| Column: How much offense is enough?| by Carl Dubois on Sep 24, 2009 at 9:42 am |  | |
Les Miles is holding back the best parts of the LSU offense. He's hiding something.
That's why Miles won't let LSU have as big a video screen in Tiger Stadium as you'll find at Mississippi State and Ole Miss. That's why there is an ad on the video screen covering up part of the play.
He's hiding something, I tell you.
But seriously, the question to ask isn't whether LSU should go all Jerry Jones with it and get a stadium and replay board visible from the International Space Station. The question is: How much offense is enough?
Consider this more of a conversation piece, something to spur discussion. You'll not find a thesis here. It's thinking out loud, and perhaps a way to draw you into a different way of thinking about the same ol' subject.
Usually, Dan Patrick's "Just My Type" page is one of the most egregious examples of wasted space in the history of Sports Illustrated. Tucked inside the Sept. 9 installment was a nugget I found interesting:
"When it comes down to it, [the Colts are] trying to be good at a certain number of plays, and we're not afraid to run the same play over and over and over again. You've got to be careful trying to run 60 different plays in a game and being pretty good at most of them, as opposed to being great at this core group of plays."
That's an excerpt from Patrick's interview with Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.
I've heard this philosophy before. That was Johnny Buck at Kinder High School. That's J.T. Curtis at John Curtis. That's the Green Bay Packers of Vince Lombardi.
That's the thinking of the coach who has more victories in college football than anyone else, John Gagliardi of St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn.
Yes, that's Division III, which has no scholarships. Yes, LSU doesn't play in Class 2A of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association. But neither do the Colts.
Do what you do well, and don't worry about who has the thickest playbook. It's an approach that has some merit.
These same Colts defeated the Miami Dolphins 27-23 despite having the ball for 14:53 of the 60-minute game Monday night. Big plays and field goals made up for the disparity in time of possession.
The Colts ran for 61 yards. They passed for 295. They turned to the leg of Adam Vinatieri.
I could see LSU winning this way, getting the most out of its offensive talent by becoming expert at a core group of plays rather than trying to see how many different plays the Tigers can run in a game. Turning half of its incomplete passes into completions by becoming less ambitious and more judicious.
More precise.
Simplifying the blocking calls with no Brett Helms doing the calling, rather than trying to pick up where the Tigers were, in a comfort zone, with his experience and instincts the past several years.
Lining up with the confidence of 1,000 crisp practice reps and saying, "Here it comes. Try to stop it."
Who needs a deep ball when you can get your receivers to look the ball into their hands on the short and intermediate routes that simply need better timing and more rehearsal?
Here's another old-guy reference. The late Brian Piccolo, comparing himself to Chicago Bears teammate Gale Sayers, said something along the lines of, "I can't get you 60, but I can get you 10 sixes."
And here's the thing about that: Not every big play requires the ball to be in the air for three or more excited heartbeats. An eight-yard slant can turn into a 60-yard touchdown pass with difference-maker speed. LSU has that.
Attention to detail in the core group of plays can liberate an offense, allowing it to strip away the excesses and save a few tricks for when they are truly needed. Until then, get it right. Get on the same page, which is easier when you stay on the same page for rep after rep after rep.
Offensive coordinators and coaches often fall in love with their toys and their knowledge. They've got all this weaponry at their disposal, and they want to use it. They are like TV stations who spend a ton of money on the latest meteorological technology and are almost forced to spend far too many minutes on the weather during the nightly news.
They are like military officials secretly relishing the prospect of battle to see their new hardware in action.
Back on the football field, it's often difficult to take the knowledge inside an offensive coordinator's head and transfer it between the ears of his players -- and to see it come alive in their arms and legs. Sometimes the best play call isn't the most exotic.
It's the KISS principle. Keep it simple, stupid.
The LSU folks are telling us they're still working on their timing, so ...
Sometimes the Gary Crowton offense looks like a grab bag. At its best, it is a series of plays that leaves you puzzled -- until you see what he was setting up, how he was getting the defense to take the bait.
I'm wondering aloud here, as I said, but it's possible this team -- the third LSU team in three years to begin a season with a first-year starting quarterback -- could benefit from what Manning described.
"When it comes down to it, [we're] trying to be good at a certain number of plays, and we're not afraid to run the same play over and over and over again. You've got to be careful trying to run 60 different plays in a game and being pretty good at most of them, as opposed to being great at this core group of plays."
Simplicity. Call it the One Love offense. Let Raising Cane's sponsor it. They've already got that preseason Miles quote on their drinking cups and billboards ("This season, nobody's hungrier than we are.").
Perhaps fewer menu items is the answer for this playbook. Unleashing "all that talent" should be a means to an end, not the end itself. In the end, the coach's job isn't to make everybody happy, to evenly distribute the touches or to use dog-ear every page in the playbook.
I just checked an important stat. In terms of scoring more points than the opponent, LSU is 3-0 this season.
The opponents are about to get tougher, yes. It does not necessarily mean the game plans should become proportionately more diverse and intricate. Five simple plays that work beat 15 jaw-dropping play calls that fail.
Maybe more reps, not more wrinkles, are the answer. That may or may not be the case.
I thought about Coca-Cola. Blockbuster company, simple product.
Then I realized what I was thinking and did some research. Coke has 450 brands in 200 countries. Wait until you see the Freestyle fountain.
So, forget it. Never mind. Open up the offense, Les and Gary. What in the heck are you waiting for?
And get that ad off the replays. Everybody wants to see your dadgone offense. Stop hiding pieces of it.
.
Carl Dubois has written or blogged about LSU sports since 1999. He wrote this column hoping to start a conversation, not to be the final word on it. You can contact him at carl1061 'at' gmail.com.
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