re: What happened to Jordan Jefferson over the course of his career

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And we will never know if JL could have produced better results in the BCSCG, but it's not debatable that he couldn't have produced less.

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I love when Jefferson haters post ignorant bullshite. It provides such a teachable moment.


So you say that Lee could not have produced less than Jefferson in the BCSCG?

In the BCSCG, Jefferson had a QB Rating of 79.13 and a completion percentage of 64.71%.

In the 2008 game against Alabama, Lee had a QB Rating of 69.13 and a completion percentage of 38.24%.
In the 2009 game against Alabama, Lee had a QB Rating of 56.96 and a completion percentage of 40.00%.
In the 2010 game against Alabama, Lee had a QB Rating of 137.54 and a completion percentage of 57.14%.
In the 2011 game against Alabama, Lee had a QB Rating of 14.52 and a completion percentage of 42.19%.

Comparing Lee's QB Rating against Alabama to Jefferson's QB Rating against Alabama in the BCSCG, Lee had a higher QB Rating against Alabama only ONE time in Lee's entire career.

Comparing Lee's completion percentage against Alabama to Jefferson's completion percentage against Alabama in the BCSCG, Lee NEVER had a higher completion percentage against Alabama in Lee's entire career.

So maybe you're right that it's not debatable that Lee couldn't have produced less. Lee's history against Alabama seems to conclusively prove that there is almost no way he would have produced more than Jefferson in the BCSCG. Hell, in 2011 alone, Lee had twice as many interceptions against Alabama as Jefferson had, and Lee had only one-quarter of the pass attempts.

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There isn't an LSU fan alive that would spend that much time defending a QB that is otherwise generally reviled by neutral fans that got weary of seeing a second string Sun Belt caliber QB starting for an otherwise top tier SEC power.... I just know that other than the second half of 2012 and 2013, the LSU offense looked smoother with JL starting the first half of 2011 than it had since 2006.

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As I showed above, your perception of the facts appears to be skewed by the 2011 BCSCG.

Jefferson's performance, like very other QB under Miles, improved from his initial year to his last.

SEC Regular Season Games

You cannot rationally describe Jefferson's career by one game. Only irrational emotion would cause that kind of result.

It's even more irrational to label a player by one game considering that without Jefferson's play in prior games, LSU does not even play in the BCSCG. Jefferson's performance in the GOTC helped to win the game, and his performance against Arkansas was very good. If LSU does not win those games, LSU does not make it to the BCSCG.

His performance in the second half of the SECCG was an integral part of that victory. Tyrann Mathieu sparked the team and played amazingly, but Jefferson led the team to FOUR offensive TDs.

And you can't reasonably blame Jefferson for the loss in the BCSCG. He completed almost 65% of his passes. There are at least six reasons why LSU lost the BCSCG:


1. LSU did not run well against top five defenses. In the first half of the SECCG, LSUs' RBs gained 21 yards on 9 attempts. That's 2.3 YPC. On one possession, Jefferson completed a 9 yard pass on first down. LSU's RBs ran the ball twice and could not get the first down. The first half of the SECCG sucked for the entire LSU offense. During the BCSCG, LSU's RBs gained 24 yards for the whole game.

The problem with the BCSCG and the first half of the SECCG is that LSU's offense did not work against those defenses. The problem was the offensive line. For the BCSCG, the O-line couldn’t move the Bama D-line, and they couldn’t hold them back either. There was no run game, and there was no time to pass.

In nearly every series of the BCSCG, the offense line failed to execute on at least one play. Bama had the best defense in college football. It would have been difficult to beat Bama unless they made a costly mistake or the offense executed at a very high level.


2. The GOTC loss motivated Bama to better prepare for and play the NC game. Bama was playing for redemption. Bama was very well-prepared for the game. The Bama defense was fully prepared to shut down the option. The Bama defense was fully prepared to shut down LSU's deep threat.


3. Bama lost the GOTC with their prior offensive strategy, so they were forced to abandon it. Bama took greater risks to win the BCCG. The Bama offense went in a completely different direction than it had all season. Bama relied on McCarron and passing rather than Richardson and rushing to move the ball. Saban took the ball out of Richardson’s hands and made McCarron win the game. Bama threw on nearly every first down. It was a risky strategy, but what did Bama have to lose? They had already lost to LSU trying to run the ball. McCarron had a terrific night; thus, the strategy worked.


4. Even though Bama had flipped its offensive strategy, it does not necessarily mean that LSU should have inserted Lee at any point in the NC game. Hindsight is always 20/20, and we know now that LSU’s plan did not work. However, LSU trailed Arkansas 14-0 in the second quarter. The offense came around in the second quarter, and LSU blew out Arkansas. LSU trailed Georgia 10-0 at the half in the SECCG. The offense was atrocious the first half but came around in the second half, and LSU blew out Georgia. With a few dozen plays left, it was not unreasonable for Miles to go with the strategy that worked so well in the two previous games. It was at least as reasonable as trying a QB that was the antithesis of the ideal QB to use against Bama.

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