SB Nation - Richard Dickson

LSU In Review - Weeks Two And Three

BSD — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:48:23 -0000

3 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)

Browse more photos »

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

Browse more photos »

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

I Don't Like Asking For Change

Richard Pittman — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:35:33 -0000

Let me get some things out of the way here. I think Les Miles, who I thought was on the warm seat earlier this year, I think that barring an absolutely catastrophic collapse where we are not competitive against either Ole Miss or Arkansas, he has clearly earned next year.

However, given our performance in our win against Louisiana Tech, a catastrophic collapse is not exactly impossible. I'm not talking about merely losing. Losing happens. These teams are pretty good, and we are only pretty good ourselves. Losing both games is entirely possible, but merely losing would only crank up the heat a little bit and make 2010 do-or-die. It wouldn't get the water boiling. I'm talking about 35-10 losses where we don't play close to the level of competition and look flat and uninspired (like we did on Saturday). That would maybe, possibly lead to a change at the top, but even then I am not so sure.

I certainly don't want it, and I really don't expect it. I think we are going to be a much better team this Saturday than we were last Saturday.

I do, however, believe that it is time for a change of offensive philosophy. I watch college football games and I see other teams run a play where everyone is perfectly positioned to block someone and open a lane for someone with the ball. I see passing routes run with perfect timing and precision. I see elaborate plays (a couple of them) run beautifully. I hear announcers say, "That was a beautifully designed play, and well-executed by the [mascots]." I never hear that said about LSU.

The last time I remember a "beautifully designed play" that was well-executed was when Matt Flynn hit Richard Dickson on a "tackle-eligible" or unbalanced line pass play in the BCSNCG two years ago. That was a heck of a play, and Gary Crowton deserves not-a-little-bit of credit for our 2007 national championship, but it's clear that things have been regressing offensively since then.

In 2007, we never adjusted to Jarrett Lee's problems throwing the ball, and to make matters worse it seemed like whenever something bad would happen on the field, Lee would go sit on the bench by himself and get no instruction or no encouragement from any coach. He would just sit and wallow in misery.

And this year, the numbers tell the tale. We have future NFL players at WR#1, WR#2, WR#3, running back, tight end, and offensive tackle, and we have what I think is a reasonably solid college quarterback, yet we are 11th in the SEC in total offense. 9th in scoring offense. 10th in rushing offense. 9th in passing offense. We have one of the worst offenses in the conference despite having among the best skill-position talent and an offensive line that Miles says is his most talented ever.

I think the root cause of this is our desire to run anything and everything at any time. I feel like a broken record for saying this so much lately, but I think that we run so many different and disparate things that we can't possibly run all of it well. Not only can we not possibly run all of it well, we're not running any of it well.

I am tempted to say, "Well, let's let Miles just rein in Crowton," but that would be like buying a Miata and asking it to haul lumber for you. Gary Crowton cannot be Joe Paterno, because that's not Crowton's game. Crowton is wide open, throw everything at you all the time. If you want something different from that, you want someone besides Crowton. Personally, I think his type of game would play better in the NFL, where offenses have enough practice time to get good at everything. Meanwhile, his multi-set offense becomes a hindrance in college.

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.

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)

Browse more photos »

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.

The LSU Preview

outsidethesidelines — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:16:56 -0000

No smoke and mirrors needed this week. No clever turn of phrase needed to build drama and intrigue with this game. Nope. To paraphrase what they say in the sales business, this is simply a game that sells itself. It's 'Bama v. LSU. Saban Bowl III. National championship implications clearly on the line. The entire country turning its eyes towards Tuscaloosa to play close attention at this contest. Again, this one sells itself. Let's look closer at the match-ups:

Alabama Offense v. LSU Defense

After putting up points and yards by the bushel in the first month of the season, the once prolific Alabama offense has slowly ground to a virtual halt over the course of the past five weeks. The vertical element of the passing game went into the Witness Protection Program in early October, and we still haven't seen any signs of it returning as of this writing. Mark Ingram has been nothing short of phenomenal -- sans the fumble against Tennessee -- but the lack of a vertical element to the passing game, combined with untimely penalties, questionable playcalling, and struggles in the red zone have kept the Tide offensive attack at bay and off the scoreboard.

Admittedly, the level of competition has been high the past several weeks. Kentucky has a good defense, and Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Tennessee rank in the top 25 nationally of more statistical categories than not. But such is life in the SEC... it's a brutal gauntlet of quality opponent after quality opponent, and there will be no rest for the weary this weekend when the Bayou Bengals come to town. Alas, when LSU arrives in Tuscaloosa, they will bring with them a defense that is as good as those we saw in October, if not better.

And unfortunately, injuries continue to take a toll on the Tide. Colin Peek looks to either miss this game or play nowhere near 100%, and that's a very big loss for the Tide. Michael Williams will likely play better than he did two weeks ago against Tennessee because he will be more prepared, but Peek is a critical element of our offense, and unfortunately Williams is an imperfect substitute.

Defensively, the weakness for LSU starts up front at the line of scrimmage. Shocking as though that may be -- I imagine I need remind no one that LSU's defensive line ate us for dinner from 2003-2007 -- it is nevertheless true. To be sure, it's certainly not a bad group, but it isn't a dominating one and it is not up to the level that we have come to expect the past several years out of LSU. Inside, seniors Al Woods and Charles Alexander are good players that any team would love to have, but they probably aren't to the level that we saw the past several years out of LSU with Kyle Williams and Glenn Dorsey. Likewise, the rotation isn't what it has been in previous years in terms of quality depth.

The real weakness for LSU on the defensive line largely comes outside at end. Senior Rahim Alem has been a bit of a disappointment this year. He was always a liability against the run -- which is why, despite leading the SEC in sacks in 2008, he wasn't a starter -- but he hasn't rushed the passer as well this year, generating only three sacks in the first eight games (only one of which came in conference play, and that was against Vandy). Opposite Alem, Lazarius Levingston hasn't exactly played poorly, but he hasn't really made an impact either. He has yet to generate a sack, and only has ten tackles on the year. Making matters worse, they are somewhat undersized, and mixed with their lack of a consistent pass rush, that generally explains why LSU's run defense has been somewhat middling, and also explains why they are at the bottom of the SEC in sacks.

Unfortunately, the rest of the LSU defense is significantly better. The linebacker corps struggled greatly in 2008, but they have made tremendous strides in 2009 under new defensive coordinator John Chavis. There is not one standout at linebacker like Alabama has with someone like Rolando McClain -- or had with Dont'a Hightower -- but it's a good group that gets the job done. Perry Riley, Kelvin Sheppard, Harry Coleman, and Jacob Cutrera are all good football players, and they are in many ways unique players that give Chavis a lot of options. Riley is a big, physical player who excels against against the run, and Coleman's past as a former safety makes him a very versatile player, particularly in passing situations. Kelvin Sheppard is probably the best all-around player of the bunch, and while Cutrera isn't a standout, he's a senior who can really play whatever position they need off the bench. Again, it's not a group that has the one rockstar standout like you find with a guy like Rolando McClain or Brandon Spikes, but it's a good group of players that have produced at a high level for John Chavis.

The real strength of the LSU defense, however, comes in the defensive backfield, where the Bayou Bengals have an absolutely ridiculous collection of talent. Just look at the names and their recruiting hype... Chad Jones, #1 safety prospect in the country in 2007. Jai Eugene, #1 cornerback prospect in the country in 2006. Patrick Peterson, #1 cornerback prospect in the country in 2007. And guys like Chris Hawkins, Brandon Taylor, Karnell Hatcher, Ron Brooks, and Danny McCray? Yeah, they were generally "only" four-star recruits who could have had pretty much their pick of any school in the country.

Not surprising given that collection of talent, LSU's defensive backfield has led the way. Patrick Peterson is the best cornerback in the conference now that Kentucky's Trevard Lindley is slowed by an ankle injury, and Chad Jones is every bit as good of a safety as Eric Berry. And, obviously, the rest aren't too shabby. These guys have been the key for the LSU defense this year. The defensive line has struggled and frankly been very bad in terms of rushing the passer, but the back end has covered so well that LSU still fields one of the best pass defenses in the country.

Coach Saban and company have talked about stretching the field vertically this weekend, and that is almost certainly something that we will have to do in order to breathe life back into our deceased offense. LSU does not have the great run defense that they have sported in years past, but it's far from a bad unit, and you can rest assured that they will be able to limit Alabama's running game well enough to force the Tide to do something in the passing game in order to score a lot of points. Keep in mind that, as I mentioned in the Radio Hour, if you are unable to throw the football, then defensively you don't need to stop the run, you only need to somewhat limit the run. In other words, you just have to make sure that the opposing offense doesn't run it down your throats to the tune of 250+ rushing yards. Rest assured, LSU is likely more than good enough to do that up front.

Offensively, Alabama faces the same dilemma that it largely faced against Tennessee. Greg McElroy and the passing attack have struggled to move the football, and the opposing defense will look to limit Ingram and company and force McElroy and the wide receiver corps to beat them. Unless we can be more consistent and explosive in the passing game, the end result looks to be very similar to what it was against Tennessee.

Alabama Defense v. LSU Offense

For all of the strength of the LSU defense, the LSU offense hasn't been anywhere near as good, and if you look closely this is a group that ranks near the bottom of the country in most statistical categories.

At the skill positions, at least, this is an extremely dangerous offense. Without doubt the LSU wide receiver corps is easily the most talented that the Tide will face all season, and literally every single LSU wide receiver that will touch the football this Saturday will be a truly elite athlete in every sense of the phrase. Brandon LaFell will be a first-day draft pick next April, and both Terrance Toliver and Reuben Randle are physically impressive players who were the #1 wide receiver prospects in the country when they came out of high school. Richard Dickson is a good tight end in his own right, and he too will probably play on Sunday. Furthermore, Charles Scott is also a future NFL player, and while Keiland Williams never really lived up to his five-star status when he signed with the Tigers in 2006, he's still a fine player in his own right. And finally, while Russell Shepard and Trindon Holliday are somewhat of one-trick ponies, both have such ungodly speed and athleticism that they can present major challenges to a defense once they get the ball in their hands. Bottom line, struggles or not, if you look at the quality at talent at the skill positions for LSU, you would swear this is an elite offense.

The real problem with LSU offensively has been in the trenches and, perhaps not surprisingly, at the quarterback position. Struggles in those two areas have largely grounded the LSU offensive attack, and have turned an offense that should be high-powered based solely on its skill position talent into a unit that has greatly struggled to move the football and score points.

Ciron Black at left tackle for the Bayou Bengals is a four-year starter who will likely be a first round NFL draft choice next April, and at right tackle Joseph Barksdale -- a five-star recruit in 2007 -- is one of the best right tackles in the SEC. Unfortunately for the Tigers, however, the performance of the centers and guards has dipped significantly. The loss of starting left guard Herman Johnson and starting center Brett Helms have been felt all season, and the replacements just aren't in the same league right now. Josh Dworaczyk took over for Johnson, and the replacement starter for the gargantuan comes in at barely 280 pounds. Likewise, sophomore T-Bob Hebert hasn't necessarily been bad, but again he's just not in the same league as Helms right now. Right guard Lyle Hitt looked solid enough when sandwiched between Helms and Barksdale, but he too has seen his performance dip by having to take on greater responsibilities with Hebert alongside him. As a whole, the performance of the center and the guards just hasn't been anywhere what it was a year ago.

The struggles on the interior offensive line have effectively proven fatal to the LSU rushing attack. I've long said that the biggest impact on your rushing attack comes from the play of your center and your guards, and 2009 Tigers would prove to be a fine case study in that regard. The tackles are there, as are the backs, but LSU has struggled on the interior in the running game, and that has largely killed their rushing attack. The once potent Scott and Williams are averaging only about 4.8 yards per carry now, and prior to facing Tulane and their god awful run defense they were barely averaging 4.0 yards per carry.

The other problem for LSU offensively is quarterback Jordan Jefferson. While clearly an intriguing prospect with a great upside -- Jefferson has a good frame, a big arm, and is a legitimate dual-threat -- Jefferson is really playing out of necessity right now, and it shows. Truth be told, if the LSU coaching staff really had their druthers, Jefferson would probably be riding the pine this year while watching fifth-year senior Ryan Perrilloux run the Tiger offense, but alas the Football Gods would not cooperate. As a result, Jefferson has been forced to make the best of a bad situation, and he has clearly had his growing pains. He holds onto the ball entirely too long which creates a lot of sacks -- which explains why LSU is near the bottom of the conference in sacks allowed despite having the best tackle combo in the league -- often struggles to work through his progression, and does struggle at times to get the ball to his talented wide receivers. Combined, this has largely grounded what should otherwise be an explosive passing attack.

In all fairness, though, what Jefferson has done is manage the game and not get his Tigers beat. For all of the criticisms that you can make regarding his performance to date, he has protected the football, which is clearly priority number one for the LSU coaching staff. Jefferson has thrown a mere four interceptions this year on roughly 200 passing attempts, and has allowed the LSU defense to lead them to victory in close games. If nothing else, that is far more than could ever be said for the man that Jefferson replaced.

Defensively, Alabama brings the attack that you all know so well, and there will probably be little changes this week. Charles Scott and Keiland Williams had great success running the football against us a year ago, but with a healthy Terrence Cody this time around, plus Herman Johnson and Brett Helms playing on Sunday, the Tide ought to shut down the LSU rushing attack. If Charles Scott and company have a good deal of success come Saturday, it will legitimately come as a bit of a surprise.

The real key for the Alabama defense will be containing big plays in the passing game. For lack of a better way of putting it, the skill position players for LSU are unreal good, and they will stretch us to the absolute maximum this weekend. Our defensive backfield, collectively, will have to play the game of their lives this weekend, and to make matters even more worrisome we will also have to make sure that Russell Shepard or Trindon Holliday also don't beat us with a long run out of the backfield. Given the way we have struggled offensively the past several weeks, even giving up only one or two really long plays can easily be the difference between victory and defeat, and unless the offense improve, our defense has effectively zero margin of error.

Going a long way towards preventing those big plays to the skill position players will be effectively rushing the passer. Jefferson isn't a world-beater at quarterback, but his receivers sure as hell are, and he has the arm to make all of the throws. If Jefferson consistently has time to throw the football, we're in big trouble defensively. The LSU skill position players are simply too good to expect any defensive backfield to keep covered for any real length of time.

Putting It All Together

All in all, these two teams match up closely. If the Alabama offense were producing like it did earlier in the year, the Tide could be reasonably expected to win this game with relative ease, but with our offensive struggles of the past month and no definite sign of improvement, this game figures to be a close one that goes right down to the wire. Unless we can significantly improve offensively, the LSU defense is good enough to keep our offensive attack at bay, and while the LSU offense probably won't score a lot of points against our defense, they clearly have another skill position talent on the outside to make a few big plays to squeak out a close victory in a low-scoring game

And do look for this game to be a close, low-scoring game, no two ways about that. Neither team looks to score that many points, and expect the coaching staffs of the respective teams to play accordingly. LSU almost lost to the Tide in 2007 when they chose to kick to Javier Arenas late, and their loss last year was fueled by a slew of costly turnovers. Expect Les Miles and company to avoid both this weekend with a struggling Alabama offense. LSU will kick the football away from Arenas, and play safe on offense so that -- even if they don't score a lot of points in their own right -- they won't take the risks that could result in several costly turnovers. We're struggling greatly on the offensive side of the ball, and when facing a team of that nature you make sure that you do not allow cheap points. Expect LSU to force the Tide's offense to consistently move the ball 60+ yards to get points.

For Alabama, the path to victory is clearly in the trenches. We hold a fairly significant advantage in both match-ups at the line of scrimmage, and there is where we must win this football game. We must stop the run defensively and rush Jefferson, and offensively establish the running game and make like easy for McElroy and the Alabama passing attack. If we can do that, we win this football game. On the other hand, if LSU can fight us to an effective draw in the trenches, then this game will be decided by the skill position players, and that's a losing proposition for us. That's not to say we absolutely cannot win a game of that nature, but LSU does have more raw talent at the skill positions than we do, and that is a game that will clearly favor the Bayou Bengals. Again, our path to victory lies in the trenches. We have to dominate this game at the line of scrimmage. Period.

One way or the other, look for this to be an absolutely brutal game. The stakes are extremely high for both LSU and Alabama, and their respective players will perform accordingly. Les Miles, regardless of whether or not it is fair, will forever be judged relative to Nick Saban, something that is clearly not lost on Miles or his team. This is their biggest game of the year, and clearly the biggest game of the year for their fan base as well. Truth be told, they have been preparing for this game for two weeks now. Making matters more interesting, this game determines the SEC West, LSU is still technically alive in the national championship race, and they are clearly looking to make a definitive showing that they are still at their 2003-2007 form. On the other sideline, Alabama has been staring this one down for two weeks. We control our own destiny in the national championship race, and we know full well that this is now effectively a one-game season. If we want to get to where we want to go, we all realize that we must directly go through LSU. And, also, don't think for one second that it is lost on our team that they need to win this game in the trenches. Expect these two teams to line up and wage absolute war. There will be blood.

Hope for the best.

LSU 42 - Tulane 0: Snap Judgments

Richard Pittman — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:47:09 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

about 1 month ago: LSU running back Stevan Ridley (34) backs into the endzone over Tulane defensive back Jordan Garrett as linebacker Darryl Farley comes from the left in the second half of an NCAA college football game in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009. LSU defeated Tulane 42-0. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

Browse more photos »

I just isn't the same when the game is not on regular television. ESPN360 just doesn't give you the options that television gives you, and the picture is not as clear. That's not even getting into the whole problem of the connection to ESPN360 crashing and not being able to get a picture, missing several plays throughout the game, including Russell Shepard's touchdown run.

Anyway, here are some snap judgments:

I would like to take us back to what Poseur said in the Roundtable discussion:

Billy:

What would you like to see this Saturday versus Tulane?

Poseur:

A win. That's it.

I don't need to see fireworks and I don't need to see new wrinkles. I just want a quiet and uneventful win that serves as a nice appetizer for Bama.

Well, that's exactly what you got. The game was uncompetitive, uneventful, lacking in fireworks, and generally quite dull. Not that there's anything wrong with that. We came out and scored early and Tulane, though they put up a couple nice drives, never did anything that even resembled getting into the game.

I can't say we didn't see any new wrinkles though. After LSU had struggled to get good support from the fullback position from James Stampley and Richard Dugas early in the season, and inserting freshman Dominique Allen into the rotation last week met with mised results, Les Miles and Gary Crowton took a different approach and moved reserve scholarship offensive lineman Thomas Parsons to the fullback position. This experiment seemed to work well, as Parsons was effective getting to the defenders and blocking them.
We also had our most effective power running game yet. It's hard to know if that's because Parsons was added to the I-formation roster or if it's just because we were playing overmatched competition. However, I think it's worth pointing out that we rushed more than 100 yards more against Tulane than we did against UL-Lafayette, with a higher yard per attempt average as well.
By the numbers, LSU had 267 yards rushing, though Stevan Ridley's 73 rushing yards on the final drive of the game perhaps skews that number a little. Then again, Charles Scott had his most effective game of the season, rushing for 112 yards and 2 touchdowns. All together, LSU had 455 total yards, plus a ton of punt return yards.
Jordan Jefferson also had a pretty nice game, averaging over 9 yards per attempt and throwing two nice touchdown passes to Brandon Lafell, who had 85 yards receiving on 4 catches. Things didn't look good for him early, as he took a quick sack and then threw an interception, but he rebounded to have a very productive day.
And what to say about the defense? It was LSU's first shutout since beating Middle Tennessee State 44-0 on September 15, 2007.
At first blush, it was not exactly a dominating performance. Tulane had 216 total yards, including two substantially long drives, one of which ended in a missed field goal and the other of which ended in an interception. Tulane got nothing going on the ground, however, getting credit for only 26 rushing yards on 20 attempts, helped along by 3 sacks of Ryan Griffin for -22 yards.
Tulane's passing game was a little better, averaging just over 5 yards per attempt. It's not surprising that senior wide receiver Jeremy Williams was Tulane's most effective offensive player, with 78 yards receiving and 21 yards rushing. He probably has an NFL future. Andre Anderson led Tulane in rushing with 27 yards, but averaged only 2.5 yards per attempt.
Tulane was able to have some of its most successful plays when they exploited our aggressiveness with screens or dump-offs. LSU will sometimes have problems chasing down a running back, particularly when they flare out to the left side of our defensive line. The left-side defensive end triumvirate of Pep Levingston, Lavar Edwards, and Chancey Aghayere just don't seem to be quick enough to keep up with a running back who gets a release to the outside, and those plays sometimes get big yards. It's been going on since the Washington game.
Kelvin Sheppard had another outstanding game. It's hard to say that there's a "great" linebacker out there for us, but Kelvin Sheppard, Harry Coleman, and Perry Riley sure seem to work very well together as a group, and they are productive as all get out. We may not have one Rolando McClain or Brandon Spikes out there, but we have 3 very good linebackers who do a lot of good for us.
Special teams did not get much action against Tulane, but we did get a nice blocked punt by Daniel Graff and a couple nice returns on punts from Trindon Holliday. Trindon sometimes struggles to be productive in the SEC, but when we face a weaker team, Holliday usually gashes them. He has been a useful and productive player for us over the years, but he could have become a legend in the Sun Belt or another conference.
It was great to see the second team get some time in the game. I think this was the first time all season the 2nd team offensive line got a chance. They got in the game with the ball on the 2 yard line and they opened rushing lanes for Stevan Ridley all the way down the field, for one of the most impressive touchdown drives in recent LSU history. Jarrett Lee completed 2 passes along the way on that drive, one to Reuben Randle and the other to John Williams, who I think was seeing his first game action of his career. Another pass was in the direction of Chris Tolliver, who was well-covered.
Defensively, we saw a lot of 2nd team cornerback Morris Claiborne, who is definitely the most surprising member of the freshman class. He got into the game in place of Patrick Peterson long before other starters were subbed out. They are clearly grooming him for important playing time next year, perhaps as Chris Hawkins' replacement on the other side of Peterson.
Richard Dickson went down with a scary-looking injury in the first half, but returned later in the game. As far as I can tell, we escaped the with no significant injury to any player. That satisfies me.
Obviously, things ramp up a bit this week.

Watching the Offensive Line

Richard Pittman — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 12:22:20 -0000

More photos » by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

Enjoy it for now, but then we have to get a lot better. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Browse more photos »

Starting at 5:15am, I started watching the game again. I didn't watch the defense. I didn't watch the horrid special teams play. OK, that's not entirely true. I watched the goal line stand again, and I watched Chad Jones' punt return. But I really paid attention to our offensive plays, often rewinding them several times to see what was happening on the offensive line, and in particular why Mississippi State defenders kept making plays around or behind the line of scrimmage.

The problem is surprisingly difficult to diagnose. You can't really point to one player or one type of play that gave us problems. I think the problems can, however, be broken down to a couple categories:

1. There's just a pileup at the line of scrimmage. This happened surprisingly often. You can't point to any particular block that wasn't held or any particular player who made (or failed to make) a play. Everyone puts a helmet on someone, but the play blows up simply because the running back runs into a mass of bodies where the line of scrimmage was. I read an suggestion on a message board that LSU's linemen play with too narrow splits, and this contributes to problems finding holes in the middle of the field. After all, to make a hole, there needs to be neither a defensive nor an offensive player there. Unfortunately, I am not knowledgeable enough about offensive line play to evaluate that suggestion, but it works as a hypothesis in that it seems to explain the results we see and is falsifiable (widen the splits and see what happens).

2. Lineman breaks downfield and then the tackle is made in the spot he vacated. This is the one I have a really hard time understanding. I saw Josh Dworaczyk and Lyle Hitt both break downfield to get a block on a safety only to see the runner head right to the spot one or the other of them had left. I know a little bit about zone blocking, and I know that sometimes it is a lineman's duty to not worry so much about the lineman and instead get out to the second level, but it is very difficult for me to believe that this is the case when the runner is supposed to run towards his spot on the line.

In a zone blocking scheme, a lineman does not block a "man". He blocks a "lane", and if there's no one in that lane when you break off the snap, you go to the next level and see if there's a man there. You may chip or help your neighboring lineman for a split second, but your primary job when there is not a man at the line in your zone is to press forward and find a man in your path to block. But to release downfield only to find that someone has filled your gap and made the tackle unblocked right in the spot you started the play? That can't be right. Here, it is hard to say if this is an execution problem or a coaching problem. Was the lineman supposed to stay home and block the guy who ended up in his hole? Or was someone else supposed to get him? Or did we do something that tipped off the play and signaled someone to jump into the lane after the lineman ran past? Whatever it is, this happens way too much, as I've seen it in previous games too.

3. Linebacker or safety comes off the edge unblocked. Here I am talking about a play in which everyone makes a block, but there is a man unaccounted for on the outside who diagnoses the play, and gets into the backfield untouched to make a tackle. This happened on a couple big 3rd down plays, once towards the end of the first half when Jefferson pitched left to Keiland Williams on 3rd and 1, and he had nowhere to go because a linebacker came off of Ciron Black's edge and made the tackle 4 yards in the backfield. It happened on a 3rd down play in the 3rd quarter when Jefferson ran a little bootleg pass to Richard Dickson on 3rd and 2 (after 2nd and 1 lost a yard, btw), and the end or linebacker on the roll side didn't bite and didn't hesitate for even 1/2 second. Instead he went right at the spot where Jefferson was going to end up and got in his face, forcing a bad throw and another punt. Two plays in which the outside defender seemed to know exactly where the play was going and went right to the spot without being touched and made a play. Again, it's hard to diagnose where the problem was. In both cases, there was no attempt to block the man, which means either that he was not supposed to be blocked, or that the lineman in question (Black on the first, Barksdale on the second) mistakenly failed to block him. Or it could mean that Jefferson was supposed to check out of the play because there would be an unblocked man right where the play was going.

4. Lineman simply fails to hold a block. This is the easiest to spot and diagnose. Sometimes, the offensive lineman makes a block, or attempts to make a block, and just can't do it. I saw this happen to T-Bob Hebert, Josh Dworaczyk, and Joseph Barksdale more than one time each. I was also surprised at how often Richard Dickson got beat by a defender. Dickson started out his career at LSU as a blocking tight end, but if yesterday's game was any indication, he may have regressed as a blocker since his freshman season. We saw a good bit of Deangelo Peterson at tight end this game, and he has a ways to go as a blocker too. On one of Russell Shepard's runs, Peterson's spot was attacked by two Bulldog defenders and forced Peterson to make a choice of which to block and which to allow to go free. He hesitated and ended up letting both of them go. No one was immune to it, but Barksdale really seemed to get beat a good bit, and was on one occasion pushed back into Jordan Jefferson, forcing him to rush a throw.

Lyle Hitt gets a lot of criticism on the message boards, but I really did not see him get flat-out beat very much, though on a 3rd and goal option play in the second quarter, it seemed the entire right side of the offense got beat, including Hitt, Dickson, and fullback Charles Scott. Everyone seems to be singling out Hitt as a potential area to make a change, but he may have actually been our best lineman yesterday. I will confess that when I was ruminating on this game last night and early this morning, I was thinking of ways to either replace Hitt or move him to somewhere else, but after watching the game again I have cooled to that plan.

Barksdale was beaten a lot, and both of the new starters were beaten a lot. Josh Dworaczyk gets pushed into the backfield way too often. T-Bob Hebert loses him man at times. Even Ciron Black was not really All-SEC material yesterday.

The problem here is that if you're looking to make a personnel change, it is hard to figure out who to change. No one player seems to be the problem. Maybe Barksdale would benefit from a move to the inside, letting Chris Faulk or Greg Shaw have a chance at right tackle. But do you move Barksdale to right guard or left guard? Right now, I would say move him to left guard and see if that fixes the problems we're having on that side. Maybe Alex Hurst needs a chance to play at a guard spot, as he receives rave reviews from observers (then again, so did Dworaczyk). Could P.J. Lonergan be an improvement at center over T-Bob?

I think right now that a change, any change at all, may be beneficial, in that it could spark greater effort. It could make this a nastier offensive line to face.

LSU 31 - UL-Lafayette 3: Second Thoughts

Richard Pittman — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 12:44:09 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

3 months ago: LSU defensive tackle Josh Downs (77) limps off the field at the end of the LSU-Louisiana-Lafayette game in an NCAA college football game in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. Downs injured his knee near the end of the game which LSU won 31-3. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

Browse more photos »

One of the big stories coming out of last night's game is the injury situation. Jordan Jefferson came out of the game with some sort of leg problem. Josh Downs left the game with a knee problem, and you can see the ice on his knee on the picture to the left. It is not clear that either of these are serious. Jefferson may have simply had a cramp, and while he only had to stay out for one play, we scored a touchdown on that play and it was the last time our offense touched the ball. Downs, at least, is walking off the field on his own, which suggests it's probably not one of those dreaded ligament tears.

Richard Dickson is another matter. After making 3 catches early in the game, he left with what appeared from the television viewpoint to be some kind of a neck problem. He did not return to the game. I have been unable to find any indication of what his injury was or how serious it is. On a team without a lot of established weapons in the passing game, it would be a real blow if Dickson was seriously hurt.

Anyway, we have seen a torrent of negativity on the interwebs about this LSU team in the wake of this win, which was in the wake of insufficiently (to some) impressive wins against University of Washington and Vandy. And I'm not just talking about our own comment section. The headlines over at the Times-Picayune are "LSU Tigers Still Don't Look the Part against Louisiana-Lafayette", "LSU's Jordan Jefferson Still a Work in Progress", "LSU Playcalling Remains Quirky", and "LSU: A Curious Team Thus Far".

It's not exactly a sick feeling out there. It's just a feeling that this team is leaving people wanting more. That's fair, and I agree that this team is not where we want it. 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.

With that out there, I want to temper that attitude. While we are not where we need to be, I do not think we are all that far from where that place. Last night, we used more of a medium-field passing game, which I am convinced right now is the way for us to open up the running game. Jefferson missed a couple of deep receivers again, but the throws to Dickson and the second touchdown pass to Lafell were exactly the sorts of passes we weren't seeing enough in previous games.

Getting Reuben Randle involved (I know that name is misspelled, but SBNation's database has it misspelled, so I'm deliberately messing it up so that it will automatically link) could also be a big help in that midfield passing game. He got the ball thrown his way for the first time in his career tonight, and made one catch on two tries. He almost came down with a deep ball in the face of really good coverage, and it would have been a spectacular play.

This is not a perfect team, but I see no reason to depair of our chances, at least not yet. The defense was outstanding again last night, creating turnovers and negative plays. Yes, ULL made a few nice plays on offense, but teams do that at times even when they're overmatched. The difference between this game anda huge blowout was the fact that we didn't get quick scores, except for the Holliday touchdown. We have a little ways to go, but we see no indication yet of the intense problems we saw defensively last year or of the interception problem that put us in bad positions constantly.

I watched the game again (thank you TIVO for letting me watch a full game in an hour while eating breakfast) and watched the line play. I felt better after watching it on replay. I thought both lines played well, better than I thought watching it live. In particular, I think the defensive line played very well. ULL was only effective running the ball when they ran misdirection plays, screens, and options where they disguised who had the ball. Any time they lined up and ran at us, we stuffed them exactly how you would expect a superior team to stuff an inferior team.

We will have to work out those problems on misdirections and deceptive plays, however. In particular, Chancey Aghayere got burned a couple times biting on a fake or rushing in on a screen. Then again, he also completely blew up a screen on ULL's first possession by staying home and getting between the QB and the receiver, forcing a bad throw. Aghayere's a young player still, and if you're going to make a mistake, the mistake I can most easily live with is the mistake of running too hard towards the ball.

On the offensive side of the line, we're still trying to figure out why we can't get Charles Scott going. We have two new starting offensive linemen, both the center and the left guard. I am far from an expert on evaluating line play, but I was keeping a close eye on that part of the line and did not see a big problem there. In fact, in my observation, when I could diagnose exactly where someone came from to blow up a play, it was usually coming from the left side right side of our line.

To cite one example, when Charles Scott was stopped on a 4th and short, the tackler came from off the right tackle. It appeared to be a standup blitzing linebacker coming in. Joseph Barksdale crashed inside and let the linebacker into the backfield untouched. He either thought it was someone else's assignment (and for all I know, it could have been), or his assignment was to assume he could not catch up to a run going to the left side and let him go. In either event, let him go Barksdale did. No one else picked him up and he came across the backfield to hit Charles Scott behind the line of scrimmage and stop the play for no gain.

To cite a second example, one another running play I saw, Lyle Hitt executed a typical zone-blocking technique of hitting the first level defender only for a split second and then disengage to track down a second-level defender to block. The problem occurred when the first-level defender then disrupted the play. I simply don't know enough to evaluate exactly what Hitt was supposed to do or how that play was supposed to account for the first-level defender.

The good news on the line is that, unlike last week, Jordan Jefferson was not running for his life on every pass play.

Overall the offense played much better than it played against Vandy. We did not have long stretches of ineffective play like we've seen in our previous two games. It would be great to see more big plays, but at least we consistently moved the ball forward last night. That's progress. We didn't roll all over them, but were the superior team and we steadily moved the scoreboard in our favor all game. At no point was ULL really in this game and I'm not sure what else we should really expect.

The Forgotten Man

Poseur — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:36:31 -0000

As a sophomore, Richard Dickson caught 32 balls for 375 yards and 5 TD's. And we thought LSU had found its next great tight end. Surely, he would build off of this season and become one of the primary targets for the inexperienced Tiger QB's.

2008? Dickson caught 31 balls for 324 yards and 5 TD's. Essentially, the same exact numbers. And so far this year, Dickson has caught 3 balls for 23 yards. Now, he started slow last year as well, but for a guy we expected huge things from, the drop in production is extremely disappointing.

It's not like Dickson is an unreliable receiver. I honestly can't think of any key drops he's had, though I'm sure he hasn't caught every ball thrown his way (because if he had, he would be the greatest receiver in the history of football). The problem, I believe, is not with Dickson but with the offense.

During last year's interception-palooza, Jarrett Lee became understandably skittish about throwing the ball over the middle. If you miss a receiver by the sideline, the ball is probably going to be incomplete. If you miss a receiver over the middle, well, it's far more likely to end up in the arms of some guy wearing the other team's jersey. Dickson, like most tight ends, makes his living in the middle of the field. As Lee lost all confidence, so the passes to Dickson dried up. In fact, Dickson's two biggest reception totals came against Florida (before the meltdown) and Georgia Tech (after Jefferson has taken the helm). In the six games from Florida until Arkansas, when Jefferson finally became the starter, Dickson caught 11 balls.

So far this season, the LSU coaching staff has bent over backwards to minimize risk. Jefferson has thrown almost exclusively short passes or long bombs. The offense has seemingly completely abandoned the intermediate route over the middle of the field.

Now, I understand the thought process behind this. Lee's problems last year were primarily mental, not physical. The interceptions took their toll on the quarterback and he completely melted down. Faced with another young starter this season, the LSU staff is doing everything it can to protect Jefferson's psyche. And let's give some credit, Jefferson hasn't thrown a pick all season.

But you cannot run an offense that way all season. If you call plays only to minimize risk, you are giving up the rewards that come with taking the risk. And it's not like there is no risk in the current offense. As I've already pointed out, nearly 20 percent of the offensive plays against Vandy went for a loss. You think that doesn't effect a guy's confidence?

By abandoning the middle of the field, LSU allows opposing defenses to stack the line, which exacerbates the problems with the offensive line. Charles Scott certainly would appreciate a little more room to run. Lafell probably wouldn't mind some more space when he catches those bubble screens. Know what could give them space? Throwing some balls over the middle of the field and forcing the defense to cover the entire field. The spread doesn't work if you don't actually spread the defense.

There's a guy on the roster who probably could attack the middle of the defense. His name is Richard Dickson, perhaps you've heard of him? Big things were expected of him a few years ago. Throw him the ball. It'll help everyone out.

Stop coaching scared. Yes, throwing over the middle will mean Jefferson will throw more interceptions. It also might mean more yards for everybody, more space for the offense to work, and more big plays. Free Richard Dickson!