My offensive predictions for the rest of the season

re-watching this again yesterday

reminded me of a few things.
Against UF Dickson had a LB over him at all times and they showed a 5 man front with a LB hat on a hat with Dickson at all times

The first possesion of the 2nd half is at the 1:39mark

1st play sack - they had 3 WR in and were going to try to take a shot down the field after UF kicked a FG

2nd play CScott run for 2yrds (not shown)

the 3rd play (1:46 mark - 3rd and 15 to go) is a 4WR set - no Dickson. 5 OL vs 4 DL and they push our OL back 10 yards and sack a QB in the shotgun that also took a 5 step drop. They were on JJ from the LDE position before he even finished his 5 step drop IN THE SHOTGUN 10 yards behind the LOS

now look at the 2:06 mark
3WR with Dickson
4th and 1 with 5:57 left in the game down 13-3

5 man front at the snap with a 3 man rush. LB releases with Dickson's route. A LB drops back to spy on JJ. Pocket collapses and forces JJ to move left. He has no where to throw the ball so he has to run for it Where two LBs are waiting for him to drop him for a loss

Now keep in mind we were throwing it on 4th and 1 for the ball game and the two WRs at the top were BLOCKING and not running routes


I believe this week in practice they will take the time to work on themselves since they do not have to game prep for someone else. So I predict:

1) they will tighten up the formation OL splits, use mitch joseph and dickson together more and run a lot more offset I with Chuck Scott which will make the blocking schemes easier to execute

2) if they continue to use the 4WR or 5WR spread sets it will be solely for Shep to carry the ball or JJ/Shep and KW to run zone read. The OL is having a very difficult time with the wide splits in the spread formations and the one on one blocking it requires them to do. Speed rushers are giving our tackles a lot of trouble and in the spread they are out there on their own

3) I think we will see more Holliday in the traditional role he has been in the past. As a decoy and as a end around/reverse type of player. I think the days of Holliday running routes are over

4) I think that this week they will stress JJ going under center and using 3/5 step drops with play action to get rid of the ball quicker

5) Miles likes to run the ball but he and Crowton are smart enough to know there are multiple ways to accomplish that and so they will implement the best scheme and plays that the OL can execute and cull the rest of it. The first cull should be the option with JJ

6) I understand what the 4 and 5 WR sets are supposed to do (spread the field) but JJ locks into WRs too much and those formations require him to read too much of the field. So I predict more 2WR and 3WR formations with less WR congestion on designated routes and more option routes for Lafell/Tolliver/Randle.

7) I think that Auburn and Tulane are a golden opportunity to take the training wheels off of Shepard and let him go into the deeper waters a bit. I think it is time to see him run a full offensive series as a QB, throw the ball a few times and run the offense. He was signed at LSU to play QB, he practices at QB and he is a play maker at QB. So give the kid a chance to be the QB.

We are all aware of the high end and low end offensive outputs we have seen under Miles at LSU. Yet Miles has the undeserved reputation of being a conservative offense coach because he played OL at Michigan 30 years ago? Some forget that the all time leading receiver in OSU history, Rashaun Woods, played for Miles:

quote:

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Woods, OSU’s record-setting receiver just completed the regular season with 66 receptions for 1,144 yards and 14 touchdowns. Woods averaged 95.3 yards per game and an impressive 17.3 yards per reception.

Seven of Woods’ touchdown receptions came in one game. In OSU’s win at SMU, Woods hauled in seven touchdown receptions to break an NCAA single game record that had stood since 1969.

During the 2003 regular season, Woods had six games with 100 or more receiving yards, including a career high 232 yards on 13 receptions in the SMU game. He finished the regular season with six catches for 125 yards and a touchdown against Baylor.

Woods is only Oklahoma State receiver to record three straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He had 1,695 yards in a record setting junior season in 2002 and that followed 1,023 yards in 2001 as a sophomore.

For his Oklahoma State career, Woods now has 282 receptions for 4,191 yards and 41 touchdowns. He is just the eighth receiver in NCAA history to reach the 4,000 yard mark and he will finish his Oklahoma State career owning literally every Cowboy receiving record.

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So if Miles is anything, he is an opportunist and a realist that knows sometimes you have to chuck it to win, and sometimes you have to Chuck Scott it to win. With a QB and an OL that are struggling with a vertical passing game, why continue to expose their deficiencies by forcing a bad fit in your offensive system? Why not go back to basics, stress the power running game, protecting the QB and getting rid of the football? I think Miles and Company know this as well as anyone and now is the time to make the adjustments.