Captain's Cogitations - LSU

Captain Sasquatch

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Well we finally made it home from the Big Easy this morning and I had a chance to watch the replay of the game on DVR after taking a nap. What a fun trip, though. Tiger Stadium at night lived up to the hype, that's as much fun as I've had going to any road game, even with the loss. LSU fans treated us as well as we could have asked for, and the tailgate scene was insane, almost as good as the WLOCP. I'd go back there in a heartbeat.

My initial reaction after the game was over Saturday was that the entire game hinged on two plays: the holding call on Perine's long reception and the interception in the end zone. After watching the replay, that opinion hasn't changed. It's amazing to me that so many times throughout the last two decades, LSU almost always has the pivotal plays of a game swing in their favor. Whether it's a bouncing ball on a fake FG, the defense having 14 men on the field, a TE dropping a wide open TD in the back of the end zone, the Bluegrass Miracle, or completing a pass in the end zone with 1 second left when all they need is a TD, it almost always bounces their way. It's infuriating. The lone difference this time is the two plays were our own damn fault. The holding call was definitely holding, and the interception was an absolutely baffling decision by Trask (that should have been negated by defensive holding, but without the bad throw, it doesn't matter).

Other than that one bad throw, Trask once again played a hell of a game. He remained poised in what was a ridiculously electric atmosphere in the stadium, made tons of clutch throws, even a few clutch runs, and never got rattled. Up until the back shoulder fade that Pitts caught against Auburn, I was struggling to remember the last time we even successfully completed one. Trask threw a couple more dimes to Jefferson on the back shoulder, which is going to open our offense even more moving forward if we can keep hitting them. He continues to do a great job putting touch on the passes that need it, and it looks like he was making sure to keep both hands on the football right up until he had to throw it to prevent more sack fumbles. Showing that type of improvement in a week just shows how coachable he is. As far as the pick goes, it looked like Swain was running an option route where he could have either run a seam or corner. Trask must have thought he was hitting the seam, because that's where he threw it, and Swain had already started to break towards the corner. It's also entirely possible it was just a bad throw because of the pressure, which we can't know for certain because we don't have the playbook.

I didn't have a problem with most of the playcalling until the late 3rd quarter and the final goal line push. The TD drive to start the 3rd quarter was probably Mullen's finest drive on a playcalling front that he's had at Florida. He mixed up a few back shoulder fades with some runs and quick hitters over the middle, and it was a beautiful drive. Then we had the holding penalty and he turtled up until we were already down 7 again in the 4th quarter. He just needs to stick with what's working instead of always trying to outsmart the defense. As a play caller, I've always felt that was his greatest weakness: trying too hard to make the perfect call for every situation instead of just going with what you know will work for the given situation. The throwback pass to Trask on 3rd & 1 against Auburn is a perfect example. Sure, it worked, but how dumb do you look if you waste a 3rd & 1 with the lead on a gadget play that turns into 4th down, or worse yet, a turnover?

The final 4th down call is another example. Sure, that delayed option usually works for us, but when the defense is pushing forward to protect the goal line and you have no space to run the play, it's not going to work with Trask. At all. I'm not a fan of running the option on the goal line in general for that very reason. All of the defenders are going to be within a few yards of the line of scrimmage, and it's a play that requires spacing to work. Ask UNC about running the option on the goal line and getting stuffed (against Clemson).

I haven't minded Mullen's use of Emory Jones as much as some of you have. However, I did think that giving him the entire "drive" late in the 3rd quarter was a mistake in that situation. At the very least, bring Trask back in on 3rd down to try to pick up the 1st down through the air. But it is painfully obvious that EJ absolutely has to be out there at some points in the game. The way our running game struggles to gain yards in traditional sets with traditional plays, we have to have him in there for misdirection. Because our line isn't going to open up holes with any kind of consistency. One could argue that we should just keep throwing the ball, but that's just silly. You have to be able to run the ball if you want to keep winning games, especially close ones. And I don't think anyone can say with a straight face that our offense moves the ball better on the ground with Trask out there.

One other thing I'd like to see Mullen change is the number of times he leaves Trask out there in an empty set. The defense knows there's a minuscule chance he's going to take off on a designed run, so they're automatically pinning their ears back and coming after him when they see empty sets. I mean we can't even run the rocker step playaction with Trask because the defense just isn't going to respect it. So leave an extra blocker in there more often for him. Our receivers and Pitts are good enough to get open with a 4 man route tree.

I don't know what to say about the defense that probably hasn't already been said since Saturday night. They had a pretty horrible night to say the least. But give LSU credit, that offense lived up to the hype. They had an answer for everything we did, whether it was rushing 3-4, bringing pressure, spying Burrow, man coverage, zone coverage, whatever. It's going to take an extraordinary effort from any defense this year to stop them, or an off day from Burrow. Other than that, the best thing for them to do is leave it in the past and move on. That's the best offense we'll face all year by a long shot unless we somehow end up in Atlanta against Bama.

Moving forward, we have to circle the wagons quickly. We're going into a building where we've only won once in the last four trips against a team that's flying high after their upset win over UGA. It sounds like Hilinski will be playing this week, so just get back on track on defense and we'll be fine. I think the offense is just going to keep getting better. Trask is really starting to form a lot of chemistry with the entire receiving corps, and I'm loving the way he's spreading it around.

We've still got all of our season's goals in our grasp, just need to keep grinding and pulling that rope. Step 1 is beating some Cock and going into the off week on a high note. Until next week, go Gators!

:chomp:
 

SeabeeGator

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I thought you weren’t coming back without a win? I want a refund.

So rewatched that speed option on 4th. It was actually a great call but everyone’s favorite OL, Delance, screwed it up. He was supposed to chip the OLB but totally whiffed. That OLB was the only thing standing between the pitch, Perine, and a sure TD. Delance may be the worst OL we’ve had in years. How many plays have failed this year specifically because he screwed up?
 

MJMGator

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Glad you and Queenie had a good time.
I blame you for the loss though.
 

ThreatMatrix

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In case you missed it.
Also, I was largely cured of my pissy-ness by the Donkey and gatorfan81, who actually made me blurt hearty laughter yesterday morning. I really needed a laugh.

Here was the exchange from the Donkey:

MatthewM.: Ox and Law are interchangeable now
Swamp Donkey: your mom is interchangeable. can flip her either way.

:lol:

And here was gatorfan81's response to Sas's report that he had a great time at the LSU game and loved their fans:

gatorfan81: What makes me mad is we let LSU talk **** and they came in and backed it up. While we sat there like the good little whipping boys. Hell sas is over there secretly high fiving LSU fans and touching penis tips everytime someone scored. **** LSU. This was supposed to be our signature win.

Penis tips? :bwahaha:

Thanks fellas.
 

Gator By Marriage

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Nice write up @Captain Sasquatch That’s an excellent point about the empty back field. I think leaving Perine in as you suggest would be a great alternative. He’s (usually) a reliable blocker and a good option as a safety valve.
Glad to hear you and the Queen had a good time.
 

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