I listened to the game on the radio, and Hawthorne referred several times to Phelon Jones, a CB buried in the depth chart, who was making play after play. Chad Jones stepped up. Toliver stepped up, and Lafell became more consistent tonight. Even Jacob Cutrera made plays. Ryan Baker is always making plays on special teams. It seems that putting guys in the game that are normally bench warmers or not as involved in the game provide some fervor. These guys, tonight, seemed to make the plays time and time again, and they deserve more of a shot way before LSU is so far down. Are some of the starters complacent with their positions that they don't feel challenged to do better? I hope not, but it seems like that may be the case for some. Byrd, Curtis Taylor, Sheppard, Riley and others (a few d-lineman) have been nonexistent this year. Maybe it's time to get some guys in there that are tired of riding the bench, guys that have that fire.
Yeah, it was embarrassing in the first half, but shame doesn't just make you switch like that. I think it was the back ups showing that they can play with the 1st string.
The Oline got their asses whipped in the first half. I mean beat down. They obviously made improvements in the second half. JJ's running ability backed the defense off a little I think. And Lee made some pretty damn good throws, the receivers made some nice catches, especially Lafell and Tolliver. On defense I wish I could say that they put it together and kicked ass in the 2nd half, but they got a ton of help from Troy. Sure they made some good plays, much better than the first half, but Troy probably had 10 drops in the second half.
Yeah, I worry we'll just choose to look the other way and pretend we played lights out defense. I can't tell you how many times Hawthorne had to remark about how the Troy receiver simply dropped the ball. They certainly gave this game away. We'll gladly take it.
