Look, let me clear the air. I'm not sarcastic, nor in need of prozac or sitting with daddy.
I've had season tickets for 13 yrs and I've made it to 80% of all game H and A in that time period....daddy isn't payin' that bill
My whole point is that "everyone on here is fallin' into the stereotypical tech fan pattern" where everything is spun into a positive because of what the Stats say.......there's a reason the sayin' goes "stats are for losers"
That break-down above isn't a positive. It makes it even more negative to bring that up and say "hey, we did just as good as you did" when we didn't
We got destroyed in our own town....period.
Think about it....if took that to a player and showed it to him....do you think it would give him warm fuzzies and he'd appreciate the encouragement....hell no. He' probably look at you and say "is that supposed to make me feel better...knowing we did what we were supposed to do and still got pummled? If he's any player worth dressin' out you better hope it pisses him off ......it would me.
My point is that people who've played the game look at it completely different.
It's becoming more and more apparent that most of these people on here have never laced up the cleats, snapped a chin strap and traded some paint on the flats....................and it goes the same way for basketball
Thats all I got
First, it ought to have been apparent for a LONG time that most of the people on this board never played football on the Flats. Have you? That doesn't mean that we didn't play football at all, and aren't acquainted with the game, or that we have never played competitive athletics at significant levels.
Second, you completely missed my point. Let me clarify:
1. We got waxed, and it wasn't pretty. Embarrassed.
2. After a loss, all you got is the stats of the game, and after a 38-3 loss, you barely even have that.
3. In the embarrassment, I've heard numerous comments about how LSU stuffed our offense.
4. After watching the game 2 times on tape, I saw something different than I thought I saw live. That is:
a. Our offense didn't play as badly as I thought at first.
b. There were some aspects of our offense that we actually did well.
c. I went back to look at the drive chart, adn the same story is there as well.
5. Here's why I think that if you'll look at the drive chart, you'll come away with the same impression, which is somewhat encouraging.
a. First drive: 7-0 game and we go 40 yards on a pass to JD, followed by a perfect pass in the EZ that was perfectly defended to take away a TD. We punt after 40 yards on 4 plays.
b. Second drive: Still a 7-0 game after we force a 3 and out. We go 60 yards in 13 plays ending in a FG. 7-3 and its a game. We're all feeling pretty good. Roddy especially is gashing LSU on the right edge. Our offense steps off the field after two drives and 100 yards of offense on 17 plays.
c. The wheels come off our D and ST's. OUR OFFENSE DOESN'T STEP ON THE FIELD AGAIN UNTIL IT'S 21-3! LSU takes the kickoff and we stop them deep in their territory, but commit two huge penalties that give them a first at our 49. They score (14-3), kickoff and get the on-side kick, punt and get the fumble on our 19 and score again (21-3). Our offense has been on the sideline 7:30 and is now down 3 scores.
d. Our offense comes back out now down 21-3, having sat for 8 minute sand watched the mess. They try to pass and get a 3 and out, but Dwyer had a nice run for 5 yards on a toss sweep, before the silly fake punt. LSU gets the ball on our 22 and scores. 28-3.
e. Our offense comes back out having had 3 possessions and gone 40 yards on 4 plays, 60 yards on 13 plays for a FG, and 2 yards on 3 plays. Not too bad at all: 102 yards on 19 plays - over 5 ypp. Yet we're down 28-3. Game sucks, offense... not so much.
f. Our O pulls another 3 and out, but Nesbitt has a nice 9 yard run on a keeper to the right. ST's kick a low line-drive punt that their man catches on the run at their 40 and returns to our 40. Our D fails to show again and they score to make it 35-3.
g. At this point, our D and our ST's have royally screwed up combining to allow 5 TD's. Our O hasn't finished drives, but has generally played fairly well. 2 nice drives and 2 three and outs: 107 yards on 22 plays, just under 5 ypp.
h. Offense gets the ball back for only the 5th time against 7 possessions for LSU. We are down 2 possessions. Only the last one is the fault of our offense not moving the ball on a drive.
i. Having to pass, our O then goes 37 yards in the last minute on 7 straight passes. Dwyer 2 for 27 yards and Bebe 1 for 10 yards, but JN throws the INT at the LSU 2. Nesbitt on the drive 3/6 for 37 yards and 1 INT. Not bad.
j. For the half, we are 144 yards on 29 plays, again just under 5 ypp. The O hasn't played badly at all. Not great, but not bad either. LSU was concentrating on shutting down the middle, forcing us to run outside. They were also doing a good job getting the TO and penetrating to make the big drive-stopping play.
k. For the record, we had drives of 35, 47 and 77 yards in the 2nd half, but didn't get the ball into the EZ. Our O did fail miserably to finish drives throughout the game.
l. This is my observation and my only point:
Many have bemoaned the "fact" that LSU "shut down" our O, and they simply did not.
My take-away from all this is our O moved the ball fairly well under very adverse circumstances in the CFA bowl, against a very talented LSU defense that had a month to practice against it. Though the game was a complete bummer to watch and we got thoroughly waxed on the scoreboard (which is the point of the game... I know, I know), still the O was not really bad at all. If you like, you can take some small amount of encouragement from that heading into spring. If you like, you can also b&m and act like the sky is falling. Your choice.
