bowling). The Horned Frogs are basically doing what we might expect any other titan might do with the same schedule, and two close wins over decent or better teams can be excused. It's hard to give too many more reasons for keeping TCU out of the national title game with their three wins over ranked teams, even with Texas (one win over a ranked team) undefeated.

Georgia won't finish under .500 in the SEC.

I'm not sure how much more we can gather about UGA after its win over Auburn since few elements of it have been repeatable for the Bulldogs throughout the season. If you're wondering if this game saved Willie Martinez's job, your answer is a hearty laugh and a "no." The 17 offensive points that Auburn scored was more than Kentucky gave up to the Tigers, and you still have to look at the bigger picture. Georgia has allowed as a total team 30+ points nine times since the start of the 2008 season. That's more times than than Florida, Alabama, Penn State, Ohio State, and TCU have allowed 30+ in the same span (seven times). Not all of that is on the defense, what with special teams and defensive scores, but it's still a bad relfection on that unit.

Auburn's position as the high variance team of the conference remains unchallenged.

I am not really sure what to make of Auburn. The Tigers can beat Tennessee and Ole Miss, but they find a way to lose to Kentucky and Arkansas too. Now, they can't beat Georgia either, though UGA is the fourth best team in the conference by record. There's no consistency there from week to week, which I supposed could be expected since they are in the first year of a system that requires extreme levels of conditioning.

Kentucky is going bowling.

It's hard to think about football among the bluegrass this time of year, but the Wildcats defeated Vanderbilt to score their sixth win of the season. Like last year, UK is sitting on six wins and just two of them in-conference, but the Wildcats can put a nicer record up with an upsets over Georgia and/or Tennessee in their final two games. Given that Kentucky has already defeated Auburn, Georgia's been wildly inconsistent, and that Tennessee might be going into a late season tailspin, it could happen.

Few teams can torch cupcakes like Arkansas can.

Missouri State: 48-10 win

Eastern Michigan: 63-27 win

Troy: 56-20 win

It's too bad the Hogs couldn't play in the Sun Belt or MAC. Throw out their SEC record, add a few more scores like that, and keep their 47-19 win over Texas A&M, and they might be looking like Boise State is right now. Okay, not quite as good since Oregon's much better than TAMU, but you get the picture.

Minnesota should stop playing teams from the Dakotas.

The Golden Gophers needed a field goal late in the fourth quarter to hold off South Dakota State 16-13 on Senior Day (!). They only outgained the Jackrabbits 231-229. In 2006 Minnesota escaped North Dakota State 10-9, but the very next year the Bison beat the Gophers 27-21. It may be time to find a new area to scout for I-AA opponents, don't you think?

The Film Room: Looking At LSU

outsidethesidelines — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:03:15 -0000

This week in the film room I want to do a bit of a blurb piece, looking specifically at several of the bigger plays in the Alabama v. LSU game. Unlike in past weeks in which we have focused specifically on individual players with a specific point of evaluation in mind, this week we're going to bounce around a bit and just take a bit more casual look at some of the biggest plays in the game this past Saturday, looking for anything we can find.

First off, let's look at the first snap that we took out of the Wildcat. You will recall that in the Initial Impressions piece I said that, with Earl Alexander (a former high school quarterback) going in motion, we were almost certainly looking to throw the football. Let's look at the play again:

Notice the LSU cover package here. They have clearly manned up the three receivers, with safety Chad Jones over the top. I still think that this play was intended to be a pass, but given LSU's defensive response, it's hard to see how we would have successfully thrown the football. The only way it could have been done is if Alexander had thrown the football to the left and hit either Ingram or tight end Michael Williams slipping out of the backfield in the opposite direction.To be sure, the fumble was certainly disappointing because even with the recovery we were still faced with a third and long, but it's hard to see this one being a success through the air. We may have called a pass option on this one, but I imagine that it would have likely ended up being a run had the fumble not occurred.

Next, let's actually go back a play to the snap immediately before that. It's a first and ten near midfield and we decide to take a shot downfield to Maze early in the game. You'll probably remember this play well, but nevertheless you can get the jist of what happens with the following .gif (note, you need to click the .gif to make it work):

Disappointing, eh? I don't know exactly what route Jai Eugene was looking for, but he was clearly expecting that route to be broken off at the intermediate level somehow. He certainly wasn't expecting Maze to try to beat him deep, and as a result he ended up getting turned around and Maze blew right by him. This one just makes you want to throw the remote through the TV, plain and simple. Even with a semi-decent throw this is a touchdown, and not only does McElroy overthrow him he throws it out of bounds to boot. Double negative. This one hurts.

I guess we'll go ahead and knock out all of the negative McElroy stuff now, so let's take a look at the second Wildcat snap that we ran, this one coming late in the third quarter with 'Bama trailing 15-10.

I loved this play design from the outset. When Julio Jones comes down on the jet sweet and McElroy steps back, you know that every single LSU defender is looking for something on the frontside to Julio Jones. So what we do? We slip Brad Smelley out on the backside and we get them with it. The LSU defense isn't expecting it at all, and Smelley gets behind the secondary. A good throw and this is a touchdown, and even with a decent throw we probably have a first and goal. Unfortunately, this one sails long too, incomplete pass. We eventually settle for the field goal to cut the lead to 15-13.

Do, however, pay close attention up front on this one, particularly with regard to LSU defensive tackle Drake Nevis. The junior from Marrero whips William Vlachos at the point of attack, and he hurries the throw. It's still clearly a throw that McElroy should make, mind you, but nevertheless Nevis does a great job of getting into the backfield and making it a more difficult throw. The more you watch of the film, you see that Nevis played a whale of a game. I bet he graded out really high when Miles and company reviewed the film.

At any rate, let's close up the negative McElroy stuff here by taking a closer look at the safety:

First off, notice how we come out here guns a blazing, to paraphrase Saban. Not only are we throwing the football out of our own end zone on a third and long with a narrow lead in a low scoring game, notice that we are doing so with only five men in to protect the quarterback. Both Mark Ingram and Colin Peek go out on pass routes, and we are left with only the five linemen to get the job done. This one is as gutsy as it gets.

Unfortunately, Mike Johnson whiffs on the block of... guess who? Drake Nevis. Once again Nevis gets into the backfield and forces the safety, a fine play on his part. Again, though, McElroy shoulders a lot of the blame here. Even with the whiff by Johnson, McElroy still has approximately three seconds to get rid of the football, but for some reason -- even though everyone is covered -- he keeps holding onto the football for dear life. Predictably, the pressure eventually gets to him and the safety is the end result. He should have just thrown this one away. Thankfully, we lucked out that it was only a safety.

Now in all fairness to McElroy, while he did make a lot of bad plays, he also made his fair share of good plays too, and that is what we'll look at next. The following is McElroy's touchdown pass to Darius Hanks:

For all of the criticism of the passing game the past few weeks (and rightly so), here is a textbook example of where everything is executed perfectly and the play is performed exactly like you draw it up on paper. And this is also a textbook example of the type of things that you must do when an opposing defense loads the box to stop the run. Notice that after Ingram's previous success on the ground that LSU practically commits eight defenders to stopping the run this time around. That forces man to man coverage on the outside against all three receivers.

For McElroy, this is a simple read. We roll the pocket to the right to avoid the pressure, and it's obvious that he has a man-to-man match-up of Hanks on a safety. For McElroy, he either throws it downfield to Hanks if he is open, or checks it down to Earl Alexander. Fortunately, Hanks runs a fine route and gets good separation on the defender, and McElroy delivers an absolute strike. Just how you draw it up... touchdown 'Bama.

Next, let's look at a couple of defensive plays, specifically focusing on the two big runs that LSU had after the safety in the end zone. First, let's take a look at Charles Scott final run where he rips off a big gain to put his Bayou Bengals deep in 'Bama territory:

Notice that we come out and defend this effectively in our base 3-4 set. Eryk Anders has his hand on the ground, but even so this is pretty typical base 3-4 stuff, and also notice that we've got Mark Barron creeping up into the box. We've effectively got the back-up defensive line in the game for this snap -- Marcel Dareus, Luther Davis, and Josh Chapman -- but even so we have eight men ready to stop the run.

And in all fairness both Scott and the LSU offensive line does a solid job, but what really kills us here is poor tackling. Mark Barron is really playing the outside here and isn't in position to stop an interior run, but the real disaster is in the middle with Cory Reamer and Justin Woodall. Those two may be seniors, but they looked like freshmen with this effort. Instead of crashing down hard and making the tackle, the best Reamer can muster is a weak arm tackle attempt, which of course the powerful Scott blows right through, and then after that Woodall completely whiffs in the open field on a tackle. With a good play by Reamer this is a two-yard gain, and with a good play by Woodall it's an eight-yard gain, but unfortunately those two whiff and Scott is off to the races.

With LSU driving, Stevan Ridley comes off the bench and gives the Tigers a lead with his touchdown run. Let's take a closer look, particularly keeping a very close eye on the match-up of LSU center T-Bob Hebert on Terrence Cody:

Well, now that is certainly one for those conspiracy nuts, now isn't it? This is a run right into the heart of the line on second and short, and we have it snuffed out pretty well. Cody is in position to make the tackle, and looks to do so with Ridley trying to cut it to the outside. He ultimately misses the tackle, of course, simply because Hebert flat out tackles Cody in the open field. This should have been a holding penalty setting up a 2nd and 13, but alas no such flag came about.

Of course I'm not going to complain too much about the officiating because you do also need to focus on your own effort, and that certainly falls short here. Keep your eye on Eryk Anders, he has outside contain to the offensive right, and he basically just blows it. He gets sucked too far inside, and Ridley beats him to the outside. Touchdown LSU.

Finally, let's wrap this piece up by taking a closer look at the gamechanging touchdown on the screen pass to Julio Jones:

Notice how odd it is that LSU is actually in really good position, before the snap, to stop this play. They've got a base 4-3 look, and the linebackers are playing a bit soft. A safety is manned up against Julio Jones, to be sure, but this is the short side of the field and there is also another safety over there for help, plus a linebacker. I don't care who you are covering, someone between Brandon Taylor, Danny McCray, and Kelvin Sheppard should stop this play.

At any rate, we feign something of a pass to the right, and then McElroy wheels back around to throw to Julio. The entire left side of the Alabama offensive line, plus the center, all move out to the second level to block. Now, Brandon Taylor, knowing that he is a safety in man coverage against Julio Jones, plays it very safe, and leaves a massive cushion between him and the 'Bama wideout. And that, in many ways, costs him here. He sees the screen and runs in very hard, right by James Carpenter, who was supposed to block him -- and for what it's worth, the Auburn fans complained of a block in the back on this play by Carpenter on Taylor because there is a photo showing him blocking the LSU defensive back from behind, but if you watch the film, naturally the Auburn fans are wrong as Carpenter whiffs so badly that he barely touches the back of Taylor so lightly that Taylor himself probably never even noticed.

Unfortunately for Taylor, with him racing in, he loses body control, and Julio makes a quick, nifty cut to the outside to sidestep the LSU safety. Kelvin Sheppard effectively takes himself out of the play by biting on the fake to the right, and when Danny McCray tries to come in to make the tackle, he takes a poor angle and there William Vlachos gets just enough of him to knock him out of the play. And with the LSU defense firmly in the review mirror, Julio is off to the races. Touchdown 'Bama.

SEC Power Poll Ballot: Week 10

Truzenzuzex — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:54:48 -0000

At this point in the season, there is a lot of jockeying for position down in the lower reaches of the league, but with the division champions settled and only two or three games left, the four and five win teams are striving to earn bowl eligibility, and the better teams are trying to polish their credentials and avoid the late-season upset.

As for Kentucky, well, they are really two SEC wins away from finding themselves firmly in the middle of the pack. Right now, despite some factors that make them look better on paper than some others, it's hard to put a team with only one SEC win, even a pretty good one, too high.

With all that said, my ballot follows the jump.

Team	cWL	W-L	bWL	SoS	MoV	PF-PA	FBR	Next opponent	Polls	Comments
Florida	7-0	9-0	7-0	47.41	24.9	315-91	2	Florida International	1,[1!]	Only 27 points vs. the 'Dores? What can that mean?
Alabama	6-0	9-0	7-0	52.62	19.1	278-106	3	Tennessee-Chattanooga	3,[2!]	Too strong for the Tigers this year.
LSU	4-2	7-2	5-2	50.74	11.7	226-121	15	at Mississippi	11,8	Alabama was clearly the better team, but the loss of Scott to a broken collarbone really hurts an already anemic LSU offense.
Auburn	3-3	7-3	4-3	46.42	8.4	350-266	27	Nov 28, Alabama	25,27	Can Aubie rise up and smite the Bulldogs?
Arkansas	2-4	5-4	3-4	49.7	9.4	320-235	34	Mississippi State		On a roll at the end of the season.
South Carolina	3-4	6-4	4-4	44.86	0.9	213-204	38	Nov 28, Clemson	42	Another late-season swoon for the Gamecocks? Sure looks that way.
Georgia	3-3	5-4	4-4	48.67	1	244-235	41	Kentucky		Mauled the Golden Eagles, but Richt really needs an SEC scalp.
Mississippi	2-3	6-3	2-3	38.54	14.1	269-142	54	LSU	39,38	Ole Miss once again shows a less than stout defense against an FCS foe.
Tennessee	2-3	5-4	2-4	46.08	13.2	289-170	42	Vanderbilt	37,35	Has Crompton actually learned to throw the football? This could be trouble for Tennessee's foes.
Kentucky	1-4	5-4	2-4	48.83	4.4	244-204	36	at Georgia		Easy game could not have come at a better time for the traveling M.A.S.H. Unit that is the Kentucky Wildcats.
Mississippi State	2-3	4-5	2-4	55.59	2.3	242-221	60	at Arkansas		Open date
Vanderbilt	0-6	2-8	0-7	40.47	-5.8	167-225	108	at Tennessee		At least with Spikes on the bench, the 'Dores didn't have to wear eye guards. But it didn't help their offense.

Your comments, as always, are welcome and encouraged.

Big Blue Daily Mail -- Kentucky Football Bowl Hopes Edition

Truzenzuzex — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:27:12 -0000

More photos » by James Crisp - AP

Newton wast the man on Saturday. Can he push the injured Wildcats over the hump?

Browse more photos »

I did not get to see or hear a minute of Saturday's game as Mrs. Tru and I were out at Churchill Downs enjoying a beautiful day of racing, and yesterday I was again away from the blog due to other commitments.

As many of you know, the Big Blue Daily Mail has been less and less "daily" lately, something I am not too happy with. So in an effort to streamline it and make it easier for me to publish each morning, I will be including fewer stories in the BBDM and losing the categorization. From now on, the BBDM will be something in the neighborhood of 10-20 news/blog stories.

The big news from last Saturday is a) Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke both sat the EKU game out and b) Morgan Newton and a fairly quiet UK receiving corps had a big day against a team that they should have a big day against. The question now becomes, with Kentucky sitting on the bubble at 5-3, can the 'Cats win one more to get bowl eligible, and even if they do, does it actually mean they will be playing in a bowl?

Right now, there are 6 SEC teams that are bowl-eligible at 6+ wins, and the only team that is out of bowl striking distance is Vanderbilt at 2-7. The way I count it, there are a total of nine bowl tie-ins for the SEC, and it looks as if there could be 10 bowl-eligible teams from the SEC. So at this point, I'm going to suggest that six wins will not get UK into a bowl game this year all by itself. Seven probably will, and eight definitely will, but the Mississippi State loss two games ago could well cost Rich Brooks his much-ballyhooed fourth bowl in a row. An alert reader reminded me that the SEC has 2 likely BCS teams, so that would mean 11 spots rather than 9. So it looks like unless MSU wins out, all UK needs is to win six games to make a low-level bowl.

Here's how the league looks for the rest of the season:

Team	cWL	W-L	bWL	SoS	Polls	Left on schedule
Florida	7-0	9-0	7-0	47.41	1,[1!]	@USC, FIU, FSU, Alabama
Alabama	6-0	9-0	7-0	52.62	3,[2!]	@MSU, UT Chat., @Auburn, @Florida
LSU	4-2	7-2	5-2	50.74	11,8	LaTech, @Ole Miss, Arkansas
South Carolina	3-4	6-4	4-4	44.86	42	Florida, Clemson
Auburn	3-3	7-3	4-3	46.42	25,27	@UGA, Alabama
Tennessee	2-3	5-4	2-4	46.43	37,35	@Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, @UK
Arkansas	2-4	5-4	3-4	49.70		Troy, MSU, @LSU
Georgia	3-3	5-4	4-4	48.67		Auburn, UK, @Ga Tech
Kentucky	1-4	5-4	2-4	48.83		@Vandy, @UGA, UT
Mississippi State	2-3	4-5	2-4	55.59		Alabama, @Arkansas, Ole Miss
Mississippi	2-3	6-3	2-3	38.54	39,38	Tennessee, LSU, @MSU
Vanderbilt	0-6	2-8	0-7	40.47		Kentucky, @UT

Looking at that schedule, you'd have to say that MSU has the toughest row to hoe to get to bow eligibility, having to pull off two major upsets to get there. Arkansas has the easiest path remaining to six wins with Troy coming in next week, then MSU. UK has a fairly manageable path to six wins, but the seventh is going to require an upset, although not a major one.

Obviously, if UK winds up with six wins and 2-6 in conference, bowls are going to be dropping either UK or somebody like Arkansas, assuming they only win one more, or Georgia, assuming they only get six. Georgia has a very tough road to seven wins, and would have to beat Auburn and UK back to back, or upset highly ranked Georgia Tech.

~~In the end, UK could be in a real tough spot if it winds up with only six wins and~~ is competing against the likes of Tennessee or Georgia for the final bowl spot. UK might get picked over Arkansas (and might not), but I think the 'Cats lose out if they are sitting on six wins with Georgia and/or Tennessee as their competitor for the final bowl spot. The 'Cats have only one big win on their entire schedule right now, versus rising Auburn on the Plains.

Now, for the news:

College basketball: Top story lines before tip-off
Regardless of experience, first-year coach John Calipari has enough talent - forward Patrick Patterson and guard John Wall are All-America candidates - to get the Wildcats back where many think they belong.

The Final Four.

I love what I see so far.
Kentucky basketball men's preview | Freshmen are key | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
John Calipari knows exactly how he wants University of Kentucky basketball to feel, because he has felt it himself.

He's been the coach on the visitors' bench in Rupp Arena. He's been the guy on the recruiting trail who figured if UK wanted a player, his staff shouldn't bother.

I love that attitude.
Cal working to restore UK swagger - 2009-10 College Basketball Preview - Kentucky.com
In less than eight months, he secured the nation's No. 1 recruiting class and used his irresistible can-do spirit to restore the belief that Kentucky will be Kentucky again.

"Back to the rightful place atop the mountain," Calipari said in his inspiring Big Blue Madness address.
Three Pointers: Your comprehensive college basketball preview - Mike DeCourcy - College Basketball - Sporting News
1. Is Kentucky back? We're not talking back from the NIT. We mean, is Kentucky fearsome again? The combination of young talent, solid veterans and coach John Calipari's intensity appears ideally suited to returning the Wildcats to prominence.
Catching Up with Clark County's Vinny Zollo
Reserve backs keep Kentucky football in the running | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
UK coach Rich Brooks was forced to call on his reserves, and Allen, Smith and Russell each responded with a touchdown. Allen had 62 yards on a career-high 14 carries. The junior got the game's first TD on a 1-yard run.

That's nice to see.
Newton strong while Kentucky's Hartline sits | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
That old familiar feeling in the SEC | KentuckySports.com
For the second straight year, and the seventh year since division play began in 1992, the Gators and the Crimson Tide will meet in the SEC Championship game.

The more things change, the more the stay the same.

Yeah, that's right. It sure is getting monotonous.
UNC still the 1? - College Basketball - Rivals.com
The hiring of John Calipari at Kentucky was arguably the biggest news of the spring and summer – especially after he signed what could end up being the best recruiting class in the sport’s history. At Kansas, the Jayhawks are the overwhelming favorite to win their second national title in three years thanks to the return of center Cole Aldrich and point guard Sherron Collins, each of whom could’ve turned pro.

As good as those teams will be, though, the Tar Heels won’t be far behind. Or at least they shouldn’t be by the end of the season.
Kentucky football injury list is ‘longest' of season | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
The Cats had at least 15 significant players miss Sunday's practice with various injuries. They included wide receiver Randall Cobb (thumb) and tailback Derrick Locke (knee), both of whom missed Saturday's 37-12 win against Eastern Kentucky University.

Can the 'Cats limp across the goal line to a bowl? It's going to be hard.
Ballin' is a Habit: No. 2: 2009-2010 Team Preview: Kentucky Wildcats
The Physics Of Basketball Free Throws
Just in case we aren't arcane enough around here.
What’s going on with Liggins? | Vaught's Views
Interesting commentary. I have no idea what this means.
Rush The Court " Blog Archive " Morning Five: Opening Night Edition
Seth Davis writes about one of our biggest pet peeves about the start of the college hoops season: no opening day. Yeah, we have a de facto opening day (i.e., today), but there’s hardly any hype about it and nobody but people who would already visit this site have a clue about it. Hopefully his article will start the momentum for getting something done.

This is not really something that has ever bothered me. How about you? Do you think there should be an "opening day" for college basketball with lots of games?
Improving Cobb part of ‘extensive’ injury list at UK | Vaught's Views
Having your best receiver playing with a splint on his thumb is not a good thing, IMO. But if anyone can make it work, Randall Cobb is that guy.
In college basketball, keep an eye on Kentucky's Calipari, talented Jayhawks - The Denver Post
No. 11 UK Turns Back Bulldogs In Lexington - Mississippi State University Bulldogs Official Athletic Site - mstateathletics.com
" BBL: Tobias Harris liked West Virginia visit John Clay’s Sidelines
John Clay's Big Blue Links
" SEC links: LSU loses Charles Scott for regular season John Clay’s Sidelines
Bad news for LSU.

Initial Impressions from the LSU Game

outsidethesidelines — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:03:58 -0000

Almost 24 hours removed, a few initial impressions from the LSU game:

First and foremost, it was obviously a huge win for the Tide yesterday. We came in absolutely needing to get the job done, and with LSU giving us their best shot we answered the bell. We played the best we've played since late September, and truth be told there was absolutely what was required. Credit goes to LSU for playing well in their own right, and they made us take our game to the next level to get the win.
Mark Ingram logged another unreal performance yesterday. LSU was highly physical on the defensive side of the ball, and Ingram racked up 177 total yards. He averaged 6.5 yards per run and the way he powered the opening drive of the second half really changed the game. As I mentioned in a fanshot earlier, the Heisman is an "award" for tools... it's based more on glamor than anything else, and it's given by a collection of idiots. Ingram will probably never win it, but I wouldn't trade him for any other player in the country, and we just need to enjoy him while we have him. He's a three-year player, and someone will be paying him big bucks to do this come 2011.
Julio Jones had his best performance of the year, and it was very interesting how things were discussed in the post-game. Based on what everyone is saying, it's clear that only in the past week or so has Julio gotten back to near 100%, and he looked very different yesterday than he had the rest of the year. His explosiveness was back, and he was a difference-maker in this game. Even aside from the long touchdown run off the screen, he had a huge first down on the final drive, had a couple of other nice grabs, and the pass interference on Peterson was yet another big play. And, of course, that's not counting the throw in the first half that should have been a touchdown. Nice to have you back, Julio.
Greg McElroy played the best game in at least a month, and was clearly improved over the course of the past few weeks. We needed every bit of what he did, and we could not have won had he played anything like he had the past three weeks. Unfortunately, McElroy still has a long ways to go, and he left a lot of points on the board today. He did some good things, but he did a lot of bad things too. He missed Julio on an easy touchdown throw, costing us four points, and the dumb interception before halftime cost us at least a field goal. He held onto the football too long on the safety, and he missed an open Smelley on the trick pass out of the Wildcat that could have been a touchdown, and of course that is to say nothing of the terrible decision to try to force the ball to Julio late on the controversial incompletion. Bottom line, McElroy played pretty well and he clearly showed some progress, but he still did some things to cost us a lot of points and he clearly still needs to play better.
Speaking of passes out of the Wildcat, remember the first Wildcat snap we had that resulted in a fumble? Did you happen to notice who was coming in motion at the time of the snap? It was none other than Earl Alexander, and that was one of the few snaps he saw in the game. And if you will recall correctly, Alexander was a quarterback in high school, and Ingram was very upset after the fumble. I'd about bet the farm that we had a trick play called in that situation with Alexander getting the ball looking to throw a pass.
The offensive line played an incredible game today. Both James Carpenter and Drew Davis were nothing short of outstanding protecting the edge in pass protection, and we beat up LSU in the trenches in the running game. It was a complete effort by the big uglies, and I don't have any doubt that we played better along the offensive line yesterday than we have at any point in the year. Joe Pendry deserves a lot of credit for what he has done with this group. We don't have any real dominant players out there, but we consistently play good, solid technique and just get the job done.

Bamagrad had it right in the fanpost... we're throwing the football to set up the run. That was clearly the plan offensively, and it worked very well.

All in all, it was certainly nice to see us moving the football again. McElroy's mistakes and the illegal substitution penalty kept some points off the board, so it wasn't exactly a perfect day, but again it was clearly an improvement over the past month. LSU has a good defense, and any time you average almost 6.5 yards per play against a defense of that caliber, you're certainly doing something right. Hopefully we can just continue to build off of this effort.

Marcel Dareus, for all intents and purposes, is unstoppable when we move him inside in pass rushing situations. He consistently takes the manhood of every guard they line up over him, and he did the same thing on Saturday with senior right guard Lyle Hitt. I can guarantee you this much... come April of 2011, that young man will be getting a lot of money from an NFL team. Enjoy him while we have him.

Defensively, we really had some struggles at time stopping the option. We had things set up defensively pretty well most of the time, but the execution looked ugly a good bit of the time. In particular, Jefferson made Justin Woodall look pretty bad on one option play. That's something we're going to have to fix before we leave for Atlanta.

Jordan Jefferson played a fine game yesterday, and that young man has a great upside. He has all the physical tools you would ever want, and he is a legitimate dual threat to boot. He clearly still needs to progress, but if he ever puts it all together then he is going to be a legitimate superstar.

And speaking of Jefferson, what in the world was the deal with him not going back in the game? The CBS broadcast reported that word had came from the LSU sideline that he could have gone back in, and he looked okay on the sideline. I have no clue what the deal was there, but Lee was clearly a drop-off. And here's the thing on Lee... he has great physical tools, and he can throw the football down the field with the best of them. But in terms of having to hit receivers over the middle on crossing routes, he cannot hit the broad side of a barn. If he could ever gain some accuracy on crossing patterns, he'd be one hell of a quarterback.

LSU really does have some unreal talent at the skill positions. For whatever criticism you can make of Miles, this is certainly not one of them. Even with Florida, there is probably not another team in the country that has the kind of athleticism at the skill positions like LSU does.

Colin Peek misses the game for 'Bama, and Richard Dickson didn't play either. Pretty much a balancing effect, really.

The more I watch of the LSU offense, the more I think that it is really just too complicated for its own good. It can certainly create some issues for defenses, mind you, but it certainly does create a lot issues for the offense, too, and that was the big catalyst behind all of the false starts, the illegal formations, and the wasted timeouts. With all of the talent that those guys have, I really just cannot help but think that they would be better served just by simplifying the offense and letting all of the raw talent just go to work for them.

Chad Jones didn't have much of an impact yesterday, and his mobility wasn't particularly impressive. On both the long pass to Maze out of the end zone, and the drop by Julio out of the end zone in the third quarter, Jones was tracking the ball the entire way and at first sight I was almost convinced that he was going to snag an easy pick. In both cases, though, he never really got close enough to make the play. I don't know if he was hurt or perhaps just a tad bit overrated, but either way he didn't exactly blow me away yesterday.

The LSU linebacker corps is a very underrated group. Those guys played a fine game, and Kelvin Sheppard in particular really looked good. I tell you, he's probably not quite in the same league yet as Rolando McClain and Brandon Spikes, but he's not far behind. Outside of those two and Hightower, he might be the best linebacker I've seen in the SEC this year.

Patrick Peterson is an incredible player, and he played a great game yesterday. Unfortunately, he really shot himself in the foot by never being properly hydrated in the first place, always a tell-tale sign when you're cramping up by halftime in a game where the temperature never rises above 70 degrees. I know he had some flu-like symptoms earlier in the week, but that had cleared up by mid-week and at that point you just have to make sure you get plenty of fluids. Once the game started, of course, it was entirely too late and you simply lose entirely too much fluids to get them back to where they need to be. Peterson played great when he was in the game, but really he was his own worst enemy.

Charles Scott deserves a lot of credit for playing a fine game. His drop on the busted pass play was a big one, but he ran the ball really well and played a physical game. It was a shame to see his collegiate career likely ended on such a fine run, but such is life sometimes. Best wishes on the recovery, Mr. Scott, and we'll see you on Sunday next year.

DeAngelo Peterson was huge on LSU's first touchdown drive, and their coaching staff really got us there defensively. He's a wide receiver, regardless of what you call him, but when they lined him up at tight end we covered him with a safety (Barron) and then a linebacker (Reamer), and he ate our lunch both times.

Are any of you guys familar with ROBO-PUNTER, the theoretical punter whose punts are downed at the opposing team's one-yard line every time? Well, that was pretty much LSU yesterday. I swear, those guys did an unbelievable job punting the football. If they weren't pinning it against our goal line, they were kicking it a mile and eliminating any chance of return for Arenas. Ill be perfectly honest, it was the most impressive display of punting that I've seen in many years.

Look at it this way... LSU punted the football eight times yesterday, and Javier Arenas ended up with 11 return yards. And that is not counting the penalty on Smelley, and when you take that into consideration we ended up getting a grand total of one return yard on eight punts. And if that's not getting the job done, I don't know what is.

And speaking of punt returns, why in the hell is Brad Smelley in the game? He has to lead the conference in penalties committed in the return game, and his penalty yesterday was one of the dumbest I've seen in a while.

The punt that LSU rolled inside the one-yard line was touched at around the four. Refs missed that one, I believe. And it had a big impact on playcalling, too, no doubt about that.

All of this hoopla over the interception is ridiculous, and it's mainly just a bunch of homer fans looking for an excuse for a guy that they otherwise got their asses beat. It was a close play that could have legitimately gone either way, to be sure, but the ruling on the field was an incomplete pass and there was no indisputable evidence on the replay that would command the play be overturned. And I'll be frank, even if you give him the interception, it doesn't matter. LSU would have been 61 yards away from the end zone, and those guys ended up with 17 total yards on three possessions in the fourth quarter. The end result would have been the same regardless. The only difference would have been that 'Bama might not have covered the spread had it been called an interception.

Two huge plays in the fourth quarter have been overlooked in the wake of all of the talk of the incomplete pass, and they were the stop by our defense on 3rd and short early in the fourth quarter, and the running into the punter penalty. We scored on the screen to Julio immediately after the defensive stop, and the running into the penalty not only gave us three points but also took another three minutes or so off the clock. The incompletion is getting all of the attention, but those two plays are really the ones that broke LSU's back.

And speaking of the running into the punter penalty, that was one gutsy call on the fourth down after that. We're literally three inches from a first down and we decide to motion McElroy out wide and snap it five yards behind the line of scrimmage to Ingram in the shotgun, when we fumbled a snap in the Wildcat earlier in the game? Hell, that might be more than gutsy, it might even be stupid, but fortunately it worked out for us in the end.

Leigh Tiffin is a fine young man, a wonderful kicker, and we should all feel fortunate to have such a valuable asset on our team. And, again, I'm just going to shut up about him.

The way we dominated this game physically was nothing short of amazing. We were much more physical than LSU, and their players were dropping like flies. Moreover, we absolutely dominated this game in the fourth quarter, and that was ultimately the difference. In many ways, we didn't so much win this game yesterday afternoon as much as we won it last summer in the S&C program. We were clearly the more physical team and better conditioned to boot. If there is an unsung hero of this team, it's strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran. That man clearly deserves a raise.

Well, That Sucked

Poseur — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:07:42 -0000

via media.2theadvocate.com Photo by: Bill Feig. This ain't tennis. You can't show the official the mark left.

View full size photo »

I returned home from the wedding a little drunk and on a positive vibe. I had listened to the LSU-Alabama game in the car and as far as I knew, the game was 15-10 LSU late in the third and I was pretty excited to watch an epic fourth quarter.

Yeah, not so much.

Watching just the fourth quarter of the game was a bitter, bitter experience. Alabama had three drives which went FG, TD, FG while LSU's offense sputtered and failed to even gain a first down. I want to bitch about The Call, which was awful but entirely expected given the SEC's track record this season, but it looks like people already beat me to the punch.

But when you just watch the fourth quarter, it's impossible to blame this on one call. LSU went into the tank when the game mattered most. No first downs in the fourth quarter. The officials didn't do that, LSU's offense did. Julio Jones getting a long TD catch off a screen pass untouched, that wasn't the officials doing, that was the LSU defense.

Patrick Peterson's non-interception was a key play, but not nearly as big as LSU's failure to get two yards on 3rd and 2 up 15-13. If LSU converts there, maybe they can put together a drive, or at least give the defense a much needed breather. Instead, LSU punted and then Julio Jones made his big catch. With Peterson sitting on the bench, still trying to recover from injury.

There is the key to the game. LSU just suffered too many injuries in the course of the game to recover. Charles Scott has a broken collarbone and is likely out for the rest of the season. Jordan Jefferson went down with a hurt ankle and Jarrett Lee was not exactly stellar coming in relief. Peterson missed a lot of the second half with cramps but kept gamely trying to compete. Patrick Peterson is an absolute stud and this game was his national coming out party. If he's not already the best cornerback in the country, I'd hate to see the guy who is better. Ciron Black, Al Woods, and Perry Riley also all missed time due to injury. That's not just six starters, it's six of our most irreplaceable players.

This sucks, because I don't feel that Alabama is a better team. They didn't beat us like Florida did. For the first time all year, our offensive line looked pretty good. I want to blame the officials but I can't. It was just too many injuries, and too much to overcome. If only, if only, if only. But if doesn't matter. LSU lost. Scott is out for the year. And Alabama is the SEC West champs.

And we're still waiting for our first first down of the fourth quarter. 3rd and 2. 15-13. One yard. We didn't know it at the time, but we lost the game on that play.

Bama 24 - LSU 15: Snap Judgments

Richard Pittman — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:32:50 -0000

More photos » by Dave Martin - AP

about 1 month ago: LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson (9) reacts near the end of a 24-15 loss to Alabama in an NCAA college football game at Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

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i had a good time at the game, and yes, my family is still intact. We're pretty good at this "not aggravating each other after a sporting event" thing. Anyway, here are my Snap Judgments, not at all influenced by television or camera angles or replays, because I have not seen any yet:

Patrick Peterson is an absolute stud. He tied up Julio Jones the whole game, whenever they were matched up on each other. If there's a better corner in the country, I'd like to see him, but not in a game in which we're playing against him.
His cramping problems could well have made the difference in the game. The touchdown pass to Julio Jones came when Peterson was sitting out recovering from the cramps. If he's in the game, that play is probably very different. Heck, they may not have even called that play if Peterson was in the game.
Speaking of injuries, the injury to Jordan Jefferson (I do not know the nature of the injury or how serious it was) was another huge factor in this game. I like Jarrett Lee, but he was not sharp in this game, and we had no passing game once Jefferson went out.
In the stadium, people were saying the "interception" by Patrick Peterson really was an interception and that replay got it wrong. Heading out of the stadium, we got an LSU feed and Jordy Hultberg was saying the same thing, suggesting the league office would probably deal with the replay official later. I got home, and Mrs. ATVS told me there was no replay that showed it. I don't know what to believe. I know if we got that interception, we had the ball down by 6 with enough time on the clock to mix in runs and passes. Again, maybe it's a different game.
How many people got hurt for us in that game? Peterson 3 times, Al Woods, Ciron Black, Charles Scott, Jordan Jefferson. Anyone else? Richard Dickson did not even play a down.
We really played well for most of the game. I cannot fault the effort our team put into that game. I could tell before the opening kickoff that they were charged up and ready to play. It showed throughout the game.
Who would have thought we'd score two touchdowns, and they would be scored by Deangelo Peterson and Stevan Ridley.
Bama really abandoned the run early in the game, and I have no idea why. I thought Mark Ingram was hurt for a while, they were doing so little to get him involved in the game. Then they came out running in the 2nd half and they were getting us on play after play. I don't know why they didn't do that all game.
I really think our offensive line played its best game all season. For the most part, except on the play where Jefferson took an intentional grounding penalty, our quarterbacks had time. The running game was able to do a lot of positive things as well.
I have not even looked at a box score yet, but I figure they outgained us by quite a bit. They had a few drives that got yards without getting points, whereas we did not have a lot of medium-length drives that did not produce points.
I did not like the decision to go for 2 at the time. My rule of thumb is that you don't look at the chart until the 4th quarter, and there were still 3 minutes left in the 3rd when we got the touchdown. It's hard to say the 1 point would have made a difference, but if we got for one then Bama probably goes for 1 on its touchdown to put them up by 4. Then the final field goal would have kept it a 7 point game instead of a 9 point game.
I don't think Alabama was any more talented than we were, and I don't think we got outcoached. I think we had some costly injuried during the course of the game that converted it from a game between two evenly matched teams to a mismatch. When we needed to pass, we just couldn't.
There's still a lot to play for here. The SEC Championship is out of reach, obviously, but we will be favored in every game we play, and if we win out we are a shoe-in for the Cap One Bowl with a shot at an 11-win season. That's nothing to be ashamed of.