I want to drink the Kool-Aid; I really do. I see LSU winning 8 games against 1 loss so far this season, that loss to the number 2 team in the country. I do see that LSU has now played what has to be one of the top 10 hardest schedules in the country, facing said #2 team on the road, as well as playing Florida, North Carolina (neutral), and, in a few weeks, Arkansas on the road. By that game, LSU will have played 7 ranked opponents in a 12 game schedule. Not many people can boast that.
But I can't get that through my head. It started in Week 1, when we had North Carolina down big, and then allowed them to get back into the game turning what should have been a blow out into a one TD game. We handled Vanderbilt, but that's Vanderbilt... and honestly we missed opportunities there. We seemed to be getting slightly better against Miss. St., then looked so/so against West Virginia. We played great D and good special teams, but anemically offensively. Then there was the debacle that was the Tennessee game. We won the war, but lost the battle. We got outplayed and outcoached and were it not for a dumb penalty on Tennessee's part, we lose to a very mediocre team. We beat Florida with the same trick play we beat them with 4 years ago (learn Urban Meyer, learn...). A weak effort against McNeese led to an even weaker effort against Auburn and their superman, Cam Newton. Some will see the glass half full and say we only lost to possibly the best team in the country by a TD; some see it as half empty saying that loss may have cost us the national championship. I see coaches that need glasses... Admittedly, the Alabama win was cause for joy; not only because beating Nick Saban is fun, but also because we played better. Yes we ran a trick play on them too, but remember these 2 things... 1. This is a Les Miles coached team - trick plays are part of The Hat's schtick; 2. Our offense isn't very good and we need trick plays to get down the field sometimes, and to steal possessions.
This is a talented team, one of THE most talented in the country. We are LSU; we don't have to take a back seat to recruiting anyone. We can get top players with the big boys, and it shows up on the field. But there are a lot of sticking points. Offensively, this should have been Jordan Jefferson's or Jarrett Lee's first year as a starter. The Ryan Perrilloux era never existed here, and that forced talented kids to grow up faster than expected. We lost that year of learning curve.
I also think we do a poor job of recognizing personnel strengths and playing to them. Case in point - I know T-Bob Hebert was an afterthought at guard, but he's one of the best interior linemen we have now. It took an injury for us to find that out. Russell Sheppard was one of the top QB recruits out of high school. He hasn't thrown a pass for us. If he's been in at QB at all, it's obviously to run or run the option. And he's possibly the best athlete on the team, but if he touches the ball 4 times a game that's a career game. How do you not let one of your best people not get the ball in their hands more often?
Our play calling seems to be suited for different players. We run so many sweeps and string out offensive plays when our line is more suited for downhill blocking. We don't get around the corner much on those stretch plays. Our passing game is designed as downfield passing, not much short or underneath. Therefore our QBs sit in the pocket too long, causing sacks, incomplete passes and INTs. The QB's aren't quick enough mentally or physically to get rid of the ball quicker or elude the rush. Plus if you have to use too many 7 step drops or you have 10-12 yard routes, you often have to keep your TE's in longer to block. They end up blocked in and you only have 2-3 receivers available. It's a bad offensive scheme. The offense needs to be quicker, more slants and comebacks. The quick routes open up the deep routes. The QBs need to have 1-2 hot receivers from time to time that they are going to right off the snap so they can get some confidence. They too often are victims of bad play calls. Jefferson gets a bad rap because he doesn't make good decisions. Some of it is on him, true; but as much of it is on Crowton's playbook.
Defensively, we're good. Damn good. Forget the Auburn debacle. We were beaten by a better team and a better game plan on that day. How do you defense Newton? Hit him low and pray. But we've done fairly well otherwise. Special teams has had way more good plays than bad.
I'm happy we are where we are - it's great for LSU and great for the team. It's great for recruiting the next bunch of Tigers. And with the talent on this team, there isn't any doubt that they deserve to be where they are. Regardless of whether things fall our way and we get to play for the conference championship, or if things fall our way and we get to play for a national championship - we know we have top 5 talent. But don't completely rest on this coaching staff. People forget the bad when days are brighter. This is still the same staff of more than a few passing time management issues. This is the same staff of underuse of top talent. This is the same staff of poor offensive planning. This team wins despite the offensive coaching, not because of it...
