re: Who here is confident in Chavis?

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I'm starting to wonder if the DL is just a matter of what Les himself likes to do with his DL rather than a lack of talent.

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The answer is simple.

We missed on several recruits over the last couple of years, and its showing now. The high star ratings in HS have not translated to the college game. Some of it is coaching I believe, but I also believe that LSU is nowhere near as talented on both lines of scrimmage as most on here think.

Getting beat one on one vs the likes of La Tech is inexcusable. It shouldnt take a coaching genius to teach a 5 star lineman at LSU how to beat his opponent at La Tech. Most of these guys simply arent as good as we have been led to believe.

From what I read on here, I think I am in the minority with my beliefs, but I stand by them.

last year's DL class was an impressive haul I'd hope we start to see some of their faces next season

Pep Livingston does not need to be out there.

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You do understand that the time of possession has more to do with an inept offense than the defense, right? The Tigers averaged roughly five 3-and-outs per game. That had a lot to do with the D being worn out late in games and surrendering more yardage in the 4th quarter than the first. Also better Dline play will be necessary for Chavis' scheme to really take hold. Getting more of a push and speeding up the opposing qb's pocket clock will make a world of difference.

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With this also you can credit the offense getting less points because of field position and less plays. Im hopeful that its just a d line problem.

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requires far more energy to play defense in general...imo, our biggest problems were on offense this year...too many three and outs (poor play calling, ineffective OL, immature QB)

if we cut down on three and outs, the defense is better rested and more able to make big plays...

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Yeah, it would be quite different if LSU was scoring a lot of TD's quickly and the D could take a lot more chances as well. The lack of O had to factor into Chavis' D scheme for any given game, I think he is plenty good enough if matched with a decent O that could maintain TOP close to half of the game and score 24 or more for a margin of error for the D. The D did a great job vs PSU based on what the O did to them field position-wise numerous times.

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No, you're not an expert. LSU's D does bring extra guys and disguise blitzes. The biggest problem with the defense is it's a little young and the DL was mediocre. This attritubuted to the lack of third down stops and long drives by opposing offenses. It's a stellar improvement from last year when teams were ripping off 80 yard plays on us all year long.

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I agree with you there its nice to know the defensive players know what they are doing most of the time

On defense I'd just like to see a better performance out of the D-Line. Other than that, the D's biggest problem was the number of 3 and outs that kept them on the field so much.

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improved LB play and not giving up 100+ points to UGA and FLA were the high points.

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This is true...but dont kid yourself. Florida could have scored 60 on us if they wanted to. They came in, ran dive after dive for 5 yds a pop, ran the clock, down and went home. Had LSU had the offensive game of their lives and scored 40 that game, Florida would have scored 45. Florida TOYED with us. It was comical, actually.

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In fact in 2007 Miles was forced to go for it on multiple 4th down conversions because LSU could not stop Florida's offense all game.

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LSU was 5-5 on fourth down in that game if memory serves me correctly.

Now, how many of those were on the final game winning drive? 3 I think? Maybe 4? Either way, we went for it those times because We HAD to. Not because we didnt think we could stop Florida or because Miles was "gambling" as some like to say. We HAD to do it. It was a no-brainer.

We were ranked 12th in the nation in scoring defense, all without the benefit of a pass rush. The job of a defense is to prevent scoring, something at which this defense excelled. Considering that the defense did this with some of the components looking poor (cough) (d line) (cough), I’m extremely confident in next year’s defense.

Without any improvement, our defense is one of the best in the nation. And I think Chavis will likely improve the unit. He’s not getting nearly enough credit. Bitching about the TOP from the 12th ranked scoring defense is just looking for something to bitch about.

You really think we don’t have enough ACTUAL problems on this team that we wouldn’t need to be inventing crap to worry about. Time of possession is not a stat which correlates to winning. Scoring is.