Week 2 (McNeese game) thoughts

[Nutriaitch]

Well, we won by 4 TDs.

So i'm going to list the positives first.

Cade York and Kashon Boutte are All American level players.
Maason Smith is a stud.
D-Line as a whole was simply too much for McNeese's O-line.

that's the positives.  All of them.

[Nutriaitch]

Now, on to the negatives:

This is a bad football team. Sorry, but we are.
The D-Line made this game look like a no contest blowout.

Our O-Line is crap.  Bad. Garbage. Worst unit on the team and it ain't close.
We gave up 3 sacks, but QB never could get comfy in pocket.

We averaged 3.5 yards per rush (on 36 attempts). Half of our yards came on 3 plays.  Which means rest of the other 33 attempts we averaged 1.8 per carry.
By comparison, last week a Division II school (not FCS, DIVISION II) averaged 4.8 per against this same defense.  By the way, McNeese State LOST to that Division II school by the way. So do not try to sugar coat and tell me the Cowboys are a solid/good/ok/average FCS team. They're not. 

This offense is also unimaginative. Other than the Brady season, O did not "fix" the offense. He just morphed it into a different version of suck. but suck it still does.
We went 3 for 16 (18%) on 3rd downs. THREE for SIXTEEN. vs McNeese State. West Florida by the way was 6 for 10 (60%) against that defense.
We seriously went for it on 4th down 3 times in first two drives.  Again, this is against an FCS school. In the first quarter.

We had 2 attempts to gain 1 fornicating yard on 2nd possession and couldn't do it.

LSU football was unable to punch it through for 1 god damn yard against an FCS school. With our starters. In the first quarter.

 

[Nutriaitch]

Defense.

Tough to judge anyone past the Line because of how dominant they were.

HOWEVER, linebacker play is still bad. And we did not do a wonderful job of stopping the run.
McNeese RBs averaged 4.1 per pop. Total rushing numbers look great because the sack yardage goes into rushing column.  But actual rushing attempts on the other hand paint a much different picture.

DB's? Not enough data to properly grade due to Cody Orgeron not having any time to throw anywhere.
Nobody was glaringly bad though.

 

[Nutriaitch]

17 minutes ago, Nutriaitch said:

By comparison, last week a Division II school (not FCS, DIVISION II) averaged 4.8 per against this same defense.  By the way, McNeese State LOST to that Division II school by the way. So do not try to sugar coat and tell me the Cowboys are a solid/good/ok/average FCS team. They're not. 

 

 

just to clarify.

a Division II school that has only existed for 5 years.

and Div II teams only have 36 players on scholly, less than half as many as McNeese.

[Fishhead]

55 minutes ago, Nutriaitch said:

Well, we won by 4 TDs.

So i'm going to list the positives first.

Cade York and Kashon Boutte are All American level players.
Maason Smith is a stud.
D-Line as a whole was simply too much for McNeese's O-line.

that's the positives.  All of them.

Disagree-not that those aren't positives, of course they are accurate.  Cade York may leave early for the NFL draft lol. 

But go watch Cam Lewis.  And go watch Jack Bech. Those are positives.  Mike Jones, Jr was also a positive.  Bugg Strong played well.  

 

OK that's it.

[Nutriaitch]

2 minutes ago, Fishhead said:

Disagree-not that those aren't positives, of course they are accurate.  Cade York may leave early for the NFL draft lol. 

But go watch Cam Lewis.  And go watch Jack Bech. Those are positives.  Mike Jones, Jr was also a positive.  Bugg Strong played well.  

 

OK that's it.

my apologies on omitting Bech. I forgot him. that's my fault.

On Jones and Strong, i have to blame my service (and the shitty announcers).
I was using an iPad hot spot to my fire stick. For long stretches of the game it looked almost like i was watching a 1983 TV set with the antenna not quite turned correctly.  So i couldn't read numbers/names. So if the announcers didn't give me a name, i couldn't always tell the specific who.

[Fishhead]

I'm trying not to judge them against McNeese per se.  

You can look at just LSU and figure out if there's improvements.  Matters not who they're playing.  

And the OL sucks badly.  On offense, that's the #1 issue.  I'm not putting that on Brad Davis.  He got here in summer with the worst OL in the league already here and no way to replace anyone.  We had already used up our 25 spots and I can't believe none were used on an OT.  None.  That's on the HC.  It's clear why James Cregg had to resort to cheating to try and sway an OT to come here.  It didn't even work, and he got fired.  Bye.  But damn this isn't fixable during the season. 

With the LBs, we played different guys and I liked Mike Jones, Jr.  Bugg Strong had a solid game.  It's against McNeese, but I'm looking at eye discipline, hitting the correct hole (something Baskerville and Clark haven't done yet), and Jones can cover a crossing route.  

Safety play was seemingly better, but like Nootch said, Cody didn't have enough time to operate a downfield passing game. 

Regardless who they're playing, it was clear some young guys need to get more chances.  That includes Nuss, Kiner, and Goodwin as well as Bech.  BTJ had the drops bad last night after looking ready to go.  

Myles Brennan was throwing on the sideline...good to see.  They need to add 75 lbs to his frame, put him at LT, and let Nuss and Max fight it out lol. 

[Fishhead]

3 minutes ago, Nutriaitch said:

my apologies on omitting Bech. I forgot him. that's my fault.

On Jones and Strong, i have to blame my service (and the shitty announcers).
I was using an iPad hot spot to my fire stick. For long stretches of the game it looked almost like i was watching a 1983 TV set with the antenna not quite turned correctly.  So i couldn't read numbers/names. So if the announcers didn't give me a name, i couldn't always tell the specific who.

Cam Lewis #31 was all over the place from the safety position.  He had a sack and multiple TFL, almost a pick.  He was in position which is more than we can say for anyone else that played S last week.  

Andre Anthony was dominant too.  That I put on "against McNeese", but I watched him set the edge more often that not, and that's been our DEs problem the last two years.  They can get after the QB, no doubt.  But setting the edge and forcing RBs back inside will work wonders for this defense.  

[Nutriaitch]

8 minutes ago, Fishhead said:

You can look at just LSU and figure out if there's improvements. 

 

i can't. It's the first time i see them. 

[Fishhead]

3 minutes ago, Nutriaitch said:

 

i can't. It's the first time i see them. 

Well damn lol

[Fishhead]

I wasn't really talking about you in particular.  

People all last week were saying you can't learn anything GOOD from LSU against McNeese.  People are not watching LSU.  They're watching LSU vs McNeese.  

LSU couldn't set the edge against UCLA or anyone last year.  I DID see them set the edge against McNeese...particularly Anthony.  That's improvement.

LSU couldn't cover a crossing route against UCLA or last season.  I saw Mike Jones do it.  

I watched Bugg Strong attack the correct gap.  There's two things there.  Attack, instead of waiting.  Plus the correct gap, which Baskerville completely missed on that long run in the first half last night where Damone Clark caught the guy 35 yds later.  I'll give Clark credit for hustling, too.  

Regardless that it was against McNeese, we did mix in a couple jet sweeps and tried outside runs.  We didn't excel, but it was good to see us try em.  At least make the defense respect it. 

 

[Fishhead]

Add Avery's tackle to the list.  

Punt return with 2:40 to go in the game, Atkins with the tackle.

[Nutriaitch]

6 minutes ago, Fishhead said:

Add Avery's tackle to the list.  

Punt return with 2:40 to go in the game, Atkins with the tackle.

 

agree, but i didn't put that because OUR PUNTER was the best player on the field at that moment.

Like he beat everyone else down field for the tackle.

[houtiger]

Nothing really to disagree with.  We still look bad.

On the o-line, I think there is some hope for improvement on the pass blocking.  Against UCLA, it was clear the linemen did not know who to block when there were 4 down linemen and 2 LB on the line facing them.  Now if you can count to five, you should be able to figure it out.  Then one is free and the RB has to block him.  And the QB has to see it and be ready to get the ball out in not much more than one second, two at the outside.  So, he's got to know who is not covered and get the ball to him.  I'm not saying its easy, but Burrow did it most of the time.

Now the run blocking, that's another story.  Are we just not physical enough to move people?

Max vs Nuss?  The failed 3rd down conversions hurt, or we may have scored 60.  Multiple drives stopped on 3rd down.  Nuss looked good, had some energy to him, but the Cowboys were tired and beat by then.

[Nutriaitch]

1 hour ago, houtiger said:

Now the run blocking, that's another story.  Are we just not physical enough to move people?

i think it's a combination of several things.

A. coaching/scheme plays a big part. Has to, because we've seen teams with way less talent have success at least moving the ball against teams that completely overmatch them.  

B. talent/players.  we have guys playing out of position. we're starting guys that simply aren't big/strong enough to be every down guys in the SEC. Also, backs need to have better vision and patience. Do not run directly into a wall. Half a stutter then "get skinny" could get you through a gap into next level. 

C. S&C Coach. i've hated Moffit for years. back in '99/'00 he probably was the best in the business. in 2021, i just don't think that's true any more.

 

1 hour ago, houtiger said:

Max vs Nuss? 

Max looks flustered. Not sure why. 
HOWEVER, forcing Nuss into a known situation before he is "ready" could be disastrous long term.

1 hour ago, houtiger said:

Multiple drives stopped on 3rd down.  

well, yeah. that's how they usually get stopped if you ain't turning it over 

[Fishhead]

The OL run blocking schemes in the first game were atrocious.  We never saw a single pulling guard or anything remotely advanced.  

But the main thing is  we have very little talent.  The freshman Dellinger is going to be good.  Campbell coming in next year is a rare excellent Louisiana tackle prospect.  But the transfer portal HAS to pay off before next season.  

Davis inherited a really bad situation so it's hard for me to put anything on him.  Had he been here in the spring and saw what he had to work with, maybe he could've gotten involved in the process of attracting a transfer guy or 2.  But it was too late by then. Hopefully he can a: recruit and identify talent, and b: coach em up in a hurry.

Possible moot point.  Most new HCs bring in their own staff.

[COTiger]

3 minutes ago, Fishhead said:

 

But the main thing is  we have very little talent. 

I'll admit up front, I don't follow recruiting.  But I have seen polls where LSU is consistently highly ranked in the recruiting polls.  Besides the boat, what am I missing?  Is it a combination of not recruiting the right personnel, poor coaching, or a combination of the two?

[Nutriaitch]

8 hours ago, COTiger said:

I'll admit up front, I don't follow recruiting.  But I have seen polls where LSU is consistently highly ranked in the recruiting polls.  Besides the boat, what am I missing?  Is it a combination of not recruiting the right personnel, poor coaching, or a combination of the two?

most not the right positions. 

If you sign 25 DBs and WRs all ranked 4star +, you will have the top ranked class in America. 

but your team will suck because you have nobody to play in the trenches, no QB, no LB, etc. 

[Fishhead]

9 hours ago, COTiger said:

I'll admit up front, I don't follow recruiting.  But I have seen polls where LSU is consistently highly ranked in the recruiting polls.  Besides the boat, what am I missing?  Is it a combination of not recruiting the right personnel, poor coaching, or a combination of the two?

With my lack of talent comment, that was specifically talking about the OL

Find the elite tackle we've recruited. 

[LSUDad]

3 hours ago, Fishhead said:

With my lack of talent comment, that was specifically talking about the OL

Find the elite tackle we've recruited. 

Dare Rosenthal, had a chance of being a good one, signed as a DL. Moved to OT, could have been a top round draft pick. A Kentucky transfer, now, who knows. Once again, off the field. 

[Fishhead]

23 minutes ago, LSUDad said:

Dare Rosenthal, had a chance of being a good one, signed as a DL. Moved to OT, could have been a top round draft pick. A Kentucky transfer, now, who knows. Once again, off the field. 

Several things you said that to consider. 

1.  "Signed as a DL" shows they weren't even targeting him as OT
2. "A Kentucky transfer"...yeah, he ain't here.  He had a PFF grade of 90ish game 1 for Kentucky, allowed NOTHING.  No sacks, no hurries, QB didn't get touched behind him.  But he's not here.  

Point being, you can't deny the OL recruiting has been sketchy even since before O was HC.  O said in his presser after 2016 Bama we have to get better in the trenches (right before "We Comin', and we ain't backin' down")
On the DL, it's clear we've improved there, recruiting wise.  But not the OL.  We should never be in a position where the only true tackle is a true frosh and the starting C is an undersized Harvard transfer.  Period.  His statement about getting better in the trenches was literally 5 years ago.

It's flat out roster mismanagement.  

 

[Herb]

16 hours ago, Nutriaitch said:

S&C Coach. i've hated Moffit for years. back in '99/'00 he probably was the best in the business. in 2021, i just don't think that's true any more.

I've wondered about this for a while.  Just like the "game passed him by" meme, sports and nutrition science is constantly evolving and there are probably guys with more advanced methodology available somewhere.

[Nutriaitch]

21 minutes ago, Herb said:

I've wondered about this for a while.  Just like the "game passed him by" meme, sports and nutrition science is constantly evolving and there are probably guys with more advanced methodology available somewhere.

that’s one area i can’t speak very much about. 

in my era guys just used *cough* supplements *cough*. 

[Fishhead]

The one dude on our lines (Offense or Defense) that looks like he plays for Alabama is Maason Smith.  

I'm talking about physical appearance, here.  He LOOKS like their guys.  Our guys aren't chiseled and sculpted (talking about the big uglies only).  Our guys, in fact, are fat. 

It is BETTER this year for some, but we have guys that were highly rated that can't see or stay on the field because quite frankly they're not in shape.

All these injuries, too.  WTF?  We had 22 guys out this weekend (not all injuries), and that's unacceptable.

[LSUDad]

3 hours ago, Fishhead said:

Several things you said that to consider. 

1.  "Signed as a DL" shows they weren't even targeting him as OT
2. "A Kentucky transfer"...yeah, he ain't here.  He had a PFF grade of 90ish game 1 for Kentucky, allowed NOTHING.  No sacks, no hurries, QB didn't get touched behind him.  But he's not here.  

Point being, you can't deny the OL recruiting has been sketchy even since before O was HC.  O said in his presser after 2016 Bama we have to get better in the trenches (right before "We Comin', and we ain't backin' down")
On the DL, it's clear we've improved there, recruiting wise.  But not the OL.  We should never be in a position where the only true tackle is a true frosh and the starting C is an undersized Harvard transfer.  Period.  His statement about getting better in the trenches was literally 5 years ago.

It's flat out roster mismanagement.  

 

They signed him as DL, but needed him to move, in the best interest of both parties. I’ve never denied the miss at OL. Each guy has been a practice player, or wait till next year guy. Charles may have been one of the better, as of late, but he too, OTF problems.  The big guy, Pancake, but he too looks like his love for pancakes might have done him in. 
You can look back at the OG position, they have done well, at times, the center position. For years, Frank Beamer use to take TE’s, move them to the OL. Deculus will play OG in the NFL. I agree, Les was a failure when it came to the OL, the OL Coach, can pick kids, the HC has the final say. 
We can go back to Studs, he too was unable to find the guys. 

I kind of see where this is headed, it will play out. 

Looking back, been years since we’ve had a Mawae, Faneca or Big Whit. Even a McClure, but you have to recruit OT. 

Tra Turner, Cushenberry and Damien Lewis have been good, but no OT. Brandon Traore was a highly rated OT coming out of JC, never got in the mix.