I realize this is fairly obvious but I think the key to the season is the ability of the offense to convert on 3rd down and medium to long. Hopefully we'll only use the QB draw out of the shotgun sparingly and get most of our success throwing the ball to pick up first downs. In order for the offense to reach it's potential, I think the 15-yd out that Ro and Reed perfected needs to be a focus point. I have confidence that Randall can perform well in other areas but I haven't seen this part of his game yet. Spread the field in the shotgun and find the WR that has single coverage. It must be great practice for our young WRs to go against Webster/Daniels every day.
Josh Reed was the best Tiger I've ever seen at WR at picking up key 3rd downs, with Wendell Davis being the second best. Ro was also very instrumental and hopefully we can get a combo that clicks very well this season. Clayton was great at making that tough catch over the middle for key first downs last season. Saban has said recently that many of the QB's incompletions in practice has been the fault of others, mainly the Wr's not recognizing which route should be run, hopefully these guys pick this up faster.
The key to this team's success is on the shoulders of the O-line. LSU, IMO, has the best 2 Tackles and Center combination in the country. That's the key to a great O-line, with the guards having a slightly less significant role. Couple that with the fact that we got 2 pretty good guards, and we may be looking at an offensive line that dominates opposing D lines. This will indeed make Randall's job a whole helluva a lot easier. Then we won't be worrying about whether Randall can complete 3rd and long situations, there won't be any.
I think the key to success this season will be our offense coming together quickly and developing a balanced attack. With our ?'s at QB and our inexperienced receivers we will need to hit stride prior to playing our toughest games which all happen in the 1st half of the season. Without the balanced attack we could become like Auburn. This opens up the opportunities to convert the 3rd downs. The line will play a big role in Randall's confidence if they can give him the time he needs to do what he is capable of doing.
This is the best Offensive line ever at LSU ... a majority will play pro ball However, as in the past ... you can expect plenty of 3rd and long (5+ yards) because LSU gets a lot of penalties ... especially early in the season. 2003 was no different ... 2004 we hope gets better Some players like Livings (whistled for 4 penalties all year) get few, where others get nailed much more often for holding or motion If LSU can reduce the stupid holding & especially the motion penalties significantly from last year, it will result in many more early season TDs ... with games salted away early and more substitutions, fewer injuries and even better line depth. One other key for the season ... Randall's ability to take the beating and recover quickly ... teams will try to knock the crap out of him ... I expect several late "illegal" hits on him early in the season ... because teams perceive Randall as "THE ONLY" LSU weakness ... think about that ... how would you attack LSU's offense if you were a DC. In the past, he's taken great shots ... yet has sometimes been rattled. Saban has been keeping him from getting hit in practice ... and this is fine for purposes of injury prevention due to our amazing blitz schemes ... why chew the guy up early in Fall practice ... it's stupid to get him hurt. He has been getting the ball off early on the blitz ... unlike the two frosh who hold onto the ball too long (THEY CAN'T GET HIT ... RED JERSEYS) Randall needs to get a few good clean licks between now and OSU ... hopefully in the next scrimmage
It may seem strange, but I think the key to the season may be whether our kickers and punters are up to National Champion standards. We may have some close games on the road that will be decided by field position and field goals. LSU has been fortunate to have some excellent punters and kickers in recent years. I hope that continues . . . but the spring kicking game wasn't very impressive.
Turnovers on our end of the field. I don't think there is an offense in the country that can drive it 70 or 80 yards on this defense consistently. Don't give the other guys the ball on our end of the field and the D will take care of the rest, just like last year. Randall worries me because I haven't seen where he throws those 5 - 10 yard outs very well, and when those get intercepted, it will kill you. That's the big question mark about him and the team in my mind.
I thought about including that aspect to the question, especially turnovers on 3rd down. I think that's when Randall will have to go through his progressions and go to the 2nd or 3rd options at times, step up in the pocket and feel pressure. Jimbo will get Randall a lot of quick passes on 1st & 2nd down and just let the playmakers make plays so hopefully Randall can just carry about the gameplan.
I believe with the inexperience at QB, we're going to see a lot of teams try to throw blitz packages similar to ours, and try to rattle Randal early. Hey, they got nothing to lose.
