Rewatch the game........

No one should be allowed to post anything, positive or negative, without rewatching the game.

If you think you have an actual idea of how ANY game goes down based on your initial viewing, then you are either a complete idiot, or Good Will Hunting.

There is a reason coaches and players watch a ton of film.

I wanted to break my TV and never watch another LSU game after the emotion of that game. But after rewatching the game, I feel as good about this team as I have since 2007.

DL was absolutely sick. Nevis, Pep, Montgomery, and Brockers are monsters.

Kelvin is amazing. Francois was solid but wasn't around the ball as much as you'd like. Minter and Barrow have work to do but are talented.

PP is greatness. Jai was solid. Taylor is out of position too much. Claiborne was not as bad on second viewing but got torched on a double move on the 97 yarder, which was completely scripted by UNC. Great play call with their backs to the wall.

OL was VERY solid. And no, those were not scrubs they were playing against. They aren't scrubs anymore than Brockers or Downs, our 2nd string DTs are, and they got pushed off the ball all night in the run game, and didn't get a sack. And T-Bob, who I wanted cut after watching the game, played really well and DID NOT hold on that TD. He absolutely pancaked his man. HORRIBLE CALL. Improvement here was VERY obvious.

Anyone who says JJ hasn't improved isn't worth talking to. They have their minds made up. He played well. Does still hold the ball in certain situations though. But overall, got the ball out MUCH quicker than last year. Also, he is keeping the ball on options this year, whereas he ALWAYS pitched it last year and didn't even really try to fool anyone into thinking he'd run. They obviously drilled keeping the ball into his head this summer, so he has to learn to balance the pitch vs. the keep. The only REALLY two bad plays were the pick at the end of the half, and the intentional grounding. He held it too long on both of those and panicked. Other than that though, he was much more decisive and got the ball out. Still locks on to receivers though too a good part of the time. Needs work there, but honestly, the first read was usually open, shown by his great comp. %. So, it's tough to knock that too much.

Gameplan was very good by Crowton, or Gonzales, or whoever, and I was one of the first Crowton haters on this board. Came out attacking in the 2nd half again, but Ridley's fumble killed a scoring drive. No "meerkat" O, VERY FEW presnap penalties, no trouble getting the play calls in, no option to the short side, and not nearly as much option at all. Took shots downfield. Tight ends were involved in the passing game unlike last year, probably due to our OL finally playing better so we didn't need to keep them in to block as much. Shep got several touches, and Murphy, thank god, got very few opportunities. The offensive staff has clearly made improvements in everything from gameplan, to personnel use, to relaying calls from the sideline, to actual play calls.

Ridley ran VERY well, and if he can stop fumbling, he will be a great SEC back. That said, he almost cost us the game. The fumble on the first drive of the second half killed our momentum, and of course the last one was just inexcusable. His TD that was called back for a bogus call was a great great run.

We do still have a bad tendency to run routes short of the 1st down markers on 3rd down. That was the only glaring problem I saw with the gameplan. Randle should NEVER be running short of the sticks on 3rd down and he did it at least twice.

I did wish Randle was more of a focus in the O. That guy is as good as they come. Ford not getting carries is terrible. I don't care how little of the playbook he knows, put him for the 2 or 3 plays he does know. And he CANNOT be any worse on blitz pickup than Murphy. FACT.

Stampley is simply not an SEC FB IMO.


Can't wait till next week. If the players and coaches can avoid the clowns on this board, and keep doing what they're doing, we are going to be just fine.