First line is up at the Palms out in Vegas: Aubie -2.5 (which translates into about an even line w/o the HFA factored in).
I'd like to see more of Trindon as well. That end around was a nice start, IMO. In fact, I'd like to see Holliday in motion on plenty of plays, complete with him passing behind JR, giving him the hand-off RB/hand-off WR option play...great way to freeze the core defenders if they have to hesitate to see if they're getting #22 barrelling up the middle or Holliday blazing around the end. One thing that I no longer think is an option right now is situational QB play. JR is on fire right now, so there's no need to be too clever by half in yanking QBs in and out against AU...especially with it being a road game. Going to be interesting to see how Jimbo plays his hand. I'm very interested in seeing LSU attack an AU secondary that's not been tested much to date, yet you have to pay homage to running the ball and shortening a game (a must when on the road against a quality SEC opponent).
No way JR comes out of the game. There maybe games this season where RP goes in for plays designed for a running QB. I don't think you take that risk since he has no experience against an SEC school. I do believe that LSU and Auburn have been very basic in their offense. Lester and Irons is a scary combo in the backfield and you have to keep you eyes on both. However, if we have AB and TH, or CS or KW in the backfield they will assume to a degree that AB gets the ball. That could bite them in the @ss when the ball is given too or passed to the younger guys. This game is going to be awesome. I have more faith in JR's arm than Cox's and that is big advantage LSU but I'm still nervous about the OL against a very good Auburn D.
Jimbos offense is about execution. Using what you have and making the other team stop you. He likes the wide reciever screen, short pass and good balance. He is not going to run a bunch of trick plays or things he is not comfortable with. Auburn must stop us. If they do then maybe he will dig deep into the play book but if they dont you will see a lot of what you have already seen. Just executed better. JMO:lsup:
I think Jimbo can be vanilla in the play calling a lot, in seasons past. Hopefully that changes a bit against AU. AU knows what to expect out of Jimbo, I hope he pulls out some new plays and different looks to keep the defense honest. Otherwise they have a good chance of stopping the offense. I'm not looking for trick plays but just different plays and different looks, throw a lot of different plays at them, and not recycled plays over and over again throughout the game. Sometimes Jimbo gets in a rut and can be vanilla, I hope that doesn't happen this weekend. AU has had a lot of time against Jimbo and might be on to him. Then again, we are on to Muschamp. I'm also nervous about Muschamp throwing a lot of different looks at LSU similar to the 2003 defense when offenses were completely confused about what was coming at them.
But some of our fellas trained against that D in 03. Also, Jimbo can get VERY vanilla- but with the talent he's got, he makes it work. I was interested where the shifting to the three-WR set came from. It's a new look I think we'll see more of, maybe practicing it against Zona to get ready for Auburn.
Honesty the only thing we haven't seen from LSU in the past 2 games were trick plays. Direct snaps, fake punks, On side kicks, stuff like that. Everyone has to remember LSU never has big showy plays. In the first 2 games we threw the deep ball, did screen plays, and stuff a long those lines. We even did that End around to Holiday like we used to do with Green. (Btw: My brother and I have taken to calling Holiday, Collard Green.) Sure we might do a few more end arounds, a few more screens, and might do a couple more 4 wide out sets as well as some trick plays but don't expect to see a completely new play book against Auburn. Granted, I think we ran the ball more the last 2 games to run out the clock than we would against Auburn.
I expect a lot of quick passes from Cox, and for a lot of those to be out to the flanks. It's the only way to keep that insane blitzing from Pelini honest. They'll probably get Lester leading for Irons around end on a quick out a bunch. Hopefully, the speed of the secondary will neutralize that though.