re: Watching our 2006 season over again

quote:

---

Jamarcus with a hot hand could win by 2-3 tds... But the 06 team had inept moments on offense (Florida) so I don't know

---

I think most people who romanticize the 2006 team are just people who fall in love with talent, and they are blind to a lot of team issues that held that squad back.

As most know, I have never been a big JaMarcus defender, going all the way back to his chicken-running-around-with-its-head-cut-off debut in 2004 against Oregon State, but it cannot be emphasized enough--THE OFFENSIVE PROBLEMS IN 2006 WENT BEYOND WHETHER OR NOT JAMARCUS HAD A GREAT GAME OR NOT.

Even I will admit that his last 4.5 games at LSU were a thing of beauty. No LSU QB has ever had a streak like that, and it's interesting to think what could have happened had he stayed his senior year.

But even DURING that streak of brilliant QB passing performances, LSU STILL had an absolutely putrid performance against a 4-8 Ole Miss team, needing overtime to pull out the win.

Without a big return against Arky, LSU probably loses that game as well. So we're not just talking about a bad offensive outing or two against Auburn & Florida. We're talking Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Ole Miss, & Arkansas, where the O underperformed. This is more than just bad luck.

Compare this to the 2007 offense, which never scored less than 28 points in a game, a consistency which few teams outside the 1995 Huskers ever managed to accomplish. And this is despite ankle & knee injuries to Arnold, Doucet, & Flynn, thus making each of the 3 most crucial players on O miss significant games.

People bag on Crowton all the time, and justifiably so in my opinion, but there was no doubt that he was an enormous upgrade from the shite show Jimbo was running in 2006.