Sometimes football fans make the mistake of belittling or discounting the opposition as a shortcut to confidence before a big game. This kind of whistling in the dark won’t work against the LSU Tigers, who are ranked fourth in the country and among the favorites in the SEC for a number of reasons, beginning with a fierce, athletic defense and a veteran offensive line.
But two of the reasons fans often give for underrating the Tigers deserve reexamination. Kris Brauner, who runs the excellent LSU Tiger blog Saturday Night Slant, gives a forceful rebuttal to two of the most frequent lazy assumptions outsiders make about LSU football. These excerpts are taken from a guest article Brauner wrote for the new website, “The Crystal Ball Run:”
Les Miles may act goofy at the mike, but he’s wily and resourceful on the sideline.
“Miles is 13 of 14 in converting fake punts or field goals at LSU. He also has converted 64 percent of his fourth down attempts. In four of his six seasons at LSU, he has ranked in the top six nationally in 4th down conversion percentage. Not surprisingly, those are the same four seasons that LSU has won at least 11 games.
Even with his “Mad Hatter” reputation, Miles still manages to masterfully pick the right spots to pull out a new trick. Since he’s a goofball, people dismiss it to “luck.” But you don’t compile a track record like he has unless you know what you’re doing. And just when you think you may have him figured out, he’ll one up you. While many were busy debating the decision to go for a fourth down when in field goal range, Miles not only goes for it…but he does so by running a reverse to a tight end. And why not? It worked. He refuses to play “by the book”. In fact, Miles doesn’t even know the book exists.”
Don’t be fooled by Jordan Jefferson’s 2010 season numbers; he was a much better quarterback in the latter part of the year
“The coaching staff has been adamant throughout spring and into fall that Jordan Jefferson is the clear starter and that he’s much improved. Tiger fans have heard this before, so consider them skeptical. But the truth is that Jefferson was playing pretty well towards the end of 2010. When you throw in new quarterbacks coach Steve Kragthorpe, it’s certainly believable that he’s ready for a much improved season. In his last four games against BCS conference opponents in 2010, Jefferson’s numbers were as follows:
- 49 of 76 (64.4%)
- 737 yards (184.25 yards per game)
- 5 TD
- 2 INT
- 173 rushing yards (43.25 rushing yards per game)”
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