Two points: 1) I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around a game plan that did not exploit AU primary weakness, which is pass defense. It's as if our OC completely forgot this fact. 2) I think this game proved that the 2 QB system doesn't work. QBs and their WRs have to develop a chemistry, and this system is not allowing that to happen. Unfortunately, I think this weeks performance is going to result in a shift back to more Jefferson, and less Lee, who is arguably the better passer. Granted, he didn't do so great in this game, but how in the hell are you supposed to get in the groove when you only see 4.5 of 11 possessions. As predicted by all of us, JJ committed a turnover in the first drive of the game that resulted in the 7 point difference of the game. The guy just kills the team's buzz!! Sadly, .... At this point, I have to become an AU fan for the SEC conf. It's unlikely that a one loss SEC team will be in the NC, and AU is the only unbeaten candidate left.
i've been pushing lee for a while now, but the offense didn't cross the 50 with him yesterday. if anything the AU game made the coaches' cases for both QB's.
I also have been pushing for Lee, and he was effective until Fairlay put one of his many dirty shots on him. Here is my thing. Les Miles knows more than we do, that's why he has been playing 2 quarterbacks. Jefferson had a decent game on the ground, and a pathetic game in the air. He threw one behind someone on the first drive that should have been picked off, he threw one down the sideline that Niko Thorpe should have picked off, and then he threw one high off Randle's hands (that Randle should have caught) that got picked off. I'm going to sit here and say, that wasn't Jefferson's fault. I was pissed during the game and screaming at Jefferson. But at what point does the play caller say, enough. We were pounding Auburn on the ground and moving the sticks. We didn't even have to throw. We get down to the 40 or 35 and start throwing the ball, abandoning the run. That was a mistake. What I am seeing is an inability to make in game adjustments. I really hope that Les Miles and the athletic department realize that this needs to be Crowton's last year. He did a great job for us in 07, and a nice job in 08, but 2 years in a row and we can't get the offense fixed, along with abandoning what works over and over and over again.
In all fairness, the ball should have been caught by Randle...it may have been a little high, but it hit his hands. I am not on favor of the 2 QB system, but it can't all be blamed on them. There were 13 incompletions between them and at least 6 of those were dropped balls. I look at it this way - we played the #4 team in the country, on the road, without a decent qb, and still had a chance to win. We will not face another qb like Newton all year and still have a shot at going 11-1, which would probably get us a BCS bowl. I am proud to be a Tiger fan and will support them regardless!
good post. i don't have your confidence against bama, however i predicted this team to go 8-4 (b/c i am/was realistic about our QB situation) and if we win 10 games, i will totally be ok with that. we have to get mallet to make mistakes or he could look like a superstar too. however he is no runner. and imo there is no bigger weapon in coll fb than a qb who can run and throw.
I'm not a fan of the 2 QB system, but this game strengthened the case that with these two QBs we need a dual system. If you take credit (very common), you should give credit (very uncommon) JJ finished the end of half drive to keep us in the game. If we don't have a second QB ready to play we don't finish that drive. JJ completed two passes and his running was the difference. I've been a big fan of JL and really want him to do well, but it didn't happen in Auburn. I thought we lost the game in the 3rd quarter, and we lost it at the offensive line of scrimmage.
I disagree. Jarret was still the better passer yesterday. The problem was predictability. JJ ran pretty well yesterday, but his running is not like a Cam Newton's running .. he simply is not much of a threat as a runner, and his passing is still way off. However, I have to agree with the other thread, the WRs needed to step up and make some plays. RR should have snagged the pass that went for an int., even though it was poorly thrown. When Jarret came in, the defense reads pass. I would have loosend up the defense by doing some Ridley Ford while Lee was in. Then, I would've run good sound yardage plays. The first series in on third and 8, we ran a long deep pass. That's just not the time for such IMO. A ten yard DP drop would have kept the drive alive. Since I can predict that JJ will get the majority of the snaps against Bama, I'm not holding my breath that we will win that game. Bama's run def is better than AUs. IMO .. this 2QB system we are running is just keeping our Offense confused. If we were donig the typical 2QB system with a starter who can pass the ball, and bringing in the runner occassionally, it'd work well ... but .. we're not doing that.
with lee in the game especially in the 2nd half LSU's running game was shut down because AU only had to key on the RB and not worry about the QB on a read option. it was a great adjustment by AU. JJ isn't going to win any passing awards but the team presents a better running threat overall with him in the game. also, it has to be said that LSU's o line which seemed to improve from last season to this season got killed yesterday.
Are you serious? Did you not see us throw the ball all over the field, only to see our WRs drop everything? JJ threw a great ball on the 3rd and 11 on the opening drive. Don't care what anyone else says, Reuben has to hang on to that. Then we have the first down on 3rd and 6 if Toliver hangs on after being popped across the middle. Again, not the coaching staff or QBs fault. Stop with the blame game, and just acknowledge that it's very rare that we beat Auburn at their place. Only happened once in the last 7 match ups. It's hard enough to beat a top-5 Auburn team on the road. When you give them the best running QB the SEC has ever seen on top of that, well, I don't know what you were expecting. We played hard, just couldn't come up with the plays. No sense in blaming the coaches. They beat us, big deal. Move on.
