...from Jordan Jefferson that made a difference in that game.
Over the last week I've seen a few comments about the game in New Orleans Jan. 9th. I just finished watching the game a few times last week in a page we've had here but really haven't pushed any traffic towards. (We're thinking of doing more with the video vault room as the summer progresses and we're afforded a little time to "play around with additions to our sites." If you haven't checked it out, spend a little time there. At the bottom you'll find some of the better video's covering the Tide over the last several years.)
In this thread musso brought up a good question about the game plan from LSU. He brought up four questions and observations about the game; the second one is what caught my attention the most because it was something that had crossed my mind a few weeks ago.
He wasn't the only one bringing up the game. Crimson Crazy made the comment about our defense and the possibility that Steeleāif he joined the LSU staffācould actually give them a better idea what we were doing defensively in the BCSNC game.
There's actually two different points both are bringing up and they happen to coincide with questions I had earlier this year about whey their offense did as poorly as it did when we met for the second time last year.
As a cursory view, and that's what most have gotten if they've listen only to what pundits have said about the game, you'd think this game fell on the inability to Jordan Jefferson to accomplish anything.
That's true. But, that failure isn't on Jordan Jefferson alone. In fact, I'll say very little of it falls at his feet. It's often said, "good coaches put good players in positions to have success." Here we have coaches putting players in positions that failed. And, they continued to do it for four quarters.
The option, or lack thereof:
If you've watched the game again I'm sure you noticed this. You may have noticed it the first time the game was played due to how blatantly clear it was. But, if you missed it or forgot about it, let me pose this question to you.
Can you recall how often you saw Jerrell Harris running east to west following Jordan as he was running the option? Along with that, have you seen how Menzie seemed to be there about as much? There's a reason for that, one that hasn't been discussed that I've seen.
In the game in November LSU's blocking scheme was centered on taking the OLB out of the play. In essence, putting a hat on Jerrell every time they tried to get around the corner. Or, if we look at the other side, getting a hat on Upshaw.
Instead, LSU chose to put their blocking efforts on our inside linebackers trying to seal both Hightower and Johnson out of the play. In a brief look, here's how they approached our defense.
They chose to cut our outside linebackers loose and went for the inside linebackers, on the playside, instead. One would think they would have done the same thing they did in Tuscaloosa. In November they made it a point to block Courtney or Jerrell on the outside and let Dont'a and Nico try to chase the play down from their inside positions.
Since they chose to focus on Dont'a and Nico in the BCSNC it left Jefferson taking on the outside linebacker all by himself. You can pick just about any play and see Jerrell or Courtney just following Jefferson down the line of scrimmage waiting for him to make the decision on what he was going to do.
Why on earth Jefferson didn't take out the outside linebacker himself is something I've yet to figure out. I suspect it had to do with our coverage. You can follow a guy like Menzie on those plays and see him engage the receiver and then wait just behind the OLB waiting for the pitch.
Making matters all the worse in those option plays is the tight end and the offensive tackles struggled the entire game to block Nico and Dont'a. That only makes sense. How they heck the offensive staff thought those guys would have a reasonable chance to contain either in the open field is just beyond my capabilities of explanation.
What it ended up leaving was Menzie sitting back watching for the pitch while Jefferson usually had two of our linebackers all over him.
Why didn't they change their approach? Guys, that's not a players fault. That lies squarely on the offensive coaching staff. Need I remind you that Miles background is as an offensive line coach?
I mentioned before the game I felt our chances were very good because of the approach Miles was taking to the whole weekend. He was encouraging his players to "enjoy the experience, take it all in." Hey, there's nothing wrong with that. That is until you run into another team with a completely different approach, take care of business. Need evidence? See Miles and his family posing for pictures before the game versus another staff focused on one thing and one thing only: the game at hand.
Now, you can add another reason to the list of what when wrong for LSU.
After all, and let's not forget, we did little different in the first game when compared to the second.
I've got some observations on wide receiver play from LSU I'll get to in a few days. But for now, I think this is long enough, eh?
Over the last week I've seen a few comments about the game in New Orleans Jan. 9th. I just finished watching the game a few times last week in a page we've had here but really haven't pushed any traffic towards. (We're thinking of doing more with the video vault room as the summer progresses and we're afforded a little time to "play around with additions to our sites." If you haven't checked it out, spend a little time there. At the bottom you'll find some of the better video's covering the Tide over the last several years.)
In this thread musso brought up a good question about the game plan from LSU. He brought up four questions and observations about the game; the second one is what caught my attention the most because it was something that had crossed my mind a few weeks ago.
He wasn't the only one bringing up the game. Crimson Crazy made the comment about our defense and the possibility that Steeleāif he joined the LSU staffācould actually give them a better idea what we were doing defensively in the BCSNC game.
There's actually two different points both are bringing up and they happen to coincide with questions I had earlier this year about whey their offense did as poorly as it did when we met for the second time last year.
As a cursory view, and that's what most have gotten if they've listen only to what pundits have said about the game, you'd think this game fell on the inability to Jordan Jefferson to accomplish anything.
That's true. But, that failure isn't on Jordan Jefferson alone. In fact, I'll say very little of it falls at his feet. It's often said, "good coaches put good players in positions to have success." Here we have coaches putting players in positions that failed. And, they continued to do it for four quarters.
The option, or lack thereof:
If you've watched the game again I'm sure you noticed this. You may have noticed it the first time the game was played due to how blatantly clear it was. But, if you missed it or forgot about it, let me pose this question to you.
Can you recall how often you saw Jerrell Harris running east to west following Jordan as he was running the option? Along with that, have you seen how Menzie seemed to be there about as much? There's a reason for that, one that hasn't been discussed that I've seen.
In the game in November LSU's blocking scheme was centered on taking the OLB out of the play. In essence, putting a hat on Jerrell every time they tried to get around the corner. Or, if we look at the other side, getting a hat on Upshaw.
Instead, LSU chose to put their blocking efforts on our inside linebackers trying to seal both Hightower and Johnson out of the play. In a brief look, here's how they approached our defense.
They chose to cut our outside linebackers loose and went for the inside linebackers, on the playside, instead. One would think they would have done the same thing they did in Tuscaloosa. In November they made it a point to block Courtney or Jerrell on the outside and let Dont'a and Nico try to chase the play down from their inside positions.
Since they chose to focus on Dont'a and Nico in the BCSNC it left Jefferson taking on the outside linebacker all by himself. You can pick just about any play and see Jerrell or Courtney just following Jefferson down the line of scrimmage waiting for him to make the decision on what he was going to do.
Why on earth Jefferson didn't take out the outside linebacker himself is something I've yet to figure out. I suspect it had to do with our coverage. You can follow a guy like Menzie on those plays and see him engage the receiver and then wait just behind the OLB waiting for the pitch.
Making matters all the worse in those option plays is the tight end and the offensive tackles struggled the entire game to block Nico and Dont'a. That only makes sense. How they heck the offensive staff thought those guys would have a reasonable chance to contain either in the open field is just beyond my capabilities of explanation.
What it ended up leaving was Menzie sitting back watching for the pitch while Jefferson usually had two of our linebackers all over him.
Why didn't they change their approach? Guys, that's not a players fault. That lies squarely on the offensive coaching staff. Need I remind you that Miles background is as an offensive line coach?
I mentioned before the game I felt our chances were very good because of the approach Miles was taking to the whole weekend. He was encouraging his players to "enjoy the experience, take it all in." Hey, there's nothing wrong with that. That is until you run into another team with a completely different approach, take care of business. Need evidence? See Miles and his family posing for pictures before the game versus another staff focused on one thing and one thing only: the game at hand.
Now, you can add another reason to the list of what when wrong for LSU.
After all, and let's not forget, we did little different in the first game when compared to the second.
I've got some observations on wide receiver play from LSU I'll get to in a few days. But for now, I think this is long enough, eh?
