Seaux Close, Yet Seaux Far

Captain Sasquatch

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I started and finished my postgame thoughts after UT with "How the f*ck did we win that game?" Seems like this week it should be, "How the f*ck did we lose that game?" :facepalm:

1. Disappointing effort from the front 7 on defense. LSU's backs were cutting back against the grain all night and our backside contain was nowhere to be found, just over-pursuing the whole game. Reminded me of the 2009 SECCG when Ingram just kept cutting back and getting first downs on 3rd & short. Fournette's going to be the real deal, I just hate that his coming out party was in the Swamp. Morrison played his ass off, though, and I was liking the pressure we got on the QB most of the game.

2. I honestly didn't notice VH3's absence for a while in the 2nd half, I just figured he had gone back out after coming off the field shaken up. I'm so used to QB's not throwing his direction that I just assumed he was on the other side of the field for every pass play. :lol: Having said that, Poole needs some serious work on his ball skills, and he needs to lock himself in a room with the defensive playbook. Still very impressed with Tabor, he's going to be a special player.

3. Andre Debose is the man.

4. Not sure what the hell was up with not calling any plays for our RB's. Muschamp said on the show with Mick that LSU was overloading the box, so they had to use the RB as an extra blocker for Jeff, but if we're always talking about how deep and talented our RB pool is, why not use them? Not only that, if they're overloading the box, call some plays to stretch them back out! Taylor must be in some kind of dog house with the coaching staff right now, because they're actively trying not to give him the ball.

5. This is going to be some extended thoughts on JD, so bear with me. Here's the thing about Driskel's performance. It really wasn't THAT bad until the final interception. Granted, that play basically lost us the game, but as I said before, if Westbrook catches the TD pass, it's game over.

Driskel's stat line was 14/25 183 yards 1 TD 2 INT. QB rating of 114.6.

If Westbrook catches that pass, Driskel would have been 15/22 171 yards 2 TD 1 INT for the game. QB rating of 154.3. Add that in with the 71 rushing yards, and can you really complain about how he performed? You sure as hell can't blame him one iota for the drop in the endzone, nor can you blame him for Dunbar's drop earlier in the game. He made a few GORGEOUS passes, including the wheel route to Powell that was caught, the 73 yard bomb to D-Rob, a perfect deep ball set up for Pittman that he tripped on, and another deep ball that wasn't caught because of a pass interference that wasn't called. The first interception was really just whatever, because it was a deep ball on 3rd down and basically served as a punt.

6. All that said, Driskel's going to catch sh*t for the one play that cost us the game, and he should get blamed for it. It was a poor decision that shouldn't have been made. I don't know if Roper called it or if Jeff checked to it at the line of scrimmage, but there's no reason to throw a short slant to the middle of the field when you have no timeouts left and you're trying to get into FG range. Not only that, Roper made some horrific play calls on 3rd downs trying to send Jeff up the middle on run plays. But Jeff was doing the best he could with the plays that were called, not much else you can say about that. And as I said before and after the UT game, I'm all for Treon getting the start if the offense responds better to him. I've said it a million times, all that matters is winning the game. Everything else, including who is on the field, is window dressing.

7. All in all, it was a team loss, which falls on Muschamp. It makes me sick to my stomach that a series of three plays (one man busting a coverage on 3rd & 25, Westbrook's drop, Driskel's pick) basically cost us the game. In a game when the ball was snapped about 130 times, it came down to 3 plays, and we were on the wrong side of all three of them.

8. As far as my thoughts on Muschamp's job security, I think as long as we're mathematically in the SEC East race, he's going to have a job. If we lose this week, I'd say all bets are off. We're definitely better than we were last year, which isn't saying much, but it's a start. However, we need to start showing improvement from week to week to have any kind of optimism moving forward. These boys still haven't given up on the season like they did last year, which is a good sign, but they need to pull themselves together and get this sh*t done.

9. And don't take this as me "defending" Muschamp. I'm looking at it from as neutral a standpoint as I can. Foley's not going to fire his HC when we still have a chance to make it to Atlanta, he's just not. As I said in point #8, if we lose to Missouri, he's as good as done here. So we'll see what these guys can accomplish when everyone, top to bottom, has their backs against the wall.


So that's about it from me, sorry it was a little longer this week. Haven't had a chance to discuss much in any of the current threads, so I had to consolidate more this time. Go Gators.
 

G 2

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I think Driskel played as well as he is capable of playing in this offense and it still contributed to this loss. I don't think there is much reason to keep him as the starter. Everything he can do, Harris can do better and with even more upside. But I agree that Driskel didn't play that bad. The guy even showed more emotion in this game than I had seen out of him in his time at Florida.
 

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G 2;n78818 said:
I think Driskel played as well as he is capable of playing in this offense and it still contributed to this offense. I don't think there is much reason to keep him as the starter. Everything he can do, Harris can do better and with even more upside. But I agree that Driskel didn't play that bad. The guy even showed more emotion in this game than I had seen out of him in his time at Florida.

The best he can do just isn't good enough. Time to move on.
 

Captain Sasquatch

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G 2;n78818 said:
I think Driskel played as well as he is capable of playing in this offense and it still contributed to this loss. I don't think there is much reason to keep him as the starter. Everything he can do, Harris can do better and with even more upside. But I agree that Driskel didn't play that bad. The guy even showed more emotion in this game than I had seen out of him in his time at Florida.

He got up and went nuts Tebow style after getting that 4th down, I had to do a double take. :lol:
 

Captain Sasquatch

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I also forgot about the drops by Worton and Powell (although I seem to remember JD kinda zipped that one by Powell before he was ready for it), as well as the pass where Taylor hip checked Jeff as he was trying to throw the ball. So yeah, he was pretty on point for most of the night throwing the ball.
 

Swamp Donkey

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6. All that said, Driskel's going to catch sh*t for the one play that cost us the game, and he should get blamed for it. It was a poor decision that shouldn't have been made. I don't know if Roper called it or if Jeff checked to it at the line of scrimmage, but there's no reason to throw a short slant to the middle of the field when you have no timeouts left and you're trying to get into FG range.
I really doubt that was a called throw by Roper.

I wonder if he read that that backer/safety that was covering Latroy was blitzing. That's probably a valid pre-snap read but he immediately dropped. I'm sure he didn't see the backer playing robber or spy back there. Or maybe I'm over thinking it and Driskel was doing his default of throwing to the shortest receiver as he knew he didn't have a tailback going to the flat due to the blitz.

The x and z were both open. You'd think the z read would have been second and I can't figure out why he'd read Pittman as open.
 

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He was on point which is why I didn't understand why they didn't throw more. They were stacking the box, but we were able to protect Jeff. It seems to me that some 15 - 20 yard passes would have made them loosen up some.

Jeff is who Jeff is at this point. He is always going to make mistakes. The first interception was not a bad decision, but it was a bad throw. Yes... It's like a punt, but when you can't convert on 3rd down every missed chance hurts the team.
 

Captain Sasquatch

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Law98gator;n78841 said:
I wonder if he read that that backer/safety that was covering Latroy was blitzing. That's probably a valid pre-snap read but he immediately dropped. I'm sure he didn't see the backer playing robber or spy back there. Or maybe I'm over thinking it and Driskel was doing his default of throwing to the shortest receiver as he knew he didn't have a tailback going to the flat due to the blitz.

I really doubt that was a called read by Roper. The x and z were both open. You'd think the z read would have been second and I can't figure out why he'd read Pittman as open.

Now that you say that, I definitely remember Driskel pointing to the backer over Pittman and yelling something at him, because it took a few extra seconds for him to get the ball snapped as a result. It's entirely possible the backer called off the blitz and dropped because he knew Driskel was trying to hit a hot route. Pittman could have kept moving on his route instead of stopping with the alligator arms and tipping the ball up, but it's easy for me to say that when I'm not facing two players about to rip my head off.

It was basically like in Tecmo Bowl on Nintendo when you pick the play the offense is going to run and all hell breaks loose.
 

Swamp Donkey

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ATXGator;n78842 said:
He was on point which is why I didn't understand why they didn't throw more. They were stacking the box, but we were able to protect Jeff. It seems to me that some 15 - 20 yard passes would have made them loosen up some.

Only if he completes them. DCs have no fear of Driskel at this point.
 

The Original DC

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Good write-up Squatch, I pretty much agree with all of it. I would add in general, that our team simply doesn't know how to go for the jugular. No killer instinct. When we got the 17-7 lead, it's like the defense took a huge deep breath and said "we can relax now" instead of continuing to fight. We did the same thing versus Kentucky. It's as if the defense will play its guts out until they think it's safe to relax. That is 100% coaching.

If this team could find a way to beat the hell out of a good or decent team (Missouri may be the perfect candidate), it would do wonders for them. Right now, the only thing they know is losing or playing an extremely tight game where they eek out a close victory (Tennessee and Kentucky). Personally, I think Muschamp must win the next two to save his job.
 

Gatorbait25

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#1- The left side of their line really got an outstanding push. They really gashed us there in the 3rd . Particularly on the long drive that seemed to take forever. The penalties in the secondary and on Cox surely didn't help matters.

#2- Up until the 3rd and 25 his absence didn't hurt us. Poole has played well in the past at nickel, but I have a hard time believing they convert that throw if Hargreaves is in . Then again they could have attacked maye or poole if he was.

#3- Huge advantage in special teams. Unfortunately it was all for naught.

#4- Still don't understand the powell run on 1st and goal from the 2. Absolutely dreadful . Then Brown is brought in for a decoy on 2nd . Fake to him and nothing for Jeff.
The 3rd down play was a beautiful call, yet a more excruciating drop I can't recall.

When we got the ball back on the last drive the first two calls were outstanding. I would've liked to have seen Powell motion again with a pump fake on the flare/ bubble then have something up the seam or maybe even a TE at the sticks. We had something going there, and it was one of the worst ways to lose I can think of. In a nutshell the game on saturday reminded me of a cross between LSU 2010 and Auburn 07.
 

Captain Sasquatch

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Gatorbait25;n78867 said:
When we got the ball back on the last drive the first two calls were outstanding. I would've liked to have seen Powell motion again with a pump fake on the flare/ bubble then have something up the seam or maybe even a TE at the sticks. We had something going there, and it was one of the worst ways to lose I can think of. In a nutshell the game on saturday reminded me of a cross between LSU 2010 and Auburn 07.
So much truth right here.
 

Gatorphan

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Good thread.................the title says it all.
 

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NVGator;n78059 said:
Originally posted by Captain Sasquatch View Post
I still have to post my thoughts on the game, and I might not have a chance to until tomorrow or maybe even later in the week (busy few days coming up), but the stadium was LOUD last night. A couple times I just had to look around and smile, it's such a great place to see a football game.

But yeah, heartbreaking and frustrating loss to say the least. I'll have more to say on that later. Go Gators.



No need to stress yourself out about posting your post-game thoughts. We all have a good idea about how you will spin it in favor of your favorite coach and QB. I'm sure you walked away with a new reason to support this dumpster fire.

Pump on Bro. :lol:

Yep, I pretty much nailed it. :wink:
 

divits

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NVGator;n78948 said:
Yep, I pretty much nailed it. :wink:

Actually, it was a pretty spot on analysis. Specially the part about about our lack of contain on the backside. I was at the game and saw it all day long.

Instead of snarking, point out specifics that you disagree with.
 

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Captain Sasquatch;n78892 said:
So much truth right here.

But do you not notice that we only play like that when the game is on the line and we have nothing to lose? I'll admit that Harris is probably a better QB, but that's ultimately what we saw late in the ut game as well.

Go back and watch the UK game. Until it was absolutely critical that we score, we played the bland version of football that we've become accustomed to. Then, them moment we're down, we suddenly march right down the field and score. It was the same Saturday. Muschamp views offense as a necessary evil. He wants to win games 17-10, ideally with a defensive score mixed in. The problem is, when you constantly give yourself a razor thin margin for error, you get these kinds of losses. It's what it is. He's not going to change. If anyone's good with that, then so be it. But if you think that he's going to change his approach, you are crazy. And if you think that said approach is going to magically become successful than you're even crazier.
 

Captain Sasquatch

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divits;n78961 said:
Actually, it was a pretty spot on analysis. Specially the part about about our lack of contain on the backside. I was at the game and saw it all day long.

Instead of snarking, point out specifics that you disagree with.

That's why I like our endzone seats, gives me a great view of the play developing. Sucks when the ball is going towards the north endzone, but I still love watching from that angle.
 

t-gator

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soflagator;n78964 said:
But do you not notice that we only play like that when the game is on the line and we have nothing to lose? I'll admit that Harris is probably a better QB, but that's ultimately what we saw late in the ut game as well.

Go back and watch the UK game. Until it was absolutely critical that we score, we played the bland version of football that we've become accustomed to. Then, them moment we're down, we suddenly march right down the field and score. It was the same Saturday. Muschamp views offense as a necessary evil. He wants to win games 17-10, ideally with a defensive score mixed in. The problem is, when you constantly give yourself a razor thin margin for error, you get these kinds of losses. It's what it is. He's not going to change. If anyone's good with that, then so be it. But if you think that he's going to change his approach, you are crazy. And if you think that said approach is going to magically become successful than you're even crazier.

I've been saying this forever the margin for error is too small in this approach.
 

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This was a not very good LSU team, struggling in all phases, playing in the Swamp. Everybody has made plays against them this year and they have often been pretty much shut down with the young QB's. We just made them look like SEC West contenders...which they clearly are not this year. That is how bad our coaching and preparation seem to be...we make teams look so much better than they really are...
 

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