Please forgive me if someone else has brought this up -- I've read through most of the threads and didn't see it anywhere:

The Tigers came out last night with a lot of emotion early on in the game. Very fired up. Really wanted to win for the people of LA -- maybe put too much pressure on themselves. The crowd was into it as well. It is difficult to sustain to that level of emotion for an entire game under "normal" conditions, never mind the hurricanes and everything surrounding that. Does anyone think that by the second half, the players were emotionally spent? And physically as well, as a result of all that emotion? I know the defense was on the field for a lot of the second half, but it seemed that a number of our players were cramping up, and I didn't see that on the Tenn. side. From that standpoint, I would think our players are better equipped to deal with the south Louisiana weather than players from other teams.

There are obviously a number of tangible issues involving game execution, coaching, etc., that have to be dealt with, and I won't rehash them here. It just seems that some of the intangibles that go along with emotion came into play as well.

I'm still proud of this team and everything they've done for the people of Louisiana.

:geauxtige :laflagwav

The early high emotion didn't burn this team out early, in the SEC there are many big time games where teams come out really fired up early. The problem was our coaching staff put a gun to the head of our team and pulled the trigger repeadedly.

I have to agee.

No matter what the degree of emotion, you still have to coach your players properly.

A good coach would realize that the other team was on the verge of packing it in with just one more 2nd half score. Instead, the conservative, "lets not make a mistake," approach was put into play.

The offensive playcalling or defensive packages used in the 2nd half had nothing to do with emotion.

Miles did more to invite UT back into the game than Fulmer did.

But how is it the coaches fault if the players are making mental errors because they are emotionally drained.

In all honesty would should have got killed this game, did anyone else see the wide open passes that Tenn was dropping.

You can not discount the HUGE Mental effect that the events in the past month have played in these kids.

Being at home watching the game you could see in the 2nd half that the defense was exhausted, players line up in the wrong spot trying to figure out their assignments as the ball was being snapped, TONS of blown coverage, ALOT of mental errors that they should not have made.

It was mental errors, by both players and coaches that is what loss this game.

That's because they were on the field the entire second half. Mainly because of the pitiful conservative play not to lose play calling.

But wait, this is a much simplified defense where the players just line up and beat their man right? That's what we were told by the coaching staff. The blitzes were so telegraphed my wife was calling the blitzes and by which player 10 seconds before the ball was snapped. Once again 20 yard cushions on 5-10 yard pass routes. And yes I have never seen a defensive backfield look so confused from the time the offense lines up on the ball until the play is over. How is that possible with the depth and experience we have back there, could it be coaching?

No this was from the VERY BEGINING of the 2nd Half. They came out of the locker room already beat.

The cushions on those hot routes yes that was the coaches fault no doubt about that.

But if you saw the players it was like they were not focused enough to open a door. And I am not talking down to the players but they appeared to be out it from the kickoff in the 2nd half.


Seriously just think about this. ALL week long you have been told that the Mental state of the people of this state is resting on your sholders and how you play in a a game. Add on to that the intense SEC game that we have to play. How long do you personal think you could hold up emotionaly under that kind of pressure. People crack hell even soldiers that are trained to do their job crack under pressure sometimes. It happens, the mind is a very powerfully opponet when it wants to be.

PURE EMOTIONALY DRAIN with bad choices by the coaches on the hot routes.

Had they been down by 21 at the half I would say maybe but not being up by 21, they should have been fired up and ready. I think the conservative 3 and out to open the half killed momentum and then the soft zone which led to a quick easy score swung momentum big time. Also the prevent offense and defensive schemes would have depressed me and killed my emotion if I was a player.

But that is just it they left it all out on the field in the first half. I truely believe that they had nothing left in their tanks after half time.

This is the most telling title on the whole page.

Miles is considered to be a Rah Rah coach, a recruiter, and a good front man with the boosters. I have no doubt that the team was off the planet at the first of the game. Miles took a negative into halftime and couldn't reignite the fire. In the second half play calling on both sides of the ball became more important, and he has never been an x and o guy. His coordinators should have a great deal of lattitude in how they structure their sides of the ball. Miles cannot do it for them. If his hires are suspect, or schemes need tweaking, Les cannot make the corrections that are needed. You will win games because of the athletes that you have. Miles is not a tactician.

This next part of my post is from someone who was in the pressbox last year for the okie lite vs TTU game and this point was brought up during the discussion of last nights game.

When oklahoma state came to Lubbock last year, interesting conversations were being held in the pressbox. (I wasn't there, so this is not first hand.) The beat writers for osu were predicting a blowout by TTU for the game. The reason was that Miles had developed a reputation of a grinder, and would not let up on the players. These writers were saying that Miles is great with the boosters and press, but presents a different image to his players and staff. It was said that many of the players had already given up, they were tired of being beat down. There is a difference between being pressured to improve and being demoralized. It might be something to watch for. I don't know if Miles is into the blame game.

I am not jumping on or off any bandwagon. People grow and adapt over time. Moving from okie lite to LSU is a big step. There will be growing pains for the staff and the team. I don't think there are too many coaches that always get positive reviews. I doubt that Saban did either. If there was another Saban out there, most likely he has a great job. Very few coaches develop into legends within 2 games, especially after a start like you have had to endure. The season isn't a waste. Look for growth and see if the team is still responding to Miles at the end of the year. That is when you will have your answer.

TwistedTiger hit the nail on the head. I thought the samething when Tenn scored their 1st TD. We get the ball 1st in the 3rd qtr, you should attack them and go after them. Instead Miles sits on it. Then the Defense goes back to the schemes they played at ASU. Clausen hit the short out routes and middle screens and ate up our soft 10yd cushion zone.

When they scored the TD by playing soft, my thought at that point was "They just let Tenn back in the game and gave them hope with their stupid play calling".

Sure some can say the players were confused and it was their fault. If the players don't know what to do on the field then who's fault is that for not making sure the players knew where to go and who to cover? It is the coaches fault. It seems the basics are missing.

Saban's defense was much more complicated, required a lot more cerebrial power and they made much less mistakes than Pelini's defense.

This game was lost due to coaching, end of point!!:cuss:


Go ahead and blame Jamarcus for the slip up before halftime, that was a split second decision he made based on the fact that he thought he could make the first down. The decision making during the 2nd half was deliberate and thought out and was not a split second decision. It was aweful and the mistakes of the 3rd qtr were not learned and applied to the 4th where the gave up 17 points.