Lonn Phillips Sullivan
Oct 14, 20207 min
By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
@LonnPhillips
Unranked LSU must beat #10 Florida...Why???
Because they simply must...
2020 LSU are on the brink of a worse start since Curley Hallman's Tigers started the season 1-2 before descending into apocalyptic madness as the streak continued unabated for three more games, Lynn Amadee's embarrassing offense (scoring only 20+ points during 2 games from their first 7) plummeting the Tigers to a 1-5 record....and that year's losing streak culminated in a loss to #5 Florida, while the back half of 1994 also witnessed Death Valley's smallest pre-pandemic attendance of only 40,000....
That's ancient history folks...
Under Coach Orgeron, the Tigers are 11-0 after a loss...also the players have stronger collective belief....being a part of the G.O.A.T college football team can supply confidence: with leaders on our roster who've uniquely experienced the grind of 2016-17 helps our team immensely.
Seniors Jacoby Stevens, Glen Logan, Neil Farrell Jr, Racey McMath, Jontre Kirklin, Ray Thornton, even Myles Brennan they all witnessed the changing of the guard from Les Miles to Coach Ed Orgeron; not only one massive sea change, they also had to live with a transfer quarterback coming into town, stealing the top job out from under the golden boy, starting fights in practices and through it all, including suspensions, injuries, trial and error, a 7 overtime defeat to a bitter rival as well as navigating new coaching additions, subtractions... these seniors formed critical parts of our 2019 title-winning squad for a reason and Orgeron must lean on these veterans to keep LSU's season from running off the tracks.
Now, after two losses in our opening three games, largely the fault of our defense according to Coach Ed Orgeron ("put it on the defense") his Coach of the Year pedigree is being challenged from many corners of the footballing world....except from his players.
We've been told from team insiders "there's been no angry shouting or finger pointing, blame game type stuff. They've all been accountable. Tell The Truth Monday was as much about the coaches spilling their guts as the players."
Another source told me "I've never seen such an inspired coaching job from Orgeron than what I saw on Monday. Players were there for each other, criticism and comfort, but Coach O put his staff through the ringer. He expected a lot more from those guys and he's put 'em all up to the fire, so to speak.
Although we are focusing mainly on defense this article, we will say our second source told me "Scott Linehan got it worst" whatever that entails.
Heart to heart talks unfolded across the board:
Coach O was dissatisfied with Apu Ika's performance vs Miss State (unfairly we feel) and neglected to use the Utah-native for more than a few plays over the last few weeks;
Now, there's strong considerations being given to the defense deploying 3 defensive tackle fronts vs Florida;
Also, a meeting between Coach O, Pelini and Jacoby Stevens took place about his best position on the team...we've been calling for his switch to SAM or WLL linebacker, Cox to MIC....but will we see this change unfold (in order to give LSU's #7 more influence upon proceedings)?
We feel the defense should deploy both Todd Harris AND Mo Hampton at safety, Jacoby at WLL, Cox at MIC and Damone Clark or Devonta Lee at SAM linebacker, utilizing Clark's best attributes in stuffing the run game, Jacoby Stevens now free to attack the line of scrimmage or over clog the passing lanes over the middle and Cox can use his playmaking abilities in the center (where Clark was once playing and where our LBs were most caught out in coverage).
Pelini could also move Stevens to MIC if Cox is struggling, but more than depending on our solid guys instead of throwing in the towel, we also need to see a constant rotation along the line and at linebacker....we need fresh bodies to stick with the speed and frequency of the devastating crossing routes.
Freshmen Josh White, Phillip Webb (also a DE), Antoine Sampah and sophomore thickhouse brickhouse Devonta Lee could all eat key reps and keep our best linebackers refreshed OR....those young guys could just end up being our best guys...but we'll never know unless we play 'em.
Elsewhere, this week on the road vs #10 Florida's quarterback Kyle Trask and the multi-faceted Dan Mullen offense, our secondary will be tested with far more cutthroat intent and incisive threat than Costello or Bazelak...Trask will be the best quarterback LSU have played and may be the best we'll face all year...and if our secondary isn't prepared to play their A game, we could surrender a mountain of points.
We were told Bo Pelini "responded with a calm intensity" on Tell The Truth Monday, the defense appearing hungrier than ever before...almost as if they'd finally woken up after three games and two historical defeats.
LSU allowed 96 points, our most through the first 3 games in program history, opponents are averaging 32 points per game, passing for 43 first downs, rushing for 22 chain-movers, allowing 9.5 yards per catch, a diabolical 380 yards passing per game, surrending 114 rushing yards each outing...
The numbers are sickening...most of all for the players and coaches themselves.
"We want revenge..." A defensive player on LSU told me, "we saw what was said about us by everyone...they'll see."
"You can see why the fans have been critical though, right? It's not losing which hurts most, Missouri was about giving everything for purple and gold," I replied.
"Just watch...we gunna show...#bodybags," was the final post which came my way.
As for Pelini himself, we expected far better from this defense...no....we anticipated a different universe of play altogether...but so did Bo....he wants to succeed once again at LSU and if he can evolve, he most likely will.
But to see Pelini's success we need to witness a big time turnaround in the mentality of his players...that was NOT an LSU defense, but more troubling that was NOT a Bo Pelini defense:
Completely devoid of fire, aggression or energy, this defensive unit lacked fight.
Why?
They were too concerned with the complexities of their assignments, lost in translation and handing Missouri countless big plays...LSU must only run a few defensive plays, adjusting personnel and formations accordingly. Obviously our guys can't run hybrid sets and some of our guys have shown an inability to cover so far, so Pelini needs to stick with zone from here on out.
We need to play zone against Kyle Trask this week, there is no way around it...but how we set up the line and linebackers will dictate the game....when and how Pelini showcases his trademark blitzes could flip the script entirely:
If Bo can coach 'em up enough to elicit a strong, dominant showing against eternal enemies Florida, he could turn his fortunes around quickly, just as Myles Brennan pulled off.
However, Myles was due some luck vs Missouri after he was unfairly blamed for Miss State and sighed at for destroying Vandy; Brennan developed from game to game, he grew as a quarterback....on the other side of the ball, our defense has been lazy, confused and worn out from the get-go...only seeming to gather momentum from turnovers or sacks, rarely from 3rd down stops or forcing field goals.
But I never count my Tigers out....watch out Florida, we're coming.
We need to see Jaquelin Roy at DT far more often, possibly from the start next to Evans or Ika, even Jacobian Guillory must be used if he can get the necessary push; Ojulari's pace must be utilized off the edge in tandem with Ali Gaye, both Nigerian and Gambian-born teammates standing 6'2 and 6'6 respectively affecting the passing game.
A mass rotation of every able-bodied member of our front seven must be deployed vs Trask, never allowing pretty boy floyd any time to start his progressions, always unaware of differing personnel.
In spite of their defensive problems, LSU have been masters of the turnover this year, forcing and recovering 5 fumbles, intercepting 3 passes & causing a few more from pure pressure.
What this defense must do more than anything else?
Start tackling again.
We stopped counting the missed tackles after 29 during Missouri, the number so inherently atrocious....but it felt like even more....if any LSU defender is reading this, don't take it personal: we say this because we care.
Thanks to the lack of practices and some growing pains moving from 3-4 to 4-3 (the secondary are used to an extra LB covering the middle of the field), our defense haven't been producing the basics, but we expect Pelini to drill fundamentals all week.
We can't see a defensive display worse than what we saw in Week 1 or vs Missouri....there's just no way, even against the odds, surely Pelini can guide this uber-talented young defense towards the light....but only if our defensive coordinator stops being stubborn, becomes more willing to change and starts to show us the 'multiplicity' he promised.
Now, the Florida game may be in jeopardy due to Covid 19 hampering the Gators team (all while insane Dan Mullen cries for a full capacity Swamp against LSU)...so we will slow our roll previewing that contest....but tomorrow on LSUODYSSEY.COM
By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
@LonnPhillips
Copyright 2020 Uninterripted Writings Inc LLC
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