The hype is over. The speculation is done. The “game of the century” has passed. Let us look at what conclusions can be made from the most anticipated game of the year, unless of course there happens to be a rematch of the undisputable top two teams in the country this season.
Here are some things we learned from the LSU Alabama game
1. The two quarterback system can work and is here to stay
[caption id="attachment_155" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Jordan Jefferson gained respect confidence and not to mention more playing time with the LSU win over Bama'"]
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Jarrett Lee turned in his worst performance of the season (3-7 with 24 yards passing and two interceptions). Everybody thought Lee had grown out of his interception habit he picked up in the 2008 season, and prior to the Alabama game had only thrown one the whole year. During this game he threw back to back interceptions. Lee is a very mental quarterback and once his composure is lost you never know which Lee will be on the field. The beauty of this is sitting on the sideline is Jordan Jefferson, who brings a completely different skill set and seems to do well under pressure. Coach Les Miles is accepting of the two quarterback system.
“We have two quarterbacks who have contributed significantly this season,” said Miles. “That will continue. I haven’t given a lot of thought to it. We will need two to go forward, and I’m not making any real determinations at this point.”
2. Kickers are only Human
[caption id="attachment_158" align="alignright" width="300" caption="It was a lonely night for Alabama kicker Cade Foster."]
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Going into the game, most analysts said the difference maker would be the ability of the offense to move the ball. However, it turned out to be the kicking game that severely impacted the game. Alabama kicker Cade Foster wishes he could press the redo button for this one. The sophomore missed three field goals including a 52 yarder during overtime. The short range kicker Jeremy Shelley made a 42 yard field goal, but had a 49 yard attempt blocked. In fact the last time Bama’ had a field goal blocked was versus LSU back in 2008, but no one should entirely blame the kickers for the loss. They probably feel worse than anybody; bad enough for Foster to deactivate his Facebook Sunday morning. Imagine walking around campus being the guy who kicked the overtime field goal wide right.
3. Trent Richardson can be stopped…..well kinda
Richardson was held to 89 yards rushing his third lowest of the season, but this is the only game where he rushed for under 100 yards without scoring a touchdown. This is the only game all season the Heisman candidate didn’t find the end zone. However, Richardson was able to be effective as a receiver with five catches for 80 yards. LSU seemed to have a hard time defending the screen passes designed for him.
4. LSU has the best secondary in the country
With all the hullabaloo surrounding Tyrann Mathieu aka “The Honey Badger”, a lot of LSU’s other secondary is getting over looked. CB Morris Claiborne leads the team with four interceptions. Safety Brandon Taylor leads the team with 53 tackles and safety Eric Reid may have saved the game for the Tigers with his amazing interception. Reid also was named National Player of the week for his efforts against the Tide. Turnovers are the keys to victory for LSU, maybe that’s why each player just mentioned has two or more interceptions just in this season. The 20 takeaways (13 interceptions and 7 fumbles) this season accumulated by the Tigers have accounted for 81 points.
5. Les Miles out “Sabaned” Saban
[caption id="attachment_159" align="alignright" width="219" caption="Saturday night was strictly business for Les Miles....nuff said"]
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Les Miles is known for using unconventional play to win big games and because of his knack for pulling off trick plays in big situations he has been dubbed the Mad Hatter. Not this time. Miles played extremely conservative and allowed his “helluva” team to play to their benefits. Miles put the game in the hands of his defense and did not want to risk a detrimental turnover that could have lost LSU the game. The Mad Hatter played to not lose the game instead of playing to win, which ended up working. No trick plays just smash mouth defensive-minded football ( kind of sounds like Nick Saban’s style).
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