I wanted to feel like we played better the 2nd half due to adjustments. I also thought that Jennings showed he can throw the ball downfield with some accuracy. At coffee when I said he could throw, one friend said, "Yeah, straight up." I know he had plenty of bad passes but I was meaning that he made a few- enough to see his potential. This particular guy didn't play football but I did tell him on some routes you actually do want your QB to throw it up and let the receiver run under it. Regardless, I know they had some key players out but, between injuries and suspensions, we did too. Another thing I'm not seeing people talk about is chemistry a team gets from being in the trenches. It takes time for that and with so many young and new players, we'll grow A LOT in that department with each game.
The big pass to Dural, Mett might not have made that one, to get away from the defenders, on the run, from the 10 and drop it in the bucket at the 50, over the corner and the Safety. Getting away from the defenders would have got him. The throw across the middle to Dural was another good one. A couple to Quinn were close. These are things Cam can work with, fine tune. The line was doing so much better with the blocking later in the game, like I said, a hat on a hat. The weight loss of Hilliard, had him in shape for the 4th quarter. He was looking like he could have ran another quarter, just like he was doing.
I love what Les said after the game, I'm paraphrasing but it was something to the extent of we have a lot to learn but it's easier to learn coming off a victory. I think they grew up a lot in that 2nd half. Sam Houston likes to play hurry up which is good for us being we have MSST and Auburn soon.
I'm in agreement w OP and some others. There is no getting around how much we're having to reload this year. This could easily have been a loss, but Miles et al kept fighting, and this young team did something remarkable, IMO. They started gelling. Very impressed w Jennings - nice arm, mobile, seems to be calming down and making good decisions (red shirt freshman, 2nd time ever he's seen major play time). It's still early. I've been a complainer at many points in the Miles era, but I was also impressed w Miles. This team looks like they buy in. W resilience and talent we might be a force THIS year. I'm just asking negatigers like myself to give this team a chance. If we get into SEC play and are punchless, maybe then it's time to bitch.
I liked the way we looked in the second half. Also watched the replay a few nights ago and in the second half we were a much better team than Wisconsin. If we start the game the way we finished it, we win that one by 30 or better. We have a very talented team. If we can avoid youthful mental mistakes throughout the season, we might have something special on our hands. I didn't think our WR corps could get any better than last year, but all-in-all, I think we might by deeper this year and it remains to be seen if any of these guys will reach OBJ and JL status before leaving LSU.
Great evaluation tiger fan. I've watched the game 3 times myself. The o-line did not help Jennings in the first half. I saw a different QB in the second half. He will continue to improve, stumble some and become stagnant in his growth until the Bama game then more improvement because he will have two weeks to prepare for Bama vice only week. Why this assessment? Not much time to prepare between games and great coaches will be scheming against him. He will have a bumpy year. However, the next two years will be great.
It's tough having to start darn near every season with a bunch of newcomers in one position group such as the secondary last year along with the lb's. This year the receivers are all pretty new. But I'm guessing we're going to see this on a regular basis if the early exits continue. Now our oline shouldn't have had the same issues this game since we did have many experienced guys returning however the center does make the blocking calls & end had a first time starter doing that.
Porter will sit another game, Pocic to start again. As for the WR's, this is one group that really looked good Sat night, if this continues, it's gonna be a strength the next couple years.
