THANK YOU BENGAL!!!!!!!!! some people have piss for brains. I want to see them posting all week about how Mauck can't win the big games. Then, after LSU wins, i never want them to post again. in fact, they should be banned.
Heh. We are fans, its in our nature. I have to whole-heartedly agree with the general sentiment of this thread. Mauck is a winner, and thats a QBs most important stat. Mauck DID NOT lose that VT game last year. We had some tough breaks (DDs punt return for a TD called back because of a holding call nowhere near the play-- we ended up going 3 and out that series), and our receivers couldnt have cought a cold if they were playing in Siberia. Yes, Mauck throws to Clayton A LOT. Wouldnt you? I sure as hell would. He gets all the looks for the same reasons Josh Reed did and the same reasons Fred Gibson, Mike Williams, Reggie Williams, Roy Williams (thats a lot of Williams', eh?), and all the others do. Its because he is open and he will catch the ball. When your team's most dynamic, game-breaking player is always open, throw him the ball! I dont care if Devery Henderson is wide-ass open, if Clayton is open, too, he gets the ball. Its when the opposing D's start to clamp down Clayton with double coverage, we go accross the field to the next best thing- Henderson. I dont know if any of the rest of you have considered this (actually, I bet most of you have), but the parallels between this season and the 2001 season are astounding to me. At this same time in 2001 we were having the very same discussions about Davey and Reed. We knew Josh Reed was a good receiver, but 3 games in, we didnt know just how good. Everyone was asking what would happen when we faced a defense that could cover Reed, and we were all concerned that Davey didnt know how to throw the ball to anyone else. Well, it never happened. He could not be covered. He embarrased some of the premier CBs in college football. What ended up being the most prolific offense in LSU history could only muster 31 (31-14) points against a Utah State team that went 4-7 with their only wins coming agains 1-AA opponents. UConn was able to hang that many on them, and they were still 1-AA at that time. Maybe the same thing happens with Clayton. Maybe he has become the guy that nobody can cover. Hell, he is 6-4, so even if he is covered, he can get up for the jump ball. If anything, I would say our offense is BETTER than the 2001 offense, relative to the point in the season. Where I see a difference is the defense. The 2001 defense was one of the worst past defenses in the nation. We could stop the run with Trev Faulk, Bradie James, Jarvis Green, and Lavalais (did he play that year?), but we couldnt stop anybody through the air. The reason that team had so much success was because of the offense. I think this defense is much better, with a good bit more speed. We have a returning All-SEC CB, a talented Daniels at free safety, and a surging SS in Jack Hunt. Randall Gay is no slouch either. All the pieces are in place for this to be a great year.
Here's that positive note that kjntiger and Dabbs were looking for from me last week. Mauck looked very, very good on Saturday night. Had we not missed out on about 20 or 21 points early on, he would have been able to rest most of the 2nd half in anticipation of the UGA game. There were 3 or 4 drops that would have made his nos. even better. Just ask Jimbo to do us all one favor, and take the QB draw out of the playbook. Mauck got into the endzone out of sheer determination, but SEC LBs are much faster and ...here it is....LSU can't afford to lose Mauck to any injury right now. For the record, I never said he threw to Clayton too much. We should throw to Clayton all year and show those other SEC/Big 12 fans out there just how dominant an athlete he really is. If Mauck executes the offense as well as he did Sat night, and Saban is able to purge the demons, we should all be ready for a great game on Sat afternoon. As for being banned from the board, no Tiger fan should ever be banned. My loyalty is and always will be with the Tigers. If I recall, a certain QB named Jamie Howard is one of LSU's all-time greats, and there sure were lots of questions about his game after a certain 4th quarter finish. Fans talk and squabble. Its what we do. In the end, we all are cheering for the same goal and the same team. Geaux Tigers!
Exactly Furcal. Nobody complained about that. Michael Clayton keeps getting open, why shouldn't Mauck throw it to him then?
How old are you, twelve? That's what you sound like. People don't get banned for disagreeing with you, new guy. Mauck is the Man, and he's doing a great job. But if Podnuh or me or any tiger fan wants to comment that he's not watching his secondary receivers or is a tad slower than last year, it's just a discussion. We talk about a lot of things here, positive and negative. Its a forum for discussion, chief, not a purple and gold contest. BengalB makes good points and he does it without pumping sunshine up our ass or shaking his finger at other Tiger fans. You could learn from that.
Nobody manages a game better than Mauck. I had my doubts about him when Rohan went down . . . but quickly changed my mind after watching him lead the Offense. Mauck will not throw for 500 yards a game, and with our running attack and O lineman, he should never have to. Mauck is not going to beat anyone in the 40 yard dash either, but as seen in Arkansas you don't need a quick QB to run him, just a smart runner with the ball. But most importantly, Mauck is not going to lose games for us. He controls the ball well and is really a great leader for our team. That may not get his name on the Heisman list, but as long as he wins games, who cares?
OK, if you cheerleaders are finished let's get to some truth. Not many here are questioning Mauck as far as throwing exclusively to Clayton. The few posts that have popped up have been pretty soundly beaten down. It is pretty obvious that if he is open, he gets the ball. No one is questioning his leadership abilities. As far as I can see, no one is questioning his ability to win big games. After the last game, it is hard to question whether he can throw the long ball. And I don't see anyone questioning that on this board. But until I saw it with my own two eyes in this past game, I was a doubter. He certainly had not shown the ability to complete those passes consistently prior to this game. Every now and then the ball ended up in the correct place, but it was definitely a crap shoot. This is still going to be interesting to watch. We can't run from the truth here. I can't see how anyone can say with certainty that Mauck will be able to go to his second or third receiver when Clayton is covered. He has not shown that ability. The ball ends up going to the first receiver, out of bounds, or Mauck holds it. Because he has not SHOWN it and has at times in the past shown quite the opposite, I think that realistic fans can question whether he has that ability. We can go around and around about how he can probably do it this season after working on it during the off season but he hasn't had to because of competition, blah blah blah... but the fact is that he has not shown it. UGA would be a great place to show that ability. That ability is one of the missing pieces of the pie. The pie might still be good enough with that piece missing, but it would be sweeter with it. And it may not be a critical piece at all! The bottom line is that we could win the MNC with Mauck playing just like he is. I don't think that any LSU fan here wants to see him benched for a freshman. I personally don't think that this problem is a huge problem that we can't overcome. Its a lot better than INTs from a QB that is trying to do too much (Booty). But I would prefer for Mauck to turn and look and fire the ball to the wide open second or third receiver. What fan wouldn't? And kjntiger, I don't think that a fan's loyalty or brain content (is it piss in there or just the beer from last weekend) should be questioned when we point out LSU's weaknesses. It is very interesting to find these weaknesses and watch the players and coaches fix them or work around them. It is also interesting watching the opposing team try to exploit them. What is so wrong with that? Is this board going to degrade into a cheerleading camp? Should I get my pom-poms and a mini-skirt? Please don't make me do that. Sorry, but I have had enough Curleys, drop linebackers, and Bootys shoved down my throat to accept anything after beating up on 3 pansy teams. Call me jaded, but I call it realism.
