A View from the Bottom

Nick Marshall runs around hapless
 LSU defenders for a touchdown.

The last LSU coach to lose 41-7 to Auburn got his walking papers at the end of that season. I’m not saying Miles will or should be fired, but that game was a wakeup call to all of the problems with this team and the program in general.

* LSU is again lost at the QB position. This is Les Miles’ 10^th year at LSU and he has yet to figure out how to handle the QB’s, be it recruiting, playing time or development.  Look at the list of failures with one lone bright spot:

2005 class: Ryan Perrilloux.  Won 2007 SEC Title game for LSU.  Booted before 2008 season. Career Stats: 79 pass attempts, 55 rushes, 927 total yards, 10 TD’s.

2006 class: DID NOT SIGN A QB

2007 class: Jarrett Lee. Stayed at LSU for 5 years.  Led the SEC in QB efficiency in 2011 when he was benched for Jordan Jefferson. Career Stats: Appeared in 43 games.  Threw for 3,949 yards and 32 TD’s.

2008 class: Jordan Jefferson.  Don’t get me started.

2009 class: Chris Garrett. Never played a down for LSU.  Left after 1 year.  Russell Sheppard.  Never was going to play QB for LSU.  Undistinguished career.

2010 class: Zach Lee. Never played a down for LSU.  Signed baseball contract.

2011 class: Zach Mettenberger. Threw for 5,783 yards (No. 6 in LSU history) and 35 TDs (No. 5 in LSU history).  Led one of the most proficient offenses in school history in 2013 as the Tigers racked up 465 points (No. 4 in LSU history) and 5,893 total yards (No. 2 in LSU history) Stephen Rivers.  Transferred to Vandy in 2014.  2 career passes at LSU, both incomplete. Jerrard Randall.  Stayed at LSU and left after 2 seasons.  Never saw field.

2012 class: Jeremy Liggins. Never stepped foot on campus.  Currently plays for Ole Miss.

2013 class: Anthony Jennings. Currently embroiled in latest LSU QB merry-go-round.  Hayden Rettig. Transferred to Rutgers after one season.

2014 class: Brandon Harris. See Jennings status above.

* In four of those seasons 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2012 Miles didn’t sign a QB or essentially signed no one at the position.

* Mettenberger was the crowning achievement of Miles’ tenure in respect to the QB position, big, tall, pocket passer with the ability to deliver all over the field.  Z Mett is a prototypical NFL style pocket passer.  Yet here we are stuck with two “duel threat” QB’s in Jennings and Harris trying to run a pro-style offense.  Miles has obviously learned nothing. 

* Harris crapped the bed in Jordan Hare.  His throws were wild and he bailed out of the pocket too soon on multiple plays.  In retrospect, it probably would have been better to let Jennings start and bring Harris off the bench.  It seemed clear to me that he was overwhelmed by the game and the atmosphere.  There were plays to be made, but the moment was too big for him.

* The defensive talent drain is really showing.  The Tigers have no pass rush and it just makes everyone else look worse.  Then when players are in position, they are whiffing or missing tackles.  Here’s an ugly stat, LSU is giving up 7.73 yards per play in conference games (13^th in SEC).  I understand players wanting to get to the NFL, but why such a drain here?  Is Miles building a college football program, or an NFL minor league factory?

* The run was working on first down, but second and third down was a nightmare.  After leading the nation in third down conversions last year, the Tigers went 0 for 13 Saturday night.  Matter of fact, LSU is 2 for 26 in third down conversions in two SEC games.  That’s 7.69%.  Ouch.

LSU travels to Gainesville this weekend to take on the less than mighty Gators.  Florida’s offense is even worse than the Tigers, but the defense is still pretty nasty.  UF’s QB situation is about as settled as LSU’s.  This game will be a mess.  Expect lots of punts and a few field goals.  I will be traveling to the game, so pray for my safety.  On a positive note, Chase McCalip and I are 3-0 in road trips going back to 2000.  We will try and keep the streak alive.

LSU 12 – Gators 10

 

Final Four: Week 6

Each week I will be posting my Final Four based a combination of games played thus far and predictions about the eventual participants.  My four is a combination of what has actually happened on the field and my evaluations projecting out to the end of the season.

Semi-Finals

(1)   FSU v. (4) Michigan State
(2)   Auburn v. (3) Oklahoma

National Championship

FSU v. Auburn