SB Nation User Blog: Richard Pittman

What of the LSU Offense?

Richard Pittman — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:03:25 -0000

A few days ago, I read this at Roll Bama Roll:

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.

We've kind of flirted with this idea ourselves a couple of times over the years. It's time to stop flirting with the idea and start being its steady boyfriend.*

*This assumes that ideas are feminine, but it seemed more right than to say we would be its steady girlfriend.

Let's just come right out and say it. LSU's offensive system is an incoherent mess, and has been for a while. We have incorporated parts of the spread, parts of the Air Raid, parts of the Nevada pistol, the standard I-formation, power football, the "check with me", and even the wildcat. Heck there are probably elements I'm forgetting, or even elements I haven't recognized yet. Our offense is trying to be all things to all people, and as a result I do not think we do any of it particularly well.

It's time to clean out the fridge. There are a lot of moldy, half-eaten leftovers in there that need to go into the garbage, leaving room for all of the fresh, healthy foods to stay. I think of all the things we may have learned this season, this is the one that Les Miles will need to concentrate on correcting this year. Miles did a great job of correcting last year's problems, but the problems on defense were so vast and obvious that they masked the problems with our offensive system. A lot of people believed the problems on offense were limited to turnovers, and that was certainly a problem, but it's time to recognize more systemic problems on that side of the ball.

Let's start with the pistol formation. Nevada uses it every play. We use a handful of times per game. It's usually a straight handoff, a play action pass, or an option. The last time I remember it generating a big play was against Virginia Tech in 2007 when Keiland Williams took that option to the house. Youtube to follow:

Because we have not done much of anything with it since then, I think we could scrap that particular formation entirely without losing anything. And what would we gain? The center and quarterback wouldn't have to concentrate on a 3rd form of exchange beyond the standard under-center exchange and the shotgun. The running back would not have to learn an extra way of taking a handoff or the timing of an extra kind of run. The quarterback would not have to become accustomed to his drops and reads out of the formation.

I'm not saying that LSU should scrap Crowton. I'm not even saying that Crowton should throw away his play book. I think, however, that in every offseason (say between Spring Drills and Fall Drills), Crowton needs to sit down and figure out what parts of his massive playbook does he have the personnel to run the most effectively. He should then show his results to Les Miles, who should then arbitrarily cut down Crowton's selections in half.

For example, this year I think we have the personnel to run single-back sets, shotguns, 1- or 2-tight end sets, and 3-wide receiver sets. We have not shown much ability to run I-formation because we do not have the fullback. We are not a 5-wide receiver team because we don't have 5 wide receivers who are really good. This team could have cut out all the 5-wide plays, all the I-formation plays, and the pistol, and we probably would be more effective as a whole because we'd be running plays we're best-suited to run and we wouldn't be using practice time and player focus on plays we run poorly.

Next year, it may be different. Maybe next year one of our fullbacks develops into a stud, and we go right back to I-formation, but in that case we could cut out the pistol, limit the spread, and again cut out the 5-wide plays. Or maybe we have a ton of wide receivers who show they can produce. Then we cut the tight end out of the picture on passing plays. Who knows what the future will hold?

I just want the future to be simplified on offense.

Louisiana Tech Preview

Richard Pittman — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:02:05 -0000

More photos » by Rob Carr - AP

about 1 month ago: Louisiana Tech coach Derek Dooley signals to his players from the sidelines during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Navy, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009, in Annapolis, Md. Navy won 32-14. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

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I probably should not have posted that picture of the interception last night. The dead horse had been thoroughly beaten, but the picture was just so good that I thought it would be criminal for it not to be put out there. The website, like the team, must now move on from a disappointing and somewhat controversial defeat and play the next part of the rest of the season against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.

When looking at the Bulldogs of Louisiana Tech, two things immediately stick out. First, they gave media darling Boise State a real scare last week in falling short 45-35. At one point in the 4th quarter, Boise led the game by a mere 2 points and La Tech had the ball. They had to punt and Boise scored a touchdown on its next possession and on the possession after that to end the threat, but La Tech was still in that game in the 4th quarter.

The other observation is that La Tech has been terrible the rest of the season. They are 3-6, and their wins have come against Nicholls State, Hawaii (also currently 3-6), and New Mexico State (again, 3-6). They've lost to Auburn, Navy, Nevada, Utah State, Idaho, and the aforementioned Boise. They got blown out by Nevada, Navy, and Auburn. For the hype that Derek Dooley gets as an up-and-coming coach, La Tech has not really done very much in his tenure. They had an 8-win season last year, but had a losing record the year before and appear to be headed that way again this year.

So why are they so bad? Well, it's important to realize that their blowout losses were all early in the season. This is, perhaps, a team that has improved. They haven't been blown out in any game recently. Then again, their 3 games before Boise were against Idaho, Utah State, and New Mexico. Not exactly a murderer's row schedule and while there were no blowouts, they went 1-2 in those games.

Statistically, their offense appears sound. Quarterback Ross Jenkins is averaging over 7.0 yards per pass attempt, but he gets sacked quite a lot too. Their #1 tailback averages 5.0 yards per carry. What's very unusual for a WAC team is that they run a lot more than they pass. They have attempted 252 passes compared with 367 runs, against the general trend of college football and in particular the WAC. As a result, their leading receiver has only 27 catches. Ross Jenkins has thrown for over 200 yards exactly three times this season, and his high in games not against Nicholls State is 220 yards. He protects the ball however, throwing only 5 interceptions on the season, compared to 12 touchdown passes.

La Tech is a ball control team. Their attitude is to run the ball and don't give it away to the other team.

Defensively, the Bulldogs give up a lot of yards. Boise State ran up 507 yards of offense. Idaho had 327. Utah State had 345. Nevada ran up 511 yards. Navy had 393 (NAVY!). Auburn had 556. If you're counting, those are 3 games in which Derek Dooley's defense gave up over 500 yards of offense. The opportunity is there to open up the offense and pour on the yards, but I don't think we will do that. Given our penchant for playing it safe, it would not surprise me at all if this ends up being a tighter game than people would like. It could be one of those games where the outcome is never in doubt, but we end up winning it by a pedestrian margin of, say, 24-10 and look kind of blah in the process. I just think we are going to play this one really conservatively and just try to come out of it with a W, no style points sought.

Given how many yards they give up, it is especially surprising to see that they run the ball almost 60% of the time. That includes games in which they spent most of the second half way behind their opponent on the scoreboard.

Players to watch for Louisiana Tech include wide receiver and punt returner Phillip Livas, who is a player a lot of observers wanted LSU to recruit. He is a dynamic punt returner and a big play receiver. I can't really say he is burning up the stat sheets, as he is only 2nd on the team in receptions and 3rd in receiving yards, but his return game can be spectacular. For all of Trindon Holliday's press that he gets for his speed, Livas has been the overall better player at both receiver and kick returner during their careers. He has 2 returns for touchdowns so far this year and 6 over the course of his career, and while La Tech has not thrown much this year he had over 600 yards receiving last year.

via i297.photobucket.com. If a great player makes a great play but the referees and replay...

Richard Pittman — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:17:53 -0000

via i297.photobucket.com. If a great player makes a great play but the referees and replay officials aren't good enough to recognize it, is he really that great of a player?

BATON ROUGE -- After finishing as the runner-up in the Southeastern Conference regular season and...

Richard Pittman — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:48:42 -0000

BATON ROUGE -- After finishing as the runner-up in the Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament, the LSU soccer team will play host to the first two rounds of the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament for the first time in school history, the NCAA announced on Monday evening.

LSU (14-4-4) will face Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the first round at 7 p.m. CST on Friday, Nov. 13.

Soccer to Host Arkansas-Pine Bluff in NCAA's - LSUsports.net - The Official Web Site of LSU Tigers Athletics. Another in our all-too-rare check-ins with LSU Soccer.

New ATVS Policy

Richard Pittman — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:27:12 -0000

Any Bama fan who comes to our comment section and, in his or her very first post, chooses to taunt us, gets banned. The count is up to 3. Anyone else want to test the policy? If the taunt is after your first post, discretion will be exercised.

Bama fans who choose not to taunt are welcome.

Since Miles won't say anything, I will. This is beyond bad officiating. It's so undeniably awful,...

Richard Pittman — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:38:16 -0000

Since Miles won't say anything, I will. This is beyond bad officiating. It's so undeniably awful, I'm beginning to believe conspiracy nuts who claim the SEC is protecting its heavyweight teams (Florida and Alabama) since, you know, every poor call in the last month has involved, uh, Florida and Alabama.

Conspiracy theorists about SEC officiating might be on to something - Matt Hayes - College Football - Sporting News. A mainstream sports journalist is saying it now. For the record, I don't buy into any conspiracy theory about the SEC protecting Bama and Florida through deliberately poor officiating. A conspiracy that large would depend on probably a dozen or more people being involved, and I just can't see such a conspiracy possibly holding silent. Plus, if the conspiracy were to break, a lot more harm would be done to the SEC than would be worth risking to get the benefit gotten. I just think the officiating is bad, and has been for years. I will forever remember 2007 not only as the year of LSU's national championship, but also as the year in which it was a 15 yard penalty to hit a quarterback who was almost out of bounds. This year we have had 4 games (LSU vs. Georgia, Mississippi State vs. Florida, Arkansas vs. Florida, LSU vs. Alabama) marred by demonstrably bad calls or difficult-to-defend judgment calls on big plays at critical times. It's impossible to say with any confidence that any of the calls were decisive in the games in which they occurred, but there is just no reason why the SEC should be plagued with this.

Bama 24 - LSU 15: Snap Judgments

Richard Pittman — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:12:56 -0000

More photos » by Dave Martin - AP

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

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

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

LSU @ Bama: 2:30pm

Richard Pittman — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:32:04 -0000

The SEC didn't burden us with a lot of other good games on TV today. Auburn vs. Furman? Kentucky vs. Eastern Kentucky? Tennessee vs. Tennessee Tech? Not hardly. The only other halfway decent game is Arkansas vs. South Carolina. I'm not missing a thing by going to this one.

This will serve as a Game Thread for today, and as an opening monologue for the day. I will not be participating in the game thread, so you are on your own.

Please post your remembrances of Dwayne Bowe, Jamarcus Russell, Chad Jones, and other heros of the recent past. Here're my remembrances of Laron Landry:

Going to the Game

Richard Pittman — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:14:27 -0000

Thanks to a friend, I will actually be attending the game this weekend in Bryant-Denny Stadium. That means al the stuff about Mrs. ATVS and I having to watch the game in near silence is no longer correct. I will be there. In the stadium. It's the first time I will watch an LSU football game live in person since LSU @ Auburn in 2006. Do we all remember that one?

It's been a long time since I've gone to a game. Last time I was in Bryant-Denny was in 2005 when we beat Bama on an overtime touchdown pass from Jamarcu Russell to Dewayne Bowe.

So anyway, this promises to be an exciting weekend. I will be there in the chilly weather. Mrs. ATVS will watch at home and yell at the television. She will also be free to manipulate Little Miss ATVS into rooting for Bama.

Maybe this isn't such a good idea. Just kidding, I'm going.

The Week is Closing Out

Richard Pittman — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:57:22 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

10 days ago: LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson (9) throws a pass against Tulane 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)

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The week is entering its close, and the big game is quickly coming upon us. I feel like everything that needs to be said may already have been said. Last night, I did a long interview with the guys from Roll Bama Roll. The link to the podcast can be found here. They seemed to be a little taken aback that I was less than effusive in my praise of all aspects of the LSU football team and their matchup with Bama. I was just doing what I do here all the time: give the team credit where it's due without denying whatever problems might exist.

Here are some recaps of the things we talked about and some other observations:

LSU's big advantage in the game is with our receivers versus their secondary. We have the best receiver corps in the conference and Bama's secondary is the weakest part of its defense.
That will mean nothing if our offensive line does not give Jordan Jefferson time to pass. Bama has made some good quarterbacks (Ryan Mallett, Jevan Snead) look very bad by pressuring them relentlessly and not letting them throw. The offensive line will have to play its best game in pass protection to allow our receivers to finish their routes.
Jordan Jefferson has played very well the last few weeks and that will have to continue.
Our defense is a lot better than its numbers. Our defensive numbers are deceptive because of the Washington game, which is more and more ancient history. Also, we've had some games where yardage numbers were inflated because the defense had to stay on the field the whole game due to a poorly working offense. Our defense, especially our back 7, is really good.
The front 4, however, is a little disappointing. We aren't getting enough playmaking from any position or any player, except Drake Nevis. Rahim Alem is not getting the pass rush we expected out of him, probably because no one else on the line is effective at rushing the passer and opposing blocking schemes can give Alem a lot of attention.
I expect us to use a lot of play-action pass, some roll-outs, and other means of slowing down the pass rush. We have been very effective in using play action all year, and I expect us to lean heavily on it this week. We'll also need to employ our power running game, to keep the defense honest on the play action, but I do not expect to have a lot of success running with Charles Scott in this game. We've been simply too ineffective with it all year to expect it to suddenly start working against the best defensive front we'll see the entire season.
If I was Nick Saban or Jim McElwain, I would run the ball right at us with Mark Ingram until we show we can stop it. If I was John Chavis, I would plan for Mark Ingram to run the ball a lot and I would sell out to stop it. I think I would plan that 2/3 of every 1st or 2nd down would be a run. Florida was able to kill us with a thousand tiny cuts by running the ball up the middle. Why shouldn't Bama try to do the same, at least until we show we can stop it?
It looks like Bama TE Colin Peek is going to either be out for the game or will be playing at limited effectiveness. This is very important, as Peek has arguably been Bama's 2nd most effective offensive player behind Mark Ingram. Had he played in the game against Tennessee, he would probably lead the team in receptions and be 2nd in yards receiving. As it is, he's tied for 2nd in receptions and 3rd in yards receiving. He has been their go-to possession receiver, as opposing defenses are effectively shutting down Julio Jones, at least down the field.
"A House Divided" license plates are tacky, and their ubiquity has gotten out of hand.
Toddlers say really funny things sometimes.