I been looking for the right thread to put my one post with my balanced thoughts on the game. This is as good a thread as any.
First, I find many of the unbalanced and negative posts to be just that, and posted by folks with little perspective on the game.
We are 5-1 and just lost a good game to the #1 team in the country by 10 points, and they cheated to get 7 of their points. Our defense has come around, and I agree with Gary Danielson, our back 7 are as good as any in the nation, just as good as Fla. defending national champion defense. Our front 4 does not dominate, but we didn't blitz either, played it straight up front.
Crowton is not an idiot and does not need to be replaced. Remember 07, when he had a 5th yr. sr. run the offense, it was excellent.
The offense was very conservative, too conservative in the opinion of many, especially with our wide out talent. I'd agree, on the surface. Why was it too conservative?
1. Jefferson can't read offenses and Crowton is hamstrung by what JJ can read and execute.
2. Miles is dictating the offense to "commit to the run" and not letting Crowton do his thing.
I suspect some of both, but note, Meyer ran a VERY CONSERVATIVE offense also, put me to sleep.
I think Miles will go with a formula that wins, until it stops winning. Maybe he thinks he can out-personnel everyone, and usually he's right, until the big games. Maybe this loss will cause him to ask, what does he need to do to win the SEC this year, which we are still in the running for.
What do we have LaFell, Tolliver, Randall for? We were not balanced, underutilized the pass. When we threw, I don't remember many initial catches beyond 5 yards downfield.
Either JJ is not good at the medium or long passes, or he's good and not trusted. If he's not trusted, then he's no good to you. JJ is interesting. At times, when they need a drive, he can hit 5 medium passes in a row and he looks like a world beater. He's usually rolling to his right when at his best. When he drops back in the pocket with time to survey the field, he looks lost and is frequently sacked. That's unusual QB play...
JJ has not been able to rev this offense up this year. I think we thought too much of him after the Ga. Tech game, and their D is not like SEC defenses, or JJ had one great night, or the Tech D had a bad night. That's what I warned about before the season, JJ's inexperience.
Yea, I know, the o-line play is sub par, and that true also. It's all the coaches responsibility to coach em up and teach em how its done, that's true too. But, we may have all been believing the press clippings on these kids, and we may be short some talent on the o-line this year. Or maybe they're young and will be better next year when they develop (cept Black, he's gone).
My personal opinion, Fla. has a better team, particularly on offense, we are just as good on defense as Fla. Fla. has us outclassed badly at QB, their #2 would be our starter, based on the little I've seen of him. QB is the most important position on the team, and it hurts us a lot.
I think most of us that did not pick LSU undefeated this year projected this game as a loss, and we've improved and kept it much closer than last year. I'm frustrated with the offense, but it's at the low end of my expectations for the year. I was worried about JJ being a true soph, and that what we would see was a lot more of what he did against Arkansas last season rather than his great outing against Tech in the bowl game.
We should still be a top 10 team. There is still half a season to go. We have one loss, a close one to the #1 team in the nation. We're doing good overall. We need to improve on offense. We still suffer a hangover from losing RP at QB. He would be a Sr. if he hadn't blown himself up. I think that negatively impacted our ability to sign a top QB for a few years, and the coaches compounded the problem by failing to recruit well there.
Now to the QB position, what to do? If we can't get the offense out of first gear, I'd like to see us make a change, but not with the starter. I'd start JJ. If you want a more aggressive O, you have to play it all the time, you can't play conservative most of the time and try to change your personality to wide open in an instant. JJ needs more opportunities to throw medium routes to the WR. Then, I'd give other QB's an opportunity to play, Lee deserves another opportunity. Shepard, it depends on his arm. You can't have a running QB that can't throw. Shep could get 8 touches in the wildcat. If he can throw, maybe he deserves a shot, but the coaches see that in practice, I don't, and I have no opinion on it. Nobody mentions Chris Garrett, who IMO has the best pure passing arm on the team, based on the few throws I saw him make in the spring game. If we need a passing game and it is not available from JJ, Lee and Shep, maybe we take the redshirt off Garrett and give him an opportunity to help us win the west.
Kinda long, but those are my midseason ideas. I'm not posting as much, busy at work, and I'm not enjoying the irrational negatigers.
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