Postgame Thoughts

I haven't posted here in a while because I have been boggled down with work the past month. I'm not here to eat crow because I think I predicted a double digit victory by LSU, but I did not think it would be by that much.

First off, great game LSU and Coach Miles. Miles takes a lotta shite in my opinion and it is completely undeserved. Damn, he knows how to get a team prepared to go out there and kick some arse. Your players are very underrated and more importantly, under hyped in my opinion. Whenever I check out ESPN or College Football Live, I very rarely see players like Tyrann Mathieu, Sam Montgomery Eric Reid, Mingo, Ryan Baker, Michael Ford, Kendrick Adams, Morris Claiborne, etc. being mentioned. These guys are damn good and deserve much praise.

Now, to the game. LSU did exactly what I was afraid of. And that was shutting down our rushing attack and on the flip side, pounding the ball down our throats. The Tiger's defensive line was un-freaking-believable. I was aware of the hype of your talented secondary, but hot damn that defensive line was tremendous! I was in awe when the defensive end Mingo ran down LMJ and threw him down like he was a rag doll. Sam Montgomery..... Stop playing. Just go to the NFL now. You were an animal and a complete pain in the arse to our offensive line. Very underrated was the Kendrick Adams guy. He just made sound plays and never got out of position. I didn't notice too much from the linebackers except for #22, Ryan Baker. He's very fast and just has a great nose to the ball. This was the one unit I was hoping would be a thorn in the Tiger's side. Nope. Baker blew things up and always seemed to be around the ball carrier. Your secondary gave up some yards, but a lot of those were due to the fact that you were kicking our arse and playing back to eliminate any deep threat. We also attempted 50 something passes, so we are bound to get some yards here and there. Morris Claiborne is also a player that needs to be mentioned. He's got really good cover skills. Oh yeah, your safeties are not safeties. They are linebackers with unbelievable speed and cover skills.

Your offense is what it's always been. It's not the prettiest or flashiest thing to watch, but it is what is and has always been proven to be successful at all levels (pop warner to NFL). You played to your quarterback's strengths and quite frankly, didn't put him in a position to screw up. You ran the ball down our throats (I think Ware and Ford both had right around 100 yards rushing) and played fairly conservatively. If you cannot stop the run, chances are you aren't going to win. It was tight going into halftime and a lot of my fellow Duck fans were feeling fairly confident, but I just had that bad feeling in my stomach. I knew that the smash mouth style really wears on teams and those 3-4 yards runs start turning into 6-7+ yard runs in the second half due to teams just being tired and worn the hell out. Your offensive line was much more physical than our front 7 and that wasn't something that wasn't unexpected. I thought that our defense could hold your offense down due to your quarterback and passing game, but no luck. Your tight end, #19 made some good plays too. He's extremely fast for a tight end and it wouldn't shock me in the least bit to see him playing wide receiver in the NFL. Lee was efficient. Not a huge threat, had average at best numbers, but he did what was expected and didn't do anything to "hurt" LSU. LSU is a team that really doesn't have to have a great quarterback to win. You just need someone to put up 100-150 yards (to keep the defense honest) and don't turn the ball over. If he continues to do that, yall will be fine.

As for Oregon, I think we'll be fine. LSU is clearly the best team we will face all season and no one else really comes close. Arizona State, Southern Cal, and Stanford will be tough, but I think we should win. We can't turn the ball over like did. That really hurt, but being the first game, some are expected. We lost to easily one of the best and most talented teams in the nation. I don't really think we are overrated and I think we're a legit top 10 team, it's just that a few schools (LSU, Alabama, probably Oklahoma) are just at that notch above and we clearly aren't there yet.

I wish you all well. I'm rooting for yall to win out. It's hard to root against Les...he seems like a great guy and is an elite, top notch coach. Kelly could learn a few things from him in my opinion, but that's a whole different story. I think i'll be sticking around this board for a good while. Cheers LSU!