Favorite team:LSU 
Location:Baton Rouge, LA
Biography:
Interests:fishing, hunting, LSU football
Occupation:that's my business
Number of Posts:1814
Registered on:8/20/2003
Online Status:Not Online

Recent Posts

Message

re: The LSU/Florida rivalry

Posted by Germano Tiger on 8/2/11 at 1:32 pm to
BordyLSU nailed it. This has only impacted LSU's chance at a west title twice, and in reality, only once has it impacted our chance at a conference (and national) championship - 2006. (you don't seriously believe, after the 56-13 beatdown, DiNardo's '96 team was going to circle the wagons against Danny W and Co, especially when they had the red-arse for getting beat by FSU the week before do you?)

Which is why the '06 game was so frustrating. Auburn had lost earlier in the day to Arkansas and we were in the driver's seat. then came the inexplicable no-TD of Jacob Hester, the jump pass, the fumbled 2nd half kickoff, the batted-ball interception, and Florida was off and running to Tempe. :yack:
Shall we clear up some myths on this thread?

1- Nick Saban was not a "diamond in the rough" up-and-comer when LSU hired him. Gerry DiNardo was a diamond in the rough. Curly Hallman was up and coming. Saban was a candidate for NFL jobs before he even came to LSU (Bill Polian and the Colts, remember?). Granted, his best coaching accomplishments were ahead of him at the time, but he was established.

2- Jon Gruden won 5 division titles in 11 seasons as a head coach at two different teams, taking both teams as far as the conference title game. He didn't just "win with Dungy's players." Did he win in the first season after Dungy left? Yes, but Oakland won in the first season after Gruden left, so that's not much of an argument.

3 - Lovie Smith never won a Super Bowl as a head coach.

4 - Pete Carroll had been out of college coaching for 16 years when USC hired him. It worked out. This is not to say that Gruden would be the next Pete Carroll, but to point out that a prolonged absence from the college game does not prohibit success.
From what I saw last weekend, Syracuse and St. Louis were still using the old end-zone placement and no raised court. This may have been because attendance wasn't expected to be over 35-40K. On the other hand, Reliant was set up in the midfield configuration, but they host the FF next year, so I'm assuming the NCAA wanted to test it out.
In the past, the court has been placed on top of one football sideline, and temporary seating was used to accomodate the other side of the court, like this:


Recently, the midfield placement has been used in Detroit, Houston, and Indianapolis with an elevated court (boxing ring style), allowing the entire arena to be used. Like this:

Any idea if the Superdome will use a midfield court setup for next year's regional and the final four in 2012?

Here is a better photo of Ford Field's basketball setup

re: Sacks........

Posted by Germano Tiger on 1/4/10 at 5:46 pm to
2007: 39
2008: 28
2009: 21

Alem had 8 sacks last year, 4.5 this year.

It's interesting to note that in 2007, four defensive backs recorded at least 1 sack on the season (Craig Steltz, Chad Jones, Danny McCray, and Curtis Taylor). This year not a single DB recorded a sack.

(This is not to say that we suck, either. We gave up 68 fewer points in 2009 than we did in 2007, with 1 less game played in 2009)

re: LSU Uniform Poll.

Posted by Germano Tiger on 11/30/09 at 8:45 am to
The tulane game unis would have been awesome were it not for the "phoenix" on the shoulder. had they just worn the regular purples with white pants and white hats, it would have looked sharp.
quote:

Miles doesn't prepare well for regular season games. FACT.


Signed,
Frank Beamer

re: DiNardo or Miles...

Posted by Germano Tiger on 11/25/09 at 11:07 am to
quote:

Ok State is a decent program, Vandy is not


Agreed on this point, though it has been noted that Les took over a bad Ok State program which is now in much better shape thanks in part to Les and in large part to Boone Pickens.

I still wonder why we ever hired DiNardo anyway. Four losing seasons at Vandy and we hire that guy. Odd. Does anyone remember the back story on how he got to LSU?

re: DiNardo or Miles...

Posted by Germano Tiger on 11/25/09 at 10:56 am to
quote:

think DiNardo would be a better coach. He would have ran twice


Kinda like he did against Auburn in '97 with Cecil in the backfield on 3rd and two?

Oh wait...

re: DiNardo or Miles...

Posted by Germano Tiger on 11/25/09 at 10:55 am to
quote:

there is no way miles could have led a rebuilding project


So what you're saying is he would have been unsuccessful at something he was never tasked with doing? Well, then screw him.

quote:

who in the fanbase would ahve gotten behind les?


If we were coming off five straight losing seasons? Probably everyone. We sure did get behind DiNardo, who was a loser coach from Vanderbilt. At least Les came to LSU with a winning record.
I think part of this may be Miles, part may be the LSU players (both from a personnel and attitude standpoint). Even under the great warlord Nick Saban, we often struggled to be dominant.

The attitude is the responsibility of the coach, and even Saban admitted he often struggled to get LSU's attitude in the right place (e.g. Ole Miss in '01, Florida in '03, and much of the 2004 season if you read his book)


I do think it takes good QB play to be able to do that more often. As well as any defense can play, if you don't keep putting up points, the opposing team grows more confident. Go back and look at the 2004 team under Nick Saban. We were not "dominant" because our QB play was poor. Oregon St, Auburn, Florida, Troy...these were games we could have run away with, but the offense was in neutral. This year is very similar.

We've certainly had our moments under Miles. Bowl games, the VTech game, Arizona game, '05 at Ole Miss, '06 vs Alabama, even this year's Auburn game were games, to name a few, when Miles' team walked onto the field and made the opponent wish they had never shown up.
No doubt about it. Luckily, the inmates aren't running the asylum at LSU.

timlan I spoke with someone from your neck of the woods last night, a big TAF and LSU Foundation supporter, and he said the season is going exactly how he expected. Losses to Florida and Alabama, and probably one other one. 9-3 is what he was shooting for. I can promise you this person is not "happy with mediocrity" as some on this board suggest. He has invested tons of time and money in this place. But he understands reality too. Some years line up to be great years, some not so much. A good coach can still recruit and have winning seasons in the "off" years, keeping the bus moving forward. Stovall, Archer, Hallman, Dinardo...these guys couldn't do that. The wheels fell off for them (actually, Hallman's bus was in reverse from day 1). The ole miss loss, as mind numbing as it was, was only one loss, and there's not a coach in America who can't look back at one game and say "man, I really blew it there." Nick Saban has noted plenty of times that he felt he screwed up as LSU's coach.

This is not to say everyone is blind and can't see any problems. But you have to let the season play out and judge things on the big picture of the season and state of the program.
quote:

In the 35 seasons before Miles became head coach (starting in 1970), five ended with fewer than 3 losses (1972, 1985, 1987, 1996, 2003).


And now there have been three in Miles' tenure.

I'll take this a little further, counting the number of two-loss or better seasons and overall number of seasons.

1972: McClendon (1/18)
1985: Arnsparger (1/3)
1987: Archer (1/4)
1996: DiNardo (1/5)
2003: Saban (1/5)
2005: Miles
2006: Miles
2007: Miles (3/5)

On a related note, Steve Spurrier had two or fewer losses in 7 of 12 seasons at Florida.

Coming into this season, Mack Brown had 5 of 11.

In Bobby Bowden's first 11 seasons at FSU, he had 3 seasons of two or fewer losses. Then he went on a 14-year run of two or fewer losses.

Larry Coker was 3/6 in this "two or fewer" category.

...

IMO, Miles is approaching a crossroads and next year will be the turning point. In a year when key positions leave Florida and Ole Miss, and LSU brings some experience to the table, does LSU get back to the 2005-2007 type results, or are we a 2nd tier SEC team again? I think next year determines if Miles becomes LSU's Mack Brown or LSU's Larry Coker.
quote:

NO WAY Saban would've left his/our team


Kinda like he did before the Capital One Bowl?

in '72, the previous play was an incomplete pass, so the clock wouldn't start until the ball was snapped.

The clock started here as soon as the chains were set.
Yes, definitely.

I do wish TD had been around in the 90's. I think '94 Auburn postgame meltdown might have shut down the site, the internet, and the power grid of the southeastern US.

re: sacks

Posted by Germano Tiger on 11/6/09 at 2:36 pm to
Good to know we're all on the same page here.

re: sacks

Posted by Germano Tiger on 11/6/09 at 2:35 pm to


This is the only sack that matters.