SB Nation User Blog: Purple Reign

Geaux Tigers: What We Learned

Purple Reign — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 04:04:07 -0000

Beating Auburn on the road is a monster vicrtory. But the biggest thing that came out of Saturday's game is a starting quarterback.

1) Sorry to Andrew Hatch, but this derby is over and Jarret Lee is the man from here forward. I appreciate all Hatch's hard work and everything else, but it was clear in the first and second quarter tonight that he doesn't have the arm to play in the SEC.

Thankfully we have a clear-cut No. 1 now and can hopefully start working Jordan Jefferson in on "Tebow Packages" because I think that would be a great mix up for opposing defenses to prepare for.

2) We need Darry Beckwith. The defense played well, but Beckwith is a huge step up at middle linebacker and we need him back. On the plus side, LSU still won without him. However, we still have to play Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

3) Charles Scott is the real deal. I admit I was wrong. I've been touting Keiland Williams ever since I can remember, but Scott is a freaking stud. If Auburn didn't stop him at the line, he got at least 8 yards. He is a good football player.

4) Les Miles can coach. He was down 14-3 at the half and down to his freshman quarterback. I was about to shoot him when Lee dropped back to pass on the final TD play, and of course I was wrong again. Long live The Hat.

5) LSU has won six straight against top 10 teams. Um, that's good. Four of those are on the road. Wow.

Game Week: Troy Chatter

Purple Reign — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:30:40 -0000

While we still don't know if LSU and Troy will actually play this Saturday, we here at ATVS are going to prepare like there is going to be a game. So here's your early week chatter from around the Troy football program.

Troy head coach Larry Blakeney clearly watched LSU outmuscle Appalachian State on Saturday and knows any chance of an upset for his Trojans lies in negating that advantage.

"This is as good a team that any we have ever played," Troy head coach Larry Blakeney said. "They are well-coached and very disciplined. They play hard and they won't get a lot of penalties that will hurt them. We will have our hands full."
...

The Trojans came close to taking down the Tigers last time they were defending national champions in 2004, losing 24-20. LSU needed a 30-yard touchdown strike with less than three minutes in the game to beat Troy. Blakeney said to have a chance against LSU this year it comes down to physicality.

"They (LSU) try to hit you in the mouth right away," Blakeney said. "We have to be physical with them and hit them first."

The Trojans knocked off Middle Tennessee State in their season opener, but not before nearly giving away the game after leading 24-3 in the third quarter.

"We were able to go in and survive it," Blakeney said of the 31-17 victory. "But there were a lot of rough spots."

Specifically, Blakeney mentioned two dropped punts, a few missed third-down opportunities and some late-game breakdowns defensively.

The late-game breakdowns were especially troubling, since they allowed MTU back in a game that Troy led 24-3 after three quarters. With a little less than seven minutes to go in the game, the Blue Raiders were within a touchdown.

...

"Middle came in with a plan to create a situation where they could dink and dunk us and keep the ball as long as they could," Blakeney said. "And they did that for the most part. It really wore our guys down late and (MTU) was able to hit a couple of big plays. We've go to do a better job on our third-down conversions offensively and help out our defense. They were wore out at the end."

Last year's Troy offense that gave opponents fits has possibly packed up and left with former coordinator Tony Franklin (now at Auburn). Or it could be just conservative play calling from game one. Time will tell.

First-year Troy offensive coordinator Neal Brown admitted that sophomore quarterback Jamie Hampton’s modest stats were a result of him being conservative.

He said this Thursday after the game, before he had a chance to review film. In Hampton’s first real start — he went out for the opening play last year at Georgia and caught a throwback pass from receiver Gary Banks — the lefty went 17-of-28 for 136 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Hampton ran 11 times for 41 yards and a score.

It's somewhat difficult to find people that care enough to write about anything other than Auburn or Alabama in that state.

Revisiting My Five Things

Purple Reign — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:26:07 -0000

On Thursday last week, I wrote about five things I was looking for in Saturday's game.. Unfortunately, due to the time and channel change, I was unable to watch the whole game (we don't have ESPN Classic where I work), so this will be incomplete. Hopefully that will be a one-time occurence this season. Take this for what it's worth.

1) The quarterbacks. Well, Les Miles and Gary Crowton played this one about as down the middle as one could. It's frustrating really because neither quarterback stepped up. The bit I saw of each was very average. Clearly, Hatch provided more options with his running ability, but outside of that, he's the Chad Pennington of the LSU quarterback race. Lee looked lost, like a freshman should, in his first game. He clearly has more upside, but defenses from Troy and Auburn will be much more opportunistic in the coming weeks. I didn't think Jordan Jefferson would play unless it was a blowout. It was a blowout, but Jefferson still didn't see the field, likely because Hatch and Lee were so average.

I imagine Saturday against Troy will look a lot like this past Saturday with each quarterback splitting the snaps. If Jefferson doesn't play again, I would be shocked. If he's as talented and performed as well as some have reported, you'd think there would at least be a "Tebow Package" for him. If he doesn't play Saturday, my guess is he won't this year barring some catastrophy.

Either way, the addage, "if you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks" appears to be true right now. Luckily, Auburn appears to have the same issue so we may be able to win that one without a quarterback.

2) The secondary. Jai Eugene, Harry Coleman and Chad Jones all started for the first time on Saturday. Patrick Peterson also saw action. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch the defense as much as I would have liked so I didn't really get a grasp on how they performed and whether the corners were left on islands much.

That said, the numbers are encouraging. Appalachian State quarterbacks went 14-for-33 with only 187 yards passing. However, the defense wasn't able to turn it over at all, which is troubling. And then there was the busted coverage for a touchdown. You can't do that against the big boys.

3) Ricky Jean-Francois and Charles Alexander. Alexander didn't play and Francois wasn't credited for a single tackle. I doubt that will be the case in any other game this season.

4) The running backs. This was the most interesting outcome of the day. Charles Scott is clearly the guy for Les Miles. He only had 16 carries, but I don't remember anyone else having one before he had his 16. Keiland Williams might have had one or two, but it was obvious Scott was the No. 1 back. He showed why with 160 yards. Williams did nothing in the game to challenge that status and neither did Richard Murphy. I believe all three could be the starter and LSU would be fine, but for now it appears Scott owns the position.

I'm a little surprised that Trindon Holliday didn't get a few more touches. One rush and some kick returns won't cut it when you have a guy with Olympic-type speed.

5) Appalachian State's spread offense. If this is how LSU will defend the spread this year, the Tigers will be just fine. Unfortunately, other teams have a little more talent than the Mountaineers did. Either way, this was a great preview for some looks other squads might throw at the Tigers. I'd say the defense passed with flying colors.

LSU vs. Appalachian State Prediction Thread

Purple Reign — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:11:53 -0000

Before you comment with your predictions, here's what the pundits are saying.

CFN, the best in the business

Why to watch: Appalachian State's stunner at Michigan to open the 2007 season was one thing, but beating the defending national champions in Death Valley would be another. ASU is a defending national champ itself having won the FCS/D-IAA title three years in a row, and it's expected to be the lead dog in the race to make it four in a row. Meanwhile, LSU isn't even considered the favorite to win the SEC with Georgia and Florida getting a bit more national love early on. Even so, considering this is a bit of a reloading season, the Tigers are still more than talented enough to be in the national title hunt throughout the season. But there are a few question marks, like at quarterback and when it comes to finding new leaders on defense. Nitpicking to be sure, but anything less than a dominant performance will send off panic sirens.
Why Appalachian State might win: The longer ASU can keep this close, and if it can come up with a few good drives early and crank out a few scores, thoughts of Michigan could start to creep in for both sides. If you're going to pull off an upset like this, it'll most likely come in the opener before there has been much of a chance to jell, and LSU is in need of some work to be fully operational. Armanti Edwards and the crew will be confident and won't wilt under the pressure of playing on a big stage; all the pressure is on LSU. The longer this is a game, the more it swings towards the Mountaineers.

Why LSU might win: Talent. Yeah, Michigan was the far more talented team than ASU last year, but the Tigers aren't going to take this game as lightly as it would've had the Wolverine upset not happened. LSU should be able to dominate on the lines and it has the speed and athleticism in the back seven to keep the Mountaineers from cranking out too many big plays with the ground game. Edwards and the passing game can be effective, but ASU has to run to keep things balanced. That will be a huge problem.

Who to watch: It was the big question throughout the off-season. Andrew Hatch or Jarrett Lee? Lee or Hatch, Hatch or Lee, or a combination? Hatch, a walk-on transfer from Harvard, appears to be the early choice, but that doesn't mean Lee, the more dangerous option, won't see plenty of playing time ... or vice versa. True freshman Jordan Jefferson is also in the hunt, but in a perfect world he doesn't see the field this year. LSU would like to make this a laugher early to give everyone some work, but in the end, the O line is so good that whoever is under center should be fine.

What will happen: ASU will come up with a few big moments early to make everyone nervous, and then the LSU defense will turn into the LSU defense again and end the drama with a dominant second quarter. However, the Tigers won't be sharp.

CFN Prediction: LSU 38 ... Appalachian State 17

Bruce Edwards, ESPN

LSU 38, Appalachian State 17
Armanti Edwards is a blast to watch, but this LSU defense is better up front than the Michigan group he lit up last year. Worse still for the Mountaineers is all the experience they lost from last year's team. Plus, LSU's home setting is a lot nastier than The Big House.

Stewart Mandel of CNNSI.com

If Mountaineers QB Armanti Edwards manages to carve up LSU's uber-athletic defense ... go ahead and invite him to New York. More realistically, the Tigers will render Edwards human.

Prediction: LSU 30, Appalachian State 13

Dennis Dodd (I loathe him, but we'll include it, link includes three other predictions from CBS Sportsline)

Appalachian State has been working out all offseason with an LSU T-shirt that reads "Not In Our House". LSU is on alert, but so are the Mountaineers. This will go how the Michigan game last year should have gone. App State will hang in for three quarters, then depth, or the lack of it, will get to them. Prediction: LSU 30, Appalachian State 21

Tiger Rag

LSU coaches and players have been listening to the Appalachian State upset of Michigan talk since the day after the national championship game. But it’s no big secret that LSU is much, much better than that Michigan team that got shellacked by the Mountaineers last season. Give Appalachian State its due: They are a very good team and have the hardware to prove it. But they will not win in Tiger Stadium. The Mountaineers gave LSU a heck of a game in 2005 as the Tigers won 24-0. But this time around, it likely won’t even be that close. LSU runs the ball with power all the way to a four-touchdown victory.

LSU 45, Appalachian State 14

Gametime Changed, Kickoff at 10 a.m.

Purple Reign — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:22:26 -0000

It's official, the LSU vs. Appalachian State game has been moved to 10 a.m. on Saturday due to Tropical Storm Gustav.

"Public safety was the overriding concern expressed by all parties when we met with the governor and his staff today," LSU director of athletics Joe Alleva said Friday. "Ten a.m. is obviously not the optimal time for a football game, but when one of the options was to not play the game at all, this is a matter of making the best of an unfortunate situation."

The determination of the whether the game will be televised or not has not been made. It certainly won't be on ESPN because they're not going to preempt College GameDay. My guess is it will still be carried, either on ESPN2 (which would bump another game) or, most likely, ESPNU or ESPN Classic.

As for the decision, I don't mean to be insensitive over hurricanes after Katrina, but, really? This is rediculous. I know preparations and evacuations are at an all time high and every possible precaution is being taken, but come on.

As the projected path shows, the storm isn't expected to make landfall until Tuesday morning. That's a full 2 1/2 days after the game would be over. Is the six-hour headstart going to change things that much?

I echo Richard Pittman's post earlier this week, which talked about cancelling the game. If we're going to be moving/cancelling games based on hurricanes three or four days away, LSU, Miami, and a host of other schools are going to be changing at least one game a year.

I remember my freshman year at LSU, we had two days of school cancelled because a hurricane was coming straight for us(Georges, I think). It was supposed to hit Sunday night. After barely seeing a rain cloud on Monday, they decided, maybe we should have class on Tuesday. So we did. This feels the exact same way.

Right now, Gustav has a projected path that lands it anywhere from Florida to Texas. Apparently on Saturday night, it won't even be past the western tip of Cuba. There's almost no chance of rain on Saturday, only 30 percent on Sunday and 50 percent on Tuesday, the highest chance of the week.

And we're changing a game time for this?

Five Things I'm Looking for on Saturday

Purple Reign — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:53:08 -0000

For whatever reason, this August has seemed so much longer than previous ones. Maybe it's just my anticipation of wanting to see if LSU can duplicate its success over the past few years. Maybe it's just that my fantasy baseball team is horrible so my lone sports activity of the summer has been a lost cause for so long. Either way, I'm excited to don my LSU jersey and watch some football. There's a number of things I'll be interested to see from Saturday.

1) Duh, the quarterbacks. Who's going to be the quarterback and how will the snaps be divied up. I think Andrew Hatch will start and Jarret Lee will play a lot. I don't plan on seeing Jordan Jefferson unless the game is wrapped up in the fourth quarter.

But I think at the very least we'll get a feel for what's going to happen next week against a solid Troy team. I hate the fact that even after Saturday we could be no closer to having a clear-cut starter than we are today. It reminds me of 1998 when Gerry DiNardo couldn't choose between Craig Nall, Josh Booty and Rohan Davey.

So, when they both play, hopefully one will clearly grab the bull by the horns.

2) The secondary. Obviously, the loss of three starters in your back four is troublesome, especially when you're throwing two new corners out there. Don't get me wrong, I think Jai Eugene, Patrick Peterson and Chad Jones have the talent to every bit as good as the Corey Websters and LaRon Landry's that have come through the past few years.

I'm interested to see how safe the defensive coordinators play in terms of not leaving their corners on islands. Will we be able to blitz from an array of positions, or will we have to drop back more to make up for lack of experience. As a side, will the front four be able to get consistent pressure without help from a blitz?

3) Ricky Jean-Francois and Charles Alexander. Both missed a majority of the 2007 season, but are arguably the best tackle tandem in the country. How much chaos can they create and how many lanes can they fill to keep Armanti Edwards in check.

4) The running backs. I think it's pretty safe to say that four different guys will get touches most of the season. Keiland Williams, Richard Murphy, Charles Scott and Trindon Holliday are all too talented to be sitting. But how will Gary Crowton use them and who will be the go-to-guy when it's 3rd and 2.

I've long been a believer in Williams and think he's an incredible talent. I'd also love to see how we can get Holliday 10 touches a game, because you just know on one of them nobody will be able to catch him.

5) Appalachian State's spread offense. Obviously, the Mountaineers have the chops to take it to the big boys on offense. I'm looking to see how our defense responds and fills their responsibilities. This is a preview of what we'll see from Auburn and Florida.

Hopefully, LSU will be able to keep Edwards in check and, most importantly, not let a receiver break free for a big play. That's what doomed Michigan a year ago.

From the Notes

Purple Reign — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:01:39 -0000

Have you ever watched a game and wondered how and where announcers get all those rediculously tedious facts? Well, schools actually pay people to come up with them in their Sports Information or Media Relation departments. I've perused LSU's notes (PDF) and pulled a few tidbits I found interesting. Enjoy!

Appalachian State is ranked No. 1 in the Football Championship Subdivision (I-AA). LSU has previously played one FCS No. 1-ranked team, beating Western Illinois 35-7 in 2003.
Ranked sixth entering the season, this is the fifth consecutive year LSU has started in the top 10.
August 30 has been a good day to start the season for LSU. Twice before, the Tigers have opened on Aug. 30 -- in 2003 and 2007, the years of their last two national championships.
In recent history, CollegeFootballNews.com has said that nobody throttles a mediocre team like LSU. It's one of my favorite quotes. At least in the non-conference that appears to be true. In 14 non-conference games under Les Miles, the Tigers are unbeaten with an average score of 35.6 to 8.1. That includes non-conference games against top 15 teams in Arizona State, Miami, Notre Dame and Ohio State.
Since 2003, LSU has 56 wins, the second most in the nation. Yeah, those bastards USC have the most, 58. Since Miles took over in 2005, the Tigers and Trojans are tied with 34. More importantly, LSU has a pair of crystal footballs in that span.
People like to jump on Les Miles gameday coaching ability, but an 11-3 record in games decided by seven points or less seems pretty good to me. He's 4-2 when it's three points or less.
More on Miles. He's 7-3 when trailing after three quarters. That's right, he's won 70 percent of his games at LSU when trailing going into the final quarter. He's even better (8-3) when trailing at the half. All you people who think Les doesn't know what he's doing can shut up now.

It's Game Week: Appalachian State Chatter

Purple Reign — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:43:34 -0000

It's finally GameWeek! It seems like forever since Les Miles hoisted the crystal football on the floor of the Superdome. As much as I'd like to revel in that glory forever, it's much more fun to try and do it again. And what better place to begin than with the "other" Division I national champion last year, Appalachian State.

The Mountaineers, in case you know nothing other than they beat Michigan, are the three-time defending Division I-AA national champs. That's right, these guys know how to win. And despite returning only 12 starters, they're not expected to see any drop off, ranked No. 1 in the preseason.

Each week, I'll try to, not necessarily preview LSU's opponent, but bring you some of the chatter about the team from around the country. I'm sure someone will give you a "Know Your Opponent" later in the week, so I'll be confine myself to others hyping the team.

As most teams do, Appalachian State is attempting to get its team ready to play in Death Valley.

ASU assistant coach John Holt, the former Erwin High standout who played guard for the Mountaineers the past four seasons, experienced playing in Death Valley in 2005.

He has advice for young players, especially those that didn’t play at Michigan last season.

“It’s an awesome experience,” he said. “But you have to take that stadium and those fans out of it.

Good Luck.

Clearly, junior quarterback Armanti Edwards is ASU's best and most dynamic playmaker. If he puts on a show on Saturday, it could lead to the biggest Heisman hype for a I-AA player since Steve McNair.

The buzz of a darkhorse Heisman Trophy candidate has been attached to his name.

So Appalachian State officials already have set up a weekly teleconference personally for Edwards, to accommodate interview requests this year.

"If he continues to play at the level he has, I think he deserves the opportunity to be on those Heisman lists," Mountaineers coach Jerry Moore said. "We're being premature right now, but when the coffee shop talk starts up, he'd be deserving of being in that conversation."

Let's hope that campaign doesn't get a jumpstart on Saturday.

Three years ago, Appalachian State head coach Jerry Moore was almost, if you can believe it, fired. The previous season, he had switched to the spread offense and gone 6-5.

``I said, 'Coach, we need to talk about this before the season starts,''' [athletic director Charlie] Cobb said. ``He said, 'Charlie, I'm going to coach somewhere next year. If I'm not wanted here, you and I will both know. You won't have to come to me.'''

The Mountaineers had only four home games in 2005 and visited two major schools, Kansas and LSU. After starting 3-2, Cobb felt Moore deserved more time, and told him he wanted to extend his contract.

``I believed in him,'' Cobb said.

The rest, as Moore describes it, is a ``fairy tale.'' Appalachian went 9-1 the rest of the season - the only loss coming to LSU - and won its first national championship.

Success breeds success and nowhere is that more evident than in tiny Boone, N.C. Last year, ASU averaged 24,219 fans per game, that's more than 33 (PDF) Division I-A teams, including three in the state of Louisiana. Now they're joining the arms race.

"People are excited about coming to Boone on Saturdays," Cobb said. "We've had great cooperation from the university in terms of things like parking and the town has embraced us. People are coming. They want to be part of it."

Cobb said that applications for enrollment at ASU have risen from about 10,000 three years ago to 15,500 this year. The operating budget for athletics has gone from about $7.5 million to almost $12 million in that span.

Lagniappe

Purple Reign — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 01:29:55 -0000

The quarterback derby is still in its opening stages and I would imagine you won't hear anything concrete for a couple weeks. Especially if coach Les Miles keeps dropping quotes like this:

[Jordan] Jefferson, who has been working with the other freshmen in the afternoon workouts, appears to have the best arm of the three quarterbacks. Asked if Jefferson continues to impress, Miles said, "Yeah, I think we'll really," but didn't finish the sentence.

"I think he's capable," Miles said after restarting. "I think he's a guy that's going to have to take snaps for us."

Charles Scott is a football player. Period.

Scott is apparently toting his lunch pail to practice this season, taking a do-whatever-it-takes attitude to his assigned duties.

One of the early rumblings at practice has been about sightings of Scott working out at fullback along with his tailback duties.

"If you need me to put my hand in the dirt and block, I can," Scott said. "It doesn’t matter to me."

Call it Scott’s endeavor to channel his inner Jacob Hester.

How sweet would it be to see him and Richard Murphy or Keiland Williams in the backfield at times, a la Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown for Auburn circa 2004. How did that work out?

CFN, the best in the business has LSU ranked sixth in its preseason rankings. The top five? Ohio State, Georgia, USC, Florida, Oklahoma.

I get it. LSU doesn't have any experience at quarterback. It also didn't have that much last year either when Matt Flynn had started only one game before leading the Tigers to the national championship.

Craig Steltz is standing out in camp for the Chicago Bears.

I love ESPN -- when it stops talking about the NFL for long enough to do something like this.

Russell Shepard is Special

Purple Reign — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:19:09 -0000

After the drama that was Ryan Perrilloux for three years, this story on super recruit Russell Shepard is wonderful to see. It highlights the young man's character, which is apparently off the charts. But, my favorite part:

Shepard's ability to motivate and inspire extends beyond the field of play. He has reached out to players being recruited by LSU. As of Aug. 1, the Tigers have received 15 verbal commitments, including four players from Texas. Shepard says he called fellow Texans -- Stavion Lowe (6-4, 294), an offensive tackle from Brownwood, and running back Dexter Pratt of Navasota -- who were previously undecided but now are considering the Tigers.

"I told them we could make this a special class," Shepard said. "I do my research on each player, introduce myself and then tell them why they'd be important to the LSU recruiting class. I know what they're going through. This could be a dream team."

Dream team? I like the sound of that!