Looking to our next game @LSU

[Matt3467]

One thing that has me worried is how to contain the QB run. Looking back at our game with AZ I couldn't believe the amount of open grass De Laura had yet he chose to not run. I think it's a closer game if he runs. The LSU QB is a scrambler so we've got to tighten up.

[TrapGame]

Jayden runs because his OL is average at best. The center is playing his first college downs. IIRC, the LT is a redshirt freshman. FSU's defensive front was living in LSU's backfield all night. We'll have a fast guy on JD.

[smootness]

You think we may have allowed the space to scramble because we know De Laura won’t?

[Lord McBuckethead]

I say keep him in the pocket at all cost. We have whiffed on tackling a QB in the backfield enough already this year to fill up a highlight reel. Keep him in the pocket, and tighten our coverage just a smidge, let the interceptions create themselves.
If we can collapse the pocket on him, maybe there is a chance. LSU is going to try to run the ball on us, that will help us to maintain a QB spy.

[PikeDawg15]

This game will be the catalyse for our potential big season..... damn this game does scare me tho... tiger stadium at night where dreams go to die....

Put a spy on Daniels, I don't think he can beat us down field if we don't give him time in the pocket and don't let him scramble, I don't think they will be able to establish a ground and pound game on our offense line.


Arizona had 1 rushing yard after that first drive.... interesting stat line. The only reason Arizona got 17 points was we gave them short fields off of turnovers.

[BlackSailsDawg]

Jayden runs because his OL is average at best. The center is playing his first college downs. IIRC, the LT is a redshirt freshman. FSU's defensive front was living in LSU's backfield all night. We'll have a fast guy on JD.

We hope.

We can not over look 78.3% completion ratio either. 5 TDs /no INTs. I get that he was in for very little against Southern and completed 10/11... because it's Southern. But the "close competition" QB that got the back up job, he was only 13/23. QBR of 18 against Southern with 2 INTs.

He was 74% against FSU.

Point being he is going to be the first real challenge for this defense. Bringing him down quickly is going to be key. the DBs staying on their assignments. etc.

[Lord McBuckethead]

well I hope we do not give free possessions to LSU on the short field. We have to protect the ball.

[msstate7]

We hope.

We can not over look 78.3% completion ratio either. 5 TDs /no INTs. I get that he was in for very little against Southern and completed 10/11... because it's Southern. But the "close competition" QB that got the back up job, he was only 13/23. QBR of 18 against Southern with 2 INTs.

He was 74% against FSU.

Point being he is going to be the first real challenge for this defense. Bringing him down quickly is going to be key. the DBs staying on their assignments. etc.

After lsu started the 2nd half vs fsu with a 3 and out, daniels is 27/33 passing

[ShotgunDawg]

Facing De Laura was a wonderful warm up for Daniels.

Really gives our defense a chance to correct some mistakes on a mobile QB before facing one that can really run

[PikeDawg15]

Facing De Laura was a wonderful warm up for Daniels.

Really gives our defense a chance to correct some mistakes on a mobile QB before facing one that can really run

de laura would always try to find someone down the field instead of taking the 1st down. Daniels will take the 1st down everytime.

I trust rogers to keep the offense scoring points .

[PikeDawg15]

in a game like this we cant GULP*** have any missed kicks GULP****

[msstate7]

Facing De Laura was a wonderful warm up for Daniels.

Really gives our defense a chance to correct some mistakes on a mobile QB before facing one that can really run

I agree with this, but daniels is a much better runner. de Laura hasn't avg'd 2 yards a carry any year, and daniels has between 5-6 the last 2 seasons... on that pace again this season.

[Matt3467]

You think we may have allowed the space to scramble because we know De Laura won’t?

I was reading an article after the game that was saying De Laura needed to run more and that he said during training camp that he would run if he needed to. He didn't really need to vs SDSU but he absolutely needed to vs us.

[Cooterpoot]

I think we might lose this one. We probably shouldn't, We're good enough to win it, but we haven't played well enough so far and it's a tough place to win. That long haul cross country to AZ is tough too. We just aren't consistent. But I expect a tight game. Hopefully we find a way to play 4 qtrs and win it. Just don't have high confidence in this team yet.

[Matt3467]

in a game like this we cant GULP*** have any missed kicks GULP****

I think Biscardi may have lost his job Saturday night.

[KOdawg1]

Gotta keep him in the pocket. If not, it'll be a long night

[BlackSailsDawg]

de laura would always try to find someone down the field instead of taking the 1st down. Daniels will take the 1st down everytime.

I trust rogers to keep the offense scoring points .

I trust this offense to help the defense in scoring and keeping LSU's TOP to as low as possible.

[Cowbell]

Yep - this is a chance for Arnette to really show us how good he is

[BlackSailsDawg]

Yep - this is a chance for Arnette to really show us how good he is

Our Defense has a few weaknesses. We are much more improved, but still have a few spots of concerns. The speed at LB is one of them. They make up for that in IQ, but they are going to lose some battles. I think we need to play very disciplined on the edges and that helps containment too as support to that. Next is depth at the CBs. After 2 weeks, Furdge is lost. He is not keeping up with his assignments.

But we also get a rested Crumedy back too.

[PMDawg]

This game is about to answer a lot of questions. I've been critical of our DL, and I'm still pretty skeptical on them. At the snap of the ball, they just run into the offensive lineman across from them and basically stand straight up at that point. They rarely win a one on one matchup or get any push. But, at the same time, look at our opponent's offensive numbers. Especially their rushing numbers. We're obviously playing good defense. BUT - all of the pressures, tackles, and mayhem are coming from the Linebacker position (except a bit from our DBs blitzing). Our linebackers are freaking stout. So, I can't tell if Arnett is just scheming it that way and trying to use the DL to keep everything in front of the defense or what. I thought I would see more explosive plays from our DL in these first two games versus some "lesser" teams, and it's been a bit concerning that they have seemed to struggle. Maybe I'm misreading it.

The only other thing I'm seeing that bothers me is that our OL still seems to give up a lot of pressure when the opposing team only sends 3. And, again, this has been versus lesser competition. Overall, the OL has done great through the first 2 games, but when they do get beat, it's almost always against a 3 man rush. That is just weird. It's like we can't figure out who to block. On one sack, we actually had a RB staying in to block, and we still got beat by a 3 man rush. The good thing is, this should be fixable. We're not getting beaten because we have a bad OL, because they are holding up great in just about every other situation. The bad thing is, this seems to be a recurring problem no matter who is playing OL for us, so apparently our coaches aren't great at figuring out how to fix it. I don't know, it's strange. I get that it's somewhat of a by product of the wide splits, but it sucks to see Memphis and Arizona be able to cause us problems because we know what's coming later on in the schedule.

I'm not too worried about the OL "issue", because it's not been a big issue, just a bit aggravating here and there. Plus I trust Will to get the ball out quickly when he needs to and/or make good decisions (not throwing it up for grabs), for the most part. I'm more worried he may take a few too many hits and potentially get hurt by some of the SEC DL coming up on our schedule.

The DL play Saturday is what I'm keying in on. An accurate QB with running ability is scary for any defense. If we do well containing the LSU offense (and I believe we can shut down their run game), then there's an obvious path to 9 or 10 wins. If JD shows out against us, it's not going to bode well going forward. As always, the LSU game is a critical game for us.

Overall, our team has looked really good.