-The American Heritage Dictionary
LSU imploded in the Swamp Saturday losing to Florida 23-10. The Tigers killed themselves with five turnovers, a missed FG, a blocked punt and a fumble, which resulted in a safety. Even with all the miscues, the Tigers had the ball on the Florida 20 with a little over three minutes left after blocking a Florida punt. But on first down, Russell threw behind Bowe and suffered his third interception of the game.
Fairly or unfairly, QB’s are judged by their performances in the big games, and this season, Russell has come up lacking in two road losses to Auburn and Florida. While his completion percentage (58%) and yardage (494) are solid, the three INT’s and one TD leave fans wishing for more.
A big reason for Russell’s road struggles start with the lack of a running game. LSU has rushed for a grand total of 132 yards on 48 attempts versus Auburn and Florida. Overall, LSU is ranked 60th in the nation in rushing. The other problem is Russell’s decision making. I would love to sit in the upcoming film sessions because I’ve got to believe Jimbo had a laundry list of poor reads by Russell. As a fourth year player I had hoped Russell would be further along in his development. But he continues to be a work in progress. And poor performances in big games will beg the question, what if Matt Flynn was selected the starter back in August? I don’t know if he would have beaten Auburn or Florida, but LSU wouldn’t be any worse than 4-2. I am not suggesting a change, but the question is worth asking.
Special teams were a disaster. Jackson muffed a punt in the first quarter that led to Florida’s first TD. Then LSU proceeded to fumble the opening kickoff of the second half which led to a safety. LSU then had a punt blocked and missed a FG. Chris Jackson pinned a punt on the one only to have it called back for illegal procedure. His next kick went out of bounds near the 30. Special teams are not LSU’s strong suit as evidenced by the Tigers being ranked 104th in the country in KO returns and 82nd in punt returns. I think it may be time for Trindon Holliday to be given another chance returning punts. With the great returners LSU has had in the past, Eddie Kennison, Kevin Faulk, Dom Davis and Skyler Green, I can’t believe LSU can’t do better at the position.
Danny McCray may end up having a great career at LSU, but his first visit to the Swamp was brutal. #44 is a true freshman safety from Houston, Texas and was rated with 3 stars by rivals.com. The injury to Daniel Francis forced him into the game and he struggled. On Tebow’s second TD pass, the receiver was McCray’s man. As McCray looked in the backfield, Louis Murphy ran right past him and was WIDE open. On LSU’s blocked punt, McCray allowed a Florida rusher to get past him to the inside resulting in a blocked punt. Hopefully better days are ahead for this guy.
I actually liked the play calling in the game. Jimbo had a few nice wrinkles with direct snaps to Doucet and hand-offs from the shotgun. The receivers did a nice job catching the ball and Jacob Hester continues to be a reliable workhorse and ended the game with 14 touches for 68 total yards. Some will say Miles and his staff were out coached, but I disagree. Jackson’s fumble gave Florida seven points. Russell then fumbled at the Florida one which gave away seven points. With three minutes left in the half, Russell throws his first pick of the game on first down when he had open receivers underneath. Florida converts that turnover into seven points. Then to open the second half, Doucet fumbles the kickoff, boom…a safety and the score becomes 16-7. McCray gets beat for the final TD and Florida ends up with 23 points. No, this one is on the players. I am waiting to see a clip of Saban’s famous “Brook trout” tirade.
Finally, I must address the officiating.
1. Tim Tebow’s “jump pass” should have been called back. At least two if not three of the Florida offensive linemen were in the endzone when the pass was made, thus a penalty for illegal man down field. This was an easy call and the refs totally blew it.
2. A few plays earlier, LSU was flagged for “a blow to the head” on Leak. The LSU D-linemen didn’t even get close to Leak’s helmet. Phantom call.
3. Before LSU’s fumble on the one, the refs killed LSU with bogus calls. First they flagged the Tigers for holding downfield as Davis scored. Horrible call.
4. Then Hester scored but refs ruled him down at the one. Replay CLEARLY shows the ball across the line when his elbow hits. Bad call…where the hell is the replay?
5. Craig Davis is called out on a great catch in the second half. No review. Turns out upon watching the tape, he was in.
6. The refs missed a bad personal foul facemask on Ray McDonald. See photo here.
I don’t know if these calls changed the ultimate outcome of the game, but they were killers and came at crucial moments. As a side note, I believe this was the same crew that did the LSU v. Auburn game. I don’t think it is a conspiracy; I think they just suck.
The Tigers get the Wildcats in Tiger Stadium next. Kentucky will be the best team to visit Baton Rouge but I expect another solid beating by the home team. Although the chances are slim, LSU can still win the West, win the SEC and play in the Sugar Bowl. Don’t forget about 2001. LSU started out 4-3 and went on a six game winning streak to finish the season. With Auburn losing and the Hogs still on LSU’s schedule, anything can happen.
LSU 38 – Kentucky 7
6 comments:
Of the six calls/no-calls you mention, 1 of them may have been in error.
1. Tim Tebow’s “jump pass” should have been called back. At least two if not three of the Florida offensive linemen were in the endzone when the pass was made, thus a penalty for illegal man down field. This was an easy call and the refs totally blew it.
The linemen were not flagged for being ineligibles downfield, since they weren't. The ball was snapped at the one. The linemen were in the expanded neutral zone, thus there was no foul.
2. A few plays earlier, LSU was flagged for “a blow to the head” on Leak. The LSU D-linemen didn’t even get close to Leak’s helmet. Phantom call.
They may have missed that one. Tough to tell, but it didn't look like Pittman got him.
3. Before LSU’s fumble on the one, the refs killed LSU with bogus calls. First they flagged the Tigers for holding downfield as Davis scored. Horrible call.
That was a good call on Johnson. He grabbed the Fla. player and slowed him up as he went after Davis.
4. Then Hester scored but refs ruled him down at the one. Replay CLEARLY shows the ball across the line when his elbow hits. Bad call…where the hell is the replay?
Hester was down. His elbow was on the ground prior to the ball breaking the plane of the goal line. There was nothing on the replay to indicate otherwise.
5. Craig Davis is called out on a great catch in the second half. No review. Turns out upon watching the tape, he was in.
When was that? If you are talking about the play I think you are his first foot came down out, but we could possibly be thinking of 2 different plays.
6. The refs missed a bad personal foul facemask on Ray McDonald. See photo here.
Look at the photo. The defender has a handful of jersey, not facemask.
Not the same guys from the Auburn game.
I'll address the worst ones.
#2 Did you see the play? There is no maybe about it. Trust me, I taped the game and watched the replay a number of times.
#3 A weak holding call at best.
#4 Did you watch the replays?
#6 LOOK at the picture again. McDonald's finger is CLEARLY in the facemask.
I am curious, are you sure about the refs. Because the ref who threw the flag on the holding call looked just like the ref that threw the pass interference flag late in the Auburn game.
Where the holding is considered, you need to apply the reversal principle. If a guy in a blue shirt had held in the same way and there was no flag, would you think that UF got away with something there? It doesn't take much to slow down a guy - a quick grab will do the trick.
On the Hester play, yes I watched the replays. They were from a bad angle and the only way to see with certainty would be from straight down the goal line, but there was nothing in the replay to indicate that the ball broke the plane of the goal prior to Hester being down. The F was right on top of the play and had him down and there was nothing on the replay to indicate that he was wrong. It was a tough call and base don the replay it looked like he got it right. Again, reversal principle. If Hester was in blue and it was ruled a TD we would be hearing about how it was a BS call and the RB rolled into the endzone.
That photo doesn't indicate that his finger is in the face mask. It may be and it may not be. In front of and in would look the same from that angle. There is no way you are going to turn someone's head like that with one finger.
I am certain it's not the same guys. The guy who flagged the DPI at Auburn was skinny and white, the guy who flagged the holding was thick and black, but yeah, they were too entirely different crews.
The fact the you will not conceed that the "blow to the head" call was terrible makes me seriously question anything you say otherwise...
So the next question is, can the Gators continue to win. I'm still not a believer but maybe I am still waiting for the high flying Days of Steve Spurrier...
Shoot me an e-mail and we can talk real smack.
prowler
It's not a matter of conceding or not conceding anything. Based on what I saw, I think they may have missed it, but I haven't looked at it other than during the replay they showed during the game, so I really don't know. If they did, they did. Those things happen. They also missed a PF on Brian Johnson.
As far as the other stuff is concerned, question it or don't - I'm just pointing out how it's called and why.
[url=http://www.casino-online.gd]casinos online[/url], also known as operative casinos or Internet casinos, are online versions of historic ("buddy and mortar") casinos. Online casinos franchise gamblers to dissemble and wager on casino games from start to finish the Internet.
Online casinos normally rib uncivil odds and payback percentages that are comparable to land-based casinos. Some online casinos affirm on higher payback percentages with a localize working automobile games, and some reason community payout participation audits on their websites. Assuming that the online casino is using an aptly programmed unsystematically many generator, catalogue games like blackjack preoccupy an established congress edge. The payout jiffy beneath the waves the aegis regardless of these games are established to the insignificant the rules of the game.
Uncountable online casinos sublease or apprehension their software from companies like Microgaming, Realtime Gaming, Playtech, Worldwide Collide with into Technology and CryptoLogic Inc.
Post a Comment