Break Time

Fans always want to read WAY too much into games like these. LSU was never going to lose this game. Period. And there was nothing LSU could have done to “impress” me with a victory. Furman was a rent-a-win scheduled to secure a 7th home game for a homecoming blowout.

OFFENSE

*Z Mett is in a little slump. He’s thrown 4 TD’s and 5 INT’s in his last three games. Let’s hope the week off lets him rest up and refocus for the best defense he will face all year.

*ODB had a career night with 204 receiving yards and 2 TD’s. But he has got to stop fumbling punts.

*Jeremy Hill continues to roll with his 5th 100 yard game of the season.

DEFENSE

* The defense was sluggish in the first half but played extremely well in the second. The Tigers gave up a measly 39 yards in the final 30 minutes.

* This LSU team is on pass to tally 8 INT’s for the season. That is the smallest amount since 2008. For comparison, from 2009-2012 the Tigers averaged 17 INT’s a season. Overall, from 2010-2012, LSU forced an average of 31 turnovers a season. This year, the Tigers are on pace for only 17 takeaways.

* I would like to see Kendall Beckwith get more playing time. He looks like he has the potential to be very good.

Odds & Ends

There is a very good article here from And The Valley Shook regarding the LSU fan base. It is a thought I have espoused for a long time. That is:

Get over being mad. It’s a football game. It’s young men running around and crashing into each other. You can’t win every game. I will never forget after the exciting win over Arkansas in 2009 how the LSU fans around me looked furious about how the game played out. We won! Be excited! Don’t bring your miserable life around this program!

I hear this TIRED mantra about LSU being so much more talented then everyone else and we never live up to our talent, blah, blah, blah. That is a complete MYTH. Yes LSU is very talented, so is A&M, Alabama, Missouri, Georgia and any number of other teams. The disparity in talent is very slim.

The other misguided anger involves the head coach “not getting the players up for the game.” This plays into our societal cop-out of refusing to force individuals to take responsibilities for themselves and their actions. We want to blame anyone except the party responsible. If a player can’t motivate himself to play, the blame lies with the player. True fire and passion cannot be “coached” into a player. Crappy game plan, blame the coaches. Crappy effort, blame the players.

We have a week off after nine straight weeks of LSU football. I think that long stretch may have taken a toll on the players and played into the loss to Ole Miss. The break should rejuvenate the Tigers for the biggest test of the season on November 9.

Maximum Carnage

This week’s 3 thoughts:

* There were 5 upsets in the SEC this weekend: Ole Miss over LSU, Tennessee over South Carolina, Vanderbilt over Georgia, Auburn over A&M and Missouri over Florida. Had you bet the money line parlay on those five dogs, the payout would have been 630-1. Nice!

* All of the “what if?” scenarios about the BCS this early in the season are a waste of time. All that talk about Louisville going undefeated was hot air. Focus on the week at hand because things change every Saturday.

* It is well known that I hate Alabama. Like all good hate it has grown over the years. I have a feeling the hate will continue to grow after this year’s LSU v. Alabama tilt. But I must say that what Saban has done in his 7 years with the Tide has been remarkable. With all of the foibles and drama that surrounds 18-22 year old college men (boys), Saban has produced an unrelenting machine that grinds opponents into the turf. In the past five weeks, Alabama has given up 6,0,3,7 and 0 points. Sure the opponents are terrible. But to keep his players focused on the task at hand when it would be so easy to look ahead to down the road is remarkable. When Saban finally ends his coaching career, don’t be surprised to hear him called “the greatest college football coach…ever.”

BCS

More shakeups in the BCS games, and not for the better either.

Rose: Ohio State v. UCLA
Orange: Florida State v. Oklahoma
Fiesta: Texas v. Fresno State
Sugar: Auburn v. UCF
National Title: Alabama v. Oregon

The Playoffs

Just for fun, if the College Football Playoffs were in effect for 2013, they might look like this if the season ended today:

Sugar (Semi): Alabama v. Ohio State
Rose (Semi): Oregon v. Florida State
Orange: Miami v. Missouri
Cotton: Baylor v. Auburn
Chick-fil-a: Clemson v. Texas Tech
Fiesta: Stanford v. Fresno State

Road Woes

As a rule, with a loss such as the Tigers suffered Saturday night, I like to give myself time to digest the game. While I am extremely disappointed, as the game wore on I realized that this team is just not good enough to accomplish the lofty feats of other LSU teams over the past 12 years. Bottom line: the offensive line is good but not great, the defense is a shadow of what LSU fans have become accustomed to and Miles still has no clue how to properly manage the game clock.

OFFENSE

* Z Mett was horrible in the first half. All 3 INT’s were thrown poorly and into double coverage. I’m not sure if he was unfocused, greedy or worried about his productivity slumping after only getting 152 yards and zero TD’s against Florida. Whatever it was, he killed the Tigers in the first half. To his credit, he played much better in the second half leading LSU to 24 points, but the Tigers dug too big of a hole going down 17-0.

* Z Mett was sacked 3 times and the ground game didn’t generate any big plays with the longest run being 12 yards. Some of this lies at the feet of the offensive line while some also goes to LSU’s philosophy of running the ball. Too often Miles and Co. want to run plays inside a phone booth which neutralizes Hill’s ability to run over people. More runs out of spread formations would help LSU.

* After utilizing the backs heavily in the pass game at Georgia, we haven’t seen nearly as much of that. Need to mix it up a bit.

* I would be OK with giving Coach Studrawa his walking papers. The offensive line has be average for years now.

DEFENSE

* Where to begin? We will start up front where the pass rush has been hit or miss. The Tigers did get 3 sacks, but that came on blitzes, not with just the front four. Anthony Johnson has been really disappointing this season. Against Ole Miss he recorded one solo and one assisted tackle.

* Too often running backs are breaking through and I’m asking, “Where are the LB’s?”

* At this point, the secondary just can’t cover anyone. Wallace was 30 for 39 with 346 yards. On multiple occasions, Tre’Davious White was holding onto Donte Moncrief for dear life.

* The back breaker was LSU’s inability to get off the field on third down. Ole Miss was 11 of 18 on third down conversions. The Rebs had drives of 17, 14, 11 and 9 plays. Furthermore, Ole Miss did not punt once in the second half.

OTHER FAILINGS

* Once again Miles went to Ole Miss and mismanaged the clock. Instead of calling a timeout with 26 seconds left in the game, he called one with 6. Highly unlikely LSU would have been able to score with 26 seconds left, but to eliminate the chance is just TYPICAL HORRIBLE CLOCK MANAGEMENT by Miles. Had LSU not burned 2 timeouts earlier, the Tigers could have gotten the ball back with over a minute and a half left to go.

After the game Miles took blame for not having the players ready. A good PR move, but I’m not buying it. I have criticized Miles many times on this site over the years, but this one is on the players. Did Chavis all the sudden for get how to coach? All season we have talked about the job Cameron has done with Z Mett and the offense. While I think the coaches share the blame, this was a loss by the players. Z Mett killed LSU with his poor first half play. Those 3 INT’s were NOT from poor coaching, that was poor execution. In the first half, RT Jerald Hawkins was getting abused by Ole Miss’ DE. Coaching at fault? Probably some, but that is also an execution issue. Giving up third down conversions on 3 and 15? COVER SOMEONE. This defense is young with few leaders and no real playmakers. On a positive note, LSU will get back NINE starters on defense next year. It’s a down year, it happens after losing so many guys early to the NFL.

Fans have a tendency to overreact to the most recent game. This loss is no different. Ole Miss is a decent team; they should win 8-9 games this season. Fans need to accept the fact that LSU is very young on the defensive side of the ball. Mettenberger had an awful half and LSU is just not good enough to overcome three first half turnovers.

LSU v. Furman

I don’t know much about Furman except that they are an FCS team from South Carolina. Look for LSU to flop around until getting focused and putting away the Paladins.

LSU 42 – Furman 41

Role Reversal

I cringe in doing this but I have to give Lou Holtz a little credit here. He’s said more than once that in college football, you never know what you are going to get each week from your team. This week, LSU’s porous defense stood tall and kept the Gators out of the endzone in a solid 17-6 victory. Give the LSU staff a lot of credit on this win.

Offense

* The offensive line controlled Florida for most of the game racking up 175 yards on 39 carries. Coming into the game, UF was only giving up 65 yards per game on the ground. Jeremy Hill continued to show why he is one of the best RB’s in the country rushing for 121 yards averaging 6.4 yards a carry.

* Z Mett had some very pedestrian numbers going 9 for 17 for 158 yards. Those are season lows in attempts, completions and yards. But this was by design. He was efficient and didn’t turn the ball over which was exactly what the Tigers needed.

* Give Miles and Co. a lot of credit for the game plan this week. They realized that the only way Florida wins this game was on big plays by the defense and special teams. The Tigers played some “old LSU football” shortening the game and keeping things simple and it worked. I really like how LSU showed they are capable of winning games in different ways.

Defense

* It’s amazing how much better you look when you line up correctly and execute your assignment. There were plenty of superlatives on this side of the ball.

* The defensive line played like we thought they could. UF ran for 151 yards on 36 carries (4.19 yds/carry), the longest being a 14 yard gain. LSU also sacked Murphy 4 times for a loss of 40 yards. Jermauria Rasco racked up 4 QB hurries as well.

* LSU defenders need to learn how to catch the ball. Barrow and White could have made big plays with passes hitting them in the worst possible spot, the hands.

* Coach Chavis was much more aggressive dialing up a number of blitzes during the game. Jalen Mills and Micah Eugene each got a sack on blitz plays.

Did anyone else notice the chippiness in the game? Muschamp seems to run a pretty loose ship and the UF players seem to reflect that on the field. Since taking over in 2011, UF has an average national ranking of 114th in penalties per game (7.9 penalties/game in that span).

LSU v. Ole Miss

The Rebels are coming off a tough 41-38 loss to A&M. After starting 3-0, Ole Miss is now 3-3 just hoping to get bowl eligible. In four SEC games this season, Ole Miss has given up an average of 225 yards a game on the ground. On the other side of the ball Ole Miss can score points, but the Rebs have given up over 3 sacks per game in their four conference games.

I look for the Tigers to put up big numbers this week in Oxford as the defense continues to improve.

LSU 45 – Ole Piss 20

In the press conference after the game a reporter used the hammer and nail analogy to talk about the last two LSU v. UF games. Les’ response was classic Miles…

Bring on the Gators

Sorry for the late post this week.

LSU continued its dominance over Mississippi State with a 59-26 win on Saturday. There was plenty to like and much to be concerned about. But 5-1 is a great first half of the season with an opportunity for bigger things down the road.

Offense

*Z Mett is just getting better every week. He finished 25 of 29 for 340 yards with 2 TD’s and an INT. With all the great QB’s in the league, Z Mett is ranked first in QB rating, TD’s, yards per attempt and total yards. These are amazing All-American type numbers.

*Jeremy Hill busted off another long run and finished with 157 yards and 2 TD’s.

*Jarvis Landry picked up an ankle injury which is a cause for concern with Florida this week.

*Analyzing the offensive line is interesting. From a statistical standpoint the Tigers are not bad. LSU is rushing for 197 yards a game which would be the 3rd highest in the Miles regime. LSU is 71st in the nation in sacks allowed giving up 1.83 per game, but given Z Mett’s lack of mobility that number is understandable. Having said all that, this unit doesn’t really meet the eyeball test. They are good but not great. I think the Tigers have benefited from big plays in the running game and beastly performances by Jeremy Hill.

Defense

*Another ugly first half for the Tigers. LSU gave up 23 points and over 200 yards before halftime.

*Everyone has focused on the secondary, but the real problem is up front. The front seven don’t stuff the run or provide much of a pass rush. In Chavis’ first four seasons, Tigers’ opponents averaged 115 yards per game on the ground and 3.24 yards a carry. This season, LSU is giving up 159.5 yards per game and 4.25 yards a carry.

*Look for LSU to play two true freshmen at corner in the nickel package, Tre’Davious White and Rashard Robinson. Lots of ability, little experience.

*I took a look at the LSU game notes for this week (click here) and it was very interesting to see the breakdown of starts by player. Of the 35 players listed (see page 17 of 61) only 9 had started for 10 games or more. The graphic really brings home how inexperienced this team is on both sides of the ball.

LSU v. UF

Big game this weekend as the Gators roll into town with the best defense in the league. In three conference games, Florida is only giving up 222 yards a game and 3.8 yards per play. It should be noted that UF has thus far faced Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee, the three worst offenses in the SEC. Notably, UF is only giving up 75 yards per game on the ground in those SEC games.

LSU must be able to run enough to maintain some balance on offense. Look for Hill to get 25+ carries. LSU’s passing game should continue to hum along and produce another 300 yard day.

Defensively, Florida’s new QB Tyler Murphy is going to give LSU some fits. He can run and throw fairly well. But he has never faced anything like Tiger Stadium. Look for him to make a few errors turning the ball over in pressure situations.

If the Tigers can get up early on Florida, the Gators will struggle a bit to keep up. But LSU’s defense hasn’t stopped anyone so look for another close game.

LSU 30 – UF 23

LSU's Jacob Hester in the Tiger's 2007 victory over Florida.

The End of Lame

“A man does good business when he rids himself of a turd.”

King Edward I of England (1239-1307)

In that case, USC AD Pat Haden did great business in the wee hours Sunday morning jettisoning the huge mistake that is Lane Kiffin. Rarely has one done so little when being given so much.

Three Thoughts

* Alabama is back to smacking people around beating Ole Miss 25-0. I picked Bama to face off against Georgia for the SEC Title and thus far that prediction is playing out.

* DeLoss Dodds, Texas’ AD is set to retire August of 2014. Look for Mack Brown to get bumped upstairs as the Longhorns search for a new head coach for 2014. At least that what is says in the Prowler’s Crystal (Foot)Ball.

* I think the NCAA is doing the right thing with Penn State by gradually reducing the scholarship penalties. Some talking heads are saying this is an admission by the NCAA that they overreacted. I say it’s the NCAA using the carrot AND the stick to get schools to get their houses in order. Penn State has enacted over 100 of the recommendations of the Freeh Report. We should reward positive change.

I have some big changes in the BCS lineup this week. I don’t know if it will play out this way, but the games would be fantastic.

Rose: Alabama v. Stanford

Orange: Baylor v. Clemson

Fiesta: Oklahoma v. Louisville

Sugar: Georgia v. Florida State

National Title: Ohio State v. Oregon

Dawg Poo!

It may seem counter intuitive considering how the game played out, but this game was won in the trenches, specifically, LSU's inability to run the ball with consistency and Georgia’s ability to completely protect Murray for the entire game. Not only did LSU not record a sack, the Tigers were unable to even produce one QB hurry. Miles is now 11-9 on the road versus SEC opponents with winning records. This is no knock on Miles; it just shows how tough it is to beat good SEC teams at their place.

Offense

* Z Mett was awesome in defeat. He completed 62% of his passes for a career best 372 yards with 3 TD’s and ZERO turnovers. He currently sits 6th nationally in QB rating and Yards per Attempt. Sure we wish he could have led that game winning drive, but I’m not going to fault him for coming up short there.

* 77 yards on 36 carries is not going to cut it if LSU hopes to win the division. The O-line needs to step up.

* ODB and Jarvis Landry continue to shine. Both average over 100 yards a game receiving and have combined for 11 TD catches.

* However, ODB’s muffed punt was extremely costly. In a big game like that, those types of mistakes can kill a team. On the good side, Beckham still ranks 2nd nationally in all-purpose-yards.

* Cam Cameron has been a wizard this season. LSU is converting 59% of their 3rd downs, leading the SEC. The playing calling is creative and fresh. Cam deserves plenty of “at-a-boys.”

Defense

* That was miserable. Where to start? The front four didn’t do anything all game. No pass rush and no run stuffing. Georgia got 196 yards on the ground and Murray wasn’t sacked once. Interestingly enough, looking only at conference games, LSU is giving up 6.1 yards a play. That ranks 3rd in the SEC. So much for the fantastic defenses the league has produced during this BCS Title run.

* The secondary is in disarray. There were multiple coverage busts with confusion reigning supreme.

* LSU has only caused 7 turnovers thus far this season.

* LSU ranks 48th in third down conversion percentage defense. The Tigers need to do a better job of getting off the field.

* Clearly the front 4 aren’t getting it done. Chavis will earn his paycheck this season trying to figure out how to produce pressure and protect that inexperienced secondary. Good luck!

LSU visits Starkville this Saturday with an opportunity to continue a dominant run over the Bulldogs. LSU is 25-3 since 1985 against MSU, winning the last 13 in a row. Expect continued excellence from Mettenberger and a better showing by the defense. State is giving up 445 yards per game to BCS foes which bodes well for the Tigers. On the flip side, MSU is averaging 375 on offense. Les Miles is 20-1 after a loss in his 9 seasons at LSU. Look for that to move to 21-1.

LSU 38 – MSU 20