LSU Fans: Time to Grow Up

I've been wanting to write this post for awhile. But I needed some time and perspective to sink in before I dove in. Because it's an emotional issue for many folks and I didn't want to overstate my case.

Simply put, my case is this.

Many LSU fans need to grow up.

Kneejerk Reaction: About Like I Expected

So LSU is 9-3. Not the best season the Tigers have had. But exactly what I expected.

Tonight's win against Arkansas almost perfectly encapsulated the season. Poor tackling, dumbfounding play calling, mediocre line play on both offense and defense, mediocre QB play, good-great special teams play, 3rd and Chavis, and Coach Miles sounding dumb while interviewed.

I am not in the coach-hater camp. I think Miles is a great recruiter and I think he runs the team well. But this team has too much talent to not challenge Bama for the West next year. So I do think Miles needs to have a 10 win season next year. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

There's an Internet full of negativitity out there. Here are some positive points to ponder.

1. LSU won all the games they should've won except Ole Miss. And they were in that game until the last second - literally.

2. LSU was never out of any game, including losses to the #1 and #2 teams in the country.

3. Stevan Ridley is clearly a valid SEC RB for next season and he is getting valuable experience this season.

4. Josh Jasper is clutch. He's back next season.

5. Jordan Jefferson heads into the post-season an SEC veteran. That is huge. And he will be pushed in the off-season by Lee and also by Chris Garrett.

6. Deangelo Peterson looks to be the next pass-catching tight end a LSU. He looks good.

Nine wins is a good season. It's as good as I expected and, when taken into context of injuries and the SEC parity this season, I think it's a great result.

Next year - different story.

For now, it's a couple weeks off and some focus on the bowl matchup.

KNEE JERK REACTION: WTF Was That?

What a confusing, disappointing game from start to finish.  LSU looked awful most of the game.  Ole Miss owned the stat sheet.  Dexter McCluster had his way with the LSU defense.  And yet LSU could have won the football game.   It's hard to describe to someone who didn't watch the game how unlikely an LSU win would've been.  And yet they almost did win.  You, know.  Except for the WTF moment at the end.

Outgoing Mail

In American warfare vernacular, outgoing mail is a term for friendly artillery intended for the enemy. Here at Tigerbait, it's a you tube to get you in the the right mood about the Tiger's whipping their next opponent and just getting out of the office for the weekend. I give you: No Quarter by Led Zeppelin.



Strip away any and all of the animosity of this rivalry and you're left with two teams that can still post an impressive win total and a berth in a new year's day bowl. Ten win seasons and new year's day bowl victories on a consistent basis have as much to do with defining an elite power in college football as winning the national title. Winning the national title is elusive and lucky at best. But continually posting double digit victories announces to everyone that you know how to win and that winning makes you great.

All that said, LSU is doomed this Saturday. All you need to know is in this quote by Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt regarding their biggest threat, Dexter McCluster, "He is electric. He can catch, run it, throw it, hand it off." What?!?!?! Hand it off?!?!?! Holy shit are we DOOOOOOMED.

Ha. Hand it off to whom? Snead so he can throw it to Peterson?

That brilliant quote and its implications aside, this should be a tough game coming down to who really wants it more. So when you strip it all down, lay bare the machinations of each teams playing, the victor will be the one that played with no quarter for anything but winning.

Basketball Quickie: LSU Men 3-0

Trent Johnson's men's basketball team is off to a pretty good start.  The Tigers have beaten UL-Monroe, Indiana State, and Western Kentucky.  Those last two victories came in the first round of the NIT Tip Off tournament.  LSU travels to New York for a matchup with UCONN next Wed.

I've watched bits and pieces of all three games on LSUSports.net.  My impression is that this is going to be an interesting season for LSU.  Even after losing some very big contributers from last year's team (M. Thornton, C. Johnson, and G. Temple), the Tigers look ready to at least compete against a much improved SEC lineup.  Trent Johnson always stresses defense, and the team seems focused in that area. 

Good stuff - Storm Warren (6-7, 230 Soph F) looks really good so far.  He's had three straight double-doubles and he just seems very comfortable on the court.  Taz Mitchell is healthy and productive and is the much-needed senior leader on the court.  And Bo Spencer seems to be handling the PG role.  The Tigers have been very good at the line so far and are out-rebounding the competition.

Stuff to ponder - the offense seems to be struggling right now from the perimeter.  Bo Spencer finally lit off a few 3 pointers against WKU, but otherwise the Tigers have been pretty poor from the 3-pt line (<20%).

Overall:  Way too early to tell, but the UCONN game next Wed should be an indicator of how LSU will perform against tougher competition this year.  Overall, I think this promises to be another season that showcases the quality of coaching LSU has in Trent Johnson.

Ole Miss

I hate em.

SOAPBOX: Get Well Soon, Jordan Jefferson.

Judging from the box score only, you'd be very surprised to find out that LSU actually beat Louisiana Tech last night. It's an ugly looking set of statistics for the Tigers. But the ugliest line in my opinion is the time of possession stat. Because it tells the story of why the Bulldogs were able to make a game of it.

LA Tech had the football for 36:20. LSU for 23:40. 12.5 minutes difference. LA Tech ran 84 offensive plays to LSU's 52.

Viewed from that perspective, it's amazing the LSU defense was able to keep LA Tech out of the endzone as much as they did.

This week in Bandit's brought to you in part by

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Cullman Liquidation


The number four. I distinctly remember 4 pre-snap procedural penalties for the LSU offense. Those are inexusable in October, much less in November in the biggest conference game of the year. And I remember some of those penalties negating first downs. It's easy to bitch about the refs (something I gave up long ago) and the LSU msg boards are eaten up with it. But no one wants to say that the Tiger offense lost the game for LSU, not the refs.

One look back - Then moving on

I was going to disect the Bama game and look in detail at all the good and bad stuff I found. But what would that accomplish, really? Bama has a very fine defense and some very good offensive players and a great head coach. Not much else to say. And I'm not going to talk anymore about the interception call because no one with half a brain disputes that it was a significantly poor call in a huge game that was still competitive.

It's not Bama's fault that they were handed a huge gift by thr replay official.

So I'm moving on. Let's talk about the future.

It's critical that the Tigers retain composure and stay motivated to win. Because a great bowl berth against a quality opponent is very important to next year's season. The freshmen and sophomores need that experience. And recruiting needs another Top 10 finish.

The next game against LA Tech will be critical and it won't be automatic. I don't know the injury situation yet (working too hard) but I hope JJ is back for LA Tech. I think we can win with Lee, but JJ needs another start and maybe another big throwing game.

Ole Miss no longer concern me as much as they did in the early season, but they are very capable of upsetting the Tigers.

So focus and a new set of goals are critical to the rest of the season.

I mean, let's face it. I called this a 2 loss season at best anyway. So I hope the team agrees that 11-2 is a fantastic record. And wouldn't it be great to have LSU spank Boise State in a bowl game? Personally, I hope that's who LSU plays.

But we're not there yet. What was the word? Oh yeah.

Focus.

LSU 15, Bama 24: Quick Thoughts

How'd we do with my recipe?

1.  2nd and 6 or less.  Actually, the Tigers accomplished this about 6 or 7 times in the game.   They also had plenty of 2nd and 10 or more situations, but 1st down plays were generally pretty good.

2.  200+ passing and 2:1 TD to Int ratio.  Well, the Tigers only managed 158 yards in the air and one touchdown, with one interception late by Jarett Lee.  Not good.  And this did play a large factor in the game outcome in my opinion.

3.  Win the turnover war.  Actually, LSU did win the turnover war.  But the refs didn't see it that way.  Peterson's interception was denied.  So each team had 1 interception.  Not good for LSU in this game.

4.  Take advantage of big plays.  LSU had a lack of big plays throughout the game on offense.  Scott had one big run, and the defense gave the Tigers great field position via some fantastic punting and a safety.  The Tigers scored a TD after the safety and punt.  But LSU did not have any offensive big plays.

5.  Penalties and Luck.  Do I have to say it?   All the Bama folks will guffaw.  Because they don't want to believe it.  And I am not one to blame the refs.  But the officiating in this game was terrible (we'll cover that more later) and the interception by Peterson that was denied after the replay clearly showed what an athletic play he made - well, that denied LSU the chance to win the football game.  It changed the momentum completely.  And it ended soon after that.  From a luck standpoint - well, I don't think good or bad luck played much of a factor either way.  LSU certainly didn't get lucky in the game at any time.  And besides maybe one possible interference call that could've been called against Peterson, the calls all went Bama's way.

Let me be clear.  Bama is a better football team because they have a better defense and a slightly better offensive line.  And Ingram and Jones are fantastic.  Bama played a very physical, very good football game.  But the refs interfered in the flow of the game in at least two, and maybe three instances.  So LSU was denied the chance to stay in the football game when the refs denied Peterson his amazing play.

Lots of apparently minor injuries for LSU.  Jefferson didn't play a lot of the 2nd half.  Scott hurt his shoulder I think.  Peterson didn't play much of the 4th quarter.  Black went down for a bit.

Lots to talk about.  The offsides flinch by Barksdale, the lack of sacks by the defense, the awesome punting by LSU, Stevan Ridley, Jarrett Lee, LSU's offensive line, the 2-point conversion attempt, the poor clock management that ended up putting the Tigers in the 4th quarter with no timeouts.   Lots to examine later.

The Tigers played their butts off.  They deserved a better effort from the officials.  And the Bamatards that honestly don't think that interception was inbounds and/or changed the game - well, congrats on the win.  I'm rooting for Florida.

Outgoing Mail

In American warfare vernacular, outgoing mail is a term for friendly artillery intended for the enemy. Here at Tigerbait, it's a you tube to get you in the the right mood about the Tiger's whipping their next opponent and just getting out of the office for the weekend. I give you: Ante Up by Bert and Ernie.



Yes kids, this is Bert and Ernie throwing down gangster rap. Two lessons here. I post this in a light hearted spirit. That's where the Tigers need to be. Yes, they should be fired up and fully prepared, but there's no pressure here. All the pressure in on Alabama. This is the weekend to show up and remember it's a game, have fun. The Tigers aren't supposed to win. The Tigers aren't being discussed as national contenders. The Tigers aren't undefeated. The Tide is all of those. Tremendous pressure comes with that.

The flip side is the name of the song. Ante Up. I think Bama has to put something more on the table. Yes, LSU could certainly bear to continue the improvement seen since Florida. Both teams have a lot to prove in a game like this, it will pretty much decide the West. As aforementioned LSU can show up feeling good about themselves and their recent surge and that serves as a pretty substantial bet in and of itself. The Tide needs bring something more.

All the pressure is on Bama. Their offense has fast become one dimensional and predictable. This game is a must win for them and their title hopes. Hell, the talk is of impressing voters this time of year. Bama has to think not of winning but by as much as they can. There's the bullseye of being undefeated and the hype that comes with it. That's not a good place to be mentally when preparing for their toughest game to date. And sometimes home field is an advantage. Not this game and not this week. The record is terrible for home teams. LSU has no distractions and just gets to show up and play. Bama has to perform after another week of hype swirling around each member of the coaches and players.

I've had a good feeling about this game. But we'll see. I think it'll be a good one.

Recipe to Beat Bama: Ingredient's Four and Five

The first ingredient was: 2nd and 6 or Less.

The second ingredient was: 200+ and 2:1.

The third ingredient is: Win the Turnover War.

The fourth ingredient is:  Take Advantage of Big Plays.

Long drives are going to be very tough to sustain.  The Tigers will not likely be able to get to the endzone without great field position.  And it will be difficult to get great field position without some big plays.  And by big plays, I mean offense, defense and special teams.  When they happen, the Tigers need to convert.  LSU needs to have a plan to capitalize on momentum-shifting big plays and get points on the board.

On offense, I would expect the big plays to come via the passing game.  As I have discussed earlier, LSU has enough offensive weaponry, in the persons of Lafell, Toliver, Shepard, Holliday, Scott and Randle, to gain some big yardage a few times in Saturday's game. 

On defense, LSU will obviously be looking for turnovers.  But as we've hinted, Bama is almost as stingy as LSU in this realm.  So the defense will also need to come up with some big stops.  The Tigers need to force some 3 and outs in Bama territory, and also stop the Tide from scoring 7 in the Red Zone.
 
Special teams may be the best place for LSU to make big plays.  LSU's punt return stats are great.  But the most interesting stat is kickoff returns.  Bama is last in the SEC on kickoff coverage.  And, while LSU is last in kickoff returns, most of that is because the Tigers seldom get a chance to return one - teams have either sky kicked or otherwise avoided letting LSU's deep men get the football.  If Alabama makes the mistake of kicking to Holliday and Brooks, perhaps we can have some excitement on Saturday.
 
The fifth ingredient is:  Penalties and Luck.
 
Regardless of whether you believe Bama gets referee preference, the stats for penalties between LSU and Bama lately are hard to dispute.  Basically, LSU gives up somewhere between 40 and 60 yards a game to Bama in penalties.  The Tigers need to reverse this stat.  While the Tigers can't force the refs to call penalties on Bama, they can make it difficult to call them on LSU. 
 
And Luck.  I'm talking about fumbles that bounce the right way - back into Tiger hands.  I'm talking about dropped interceptions.  I'm talking about Jefferson seeing a blown coverage in time to take advantage of it before being sacked.  I'm talking about McElroy getting sacked just before he's able to find a wide open receiver in blown coverage.  LSU needs Lady Luck to be wearing purple on Saturday.
 
In summary, LSU needs solid first down gains, a productive passing game, an advantage in turnovers, some big plays that result in scores, and some luck with the refs and the football.
 
LSU needs all of these things to one degree or another.  Otherwise, Bama's defense will beat LSU's offense and the Tigers lose.
 
I don't like it.  But that's how I see it.
 
Not an easy recipe.