I was very proud of my Tigers this weekend. I heard one ESPN analyst give them a grade of “B” because “LSU had to win with defense and special teams, rather than a dominant offensive showing.”
Well, HELLO! That’s how LSU wins almost all its games. Defense and special teams, as well as “intangibles” that seem to follow Les Miles around like a 4-leaf clover.
When asked about the LSU defense after the game, the Oregon coach said something like, “when we were coming on to the field, and you look at LSU’s defensive players–we don’t see players like that in our conference.” Sure, there are some, but all in all teams aren’t going to put up Pac-12 type numbers against an elite SEC defense. (Of course, Boise laid up over 500 yards against Georgia, right?)
During the game, the announcers were ribbing Miles a bit for being “stubborn” calling off tackle run after off-tackle run, even after Oregon was stuffing the box with 9-10 defenders. But it paid off in the second half. That’s the reason you pound pound pound the ball in the first half of games. If you break a few, great, but that’s not the goal. The goal is to wear down the defense so much that the 4th quarter belongs to you. And it paid off–runs that were going for 2 yards in the first half were going for 6-7 in the second half. (Total rushing yards for the game: LSU 175, Oregon 95)
I’m looking forward to this season–hopefully with a few less heart-attack finishes than recent years!
This is a very good point, and one that isn’t made often enough. It’s the great advantage of “run first and often” offenses. If you have the defense to shore it up (particularly the secondary that can run with a quick, no-huddle opponent, which LSU most certainly does), the run-first offense dominates. It may not seem like in the first quarter, or the second, or sometimes even the third - but in the fourth quarter, when the defense has been on the field for another drive of 10-plus plays, they’re steadily giving up ground four yards at a time, they already got up from the last bruising down ready to puke out their earholes, and they see the offense lined up in the power-I again, there is NOTHING in the game that is more discouraging and disheartening. They hold on, and hold on, and hold on, and the running back Just. Keeps. Coming. The defensive line starts to get pancaked. The big offensive lineman across from you grins, and you both know you’re about to get handled. Again. The linebackers choke up on the line, trying to prevent the hemorrhaging yardage.
That’s when a WR, who hasn’t really been doing anything stressful for the drive except throwing largely meaningless edge blocks, dunks off and picks up a quick screen on the corner. Your safeties and corners have been edging up to the line, trying to keep the bowling ball of a running back in control, and suddenly, you’re backing up 15 yards at a time instead of 4.
The run-first game is the passing game’s best friend.
Well, The U is obviously missing those starters on defense. Maryland should have walked away with this game, but obviously have struggles of their own. Sloppy game on both sides, but the weather may have had something to do with that. O’Brien has talent, but made a mental errors that a full strength Miami D would have made him pay for. I was really impressed at how well Maryland’s D-line did against Miami’s O-line. On paper it looked like a total mismatch.
Morris looked really good, but ultimately lost. My guess is Harris gets the start against OSU. That tailback is exciting to watch, ain’t he? Watch out, 'Noles. UM isn’t the pushover I thought they were.
I don’t why there is such an uproar over the uniforms. The Helmets were pretty bad, but I blame the Maryland Flag more than I do the Terrapins. And I bet UnderArmour is smiling all the way to the bank this morning.
You’re more optimistic about the Canes right now than I am.
Offense - Decent. Lamar Miller is really, really good, our best rb since Willis McGahee. I liked most of the playcalling, and if/when Seantrel Henderson is back, the OL will improve. But still, I expected more from the line’s play. Unless Harris is fantastic in practice the next two weeks, I’ll be surprised if he starts over Morris. Supposedly, Harris was doing better in fall camp, but Morris’ numbers were really nice until that last drive.
Defense - Horrible. I’d like to say it’s a bend, don’t break, but MD missed as many chances in the red zone as Miami forced them to miss. 19 points allowed by the D is ok, but it could have been worse (O’Brien should have run for a td instead of forcing the throw that got picked off in the end zone). Getting more starters back will help a lot, but we’re in bad shape with the corners. I’m not sure how much of that can be improved with better line play. Hopefully a lot.
Special teams - The best I can remember by Miami in a long, long time.
Coaching - I’d be a much happier person today with the loss if it weren’t for the number of delay of game & substitution penalties plus letting MD kill 0:45 before their last fg. We should have gotten the ball back with something like 2:15 to play with 1 TO instead of 1:30 and 2 TOs. The D made adjustments to the screens MD were running so much, and the O’s playcalling as stated was good (fb dives for 1st downs, keeping the ball in Miller’s hands quite a bit).
Fortunately, I guess, the most important games (VPI and FSU) come late, so if the coaching is improved like Canes fans hope (ie seeing actual improvement throughout the season, a rarity in Coral Gables for a long time), then this season will be a success.
Another ND fan checking in here. I predicted 8-4 before the season started and I will stand by that. But frankly, I wouldn’t be shocked if they end up pretty much anywhere between 4-8 to 10-2.
I do not feel overwhelmingly confident going into Michigan without even knowing who the starting QB is (probably Rees). I did think Crist got the hook a little early. Yeah, he made a few lousy throws, but he wasn’t getting help from his receivers, either. I can think of 3 costly drops right now. But, Crist is probably finished unless Rees gets injured and I feel bad for him.
Well, looking at it from this side, snakebit is probably a better definition.
Yeah, especially with the O-line struggling, he was BIG standout.
See, I would have said average for Miami, but that’s what differing perspective does for you.
I would imagine that was major focus of coach’s meetings post-game. That was…unexpected given Golden’s pre-season focus on those exact issues. On the other hand, you have a completely new coaching staff and a thin team. Not entirely unreasonable that there would be some hiccups.
Yeah, you and UF. That’s what scares me. Why couldn’t this have been one of the years where we open with UM?
The unis they showed in the pre-game that Maryland had with the tortoise shell-patterned helmets were much cooler than those…things they wore during the game.
Don’t like Maryland’s uniforms? Ok, go ahead and stare at your Penn State and Cleveland Brown uniforms. After that, then stare at the blank side of the Steeler helmet. Do you live in 2011 or 1981?
While the uniforms just alternated one side “XX” and the other side “OO”. If you’re going to have a wild and wacky design, go all the way and do it right!!
I’m really surprised at this list – mostly because how close Cal comes to being in the middle of it. The Bears went to 7 straight (2003-2009).
Last season, in the final seconds of the final game against Washington, Cal has a tiny lead, but UW had the ball, 4th and goal on the 1 yard line. If they get the TD, UW goes to a bowl and the Bears stay home. If the Bears hold, Cal goes to a bowl and UW stays home. (Talk about one play for all the marbles!) UW scores…game, season and bowl streak are over.
