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Sunday, October 26, 2008
Geauxing to the Outback Bowl
Man I'm having a helluva time focusing on getting this recap out for a variety of reasons. The main one is because today kicks off Hate Week 2008 Part I. We're going to get to all that shortly, but we've got to recap that ass-whipping in Red Stick before we go any further.

This may be shorter than usual, but I'll try to make it worth your while.


The Stats Say:

That our Offense finally took stats and turned them into points. The most important stat of the day was 52 and really, nothing else matters as much as that. Of course, we took care of the football and caused LSU to make mistakes with it that helped translate into points as well.

Now, the 38 on the LSU side of the scoreboard is a little disconcerting, but then we could point to the stat that shows that LSU gained roughly 180 of those yards in the 4th quarter alone. We also kept pace with them tit for tat in that we both racked up 14 points in the 4th, extinguishing any hopes of them having a comeback.


The Good:

1) Matt Stafford -- Seriously, the kid had an exceptional day. He took care of the football and threw for 249 yards and 2 TDs, and he rushed for one as well. If you're looking for efficiency out of your QB, you needed to look no further than #7 on Saturday. He managed the game well and ran the Offense nearly flawlessly. It really was the complete game we were looking for him.

2) Knowshon Moreno -- He ran the ball extremely well on Saturday and netted himself 160 yards. I'd be interested to know when the last time we had a running back who rushed for 150+ in back-to-back games. He is quietly becoming Herschel-like in dependability when it comes to getting yards and you always know you're going to get his best effort. 

3) Darryl Gamble -- 13 tackles and 2 INTs that were returned for touchdowns. That's a HELLUVA game.

4) Gary Danielson -- I know he's an announcer, but damn he was dead on this past Saturday with calling a good game. Everyone knows that I'm a huge fan of Uncle Verne, but Gary Danielson has been just as good. In fact, he's gotten my respect ever since he was the first to mention the Celebration was planned and his performance yesterday just solidified that he, in my mind, does just as much research as anyone else when getting ready for a game.


The Bad:

1) Giving Up 38 Points -- Look, as long as we win, I don't give a damn how many points we rack up, but it's important for our Defense to flip the switch and intimidate some folks. Now, we did get 2 sacks for a total loss of almost 30 yards, but I really wish we wouldn't have gotten eaten up so poorly with the simple plays. I mean seriously, Charles Scott is not fast and we did not clog the middle and try to force him to the outside. On top of that, we went and let LSU eat us up with screens. We do that against Florida, it's curtains for sure.

2) Poor Tackling -- Yeah, this one happens sometimes with us, but we flat out got freight-trained on some of those runs from Scott. What's scarier than not being able to tackle a guy who could hardly outrun some of our LBs? Not being able to tackle guys who run faster than any guy on our team. Much faster. If we don't cure that "missed tackle" thing that's plagued us a little bit this year, we'll get gashed bad this weekend.

3) Getting Carved Up on the Run -- Man if you would've told me that LSU could tally 200 yards of rushing against this team, I would have told you that you were insane. However, they certainly did just that and for it's scary knowing that since we're going up against a team that does so good of a job of getting the ball in their playmakers' hands in open space. We've got to curb that kind of performance.


The Ugly:

1) Missed FG -- Hey, I really feel like I'm reaching to find stuff for the "ugly" list, so I'll just throw this in here. The truth is that in the past two games, Walsh has had a hard time getting the ball through the posts and even though he connected on one FG attempt, he missed the other. Thankfully we have been in positions where those misses don't totally come back to bite us, but there's a real possibility that we will be this weekend. We just need to make sure we capitalize on as many opportunities as possible.

2) Retaliation -- Darryl Gamble let the cat out of the bag after the LSU game when he said the Seniors have "something up their sleeve" for this upcoming game. Look, if the Seniors have anything planned other than whipping Florida Gator ass, I don't want any part of it. This is a week to pack a lunch and some Advil because it's going to be a damn long week followed by an absolute war on Saturday. We HAVE to stay focused to win in Jacksonville.


Well, there you have it. LSU is in the past and Florida is in the future. Time to make it happen.


Until next time kids.

Be safe.

*Editor's Note -- I did pretty good with the recap except I forgot one HUGE piece of the puzzle and that was the Offensive Line. Those guys played lights out and should have not been forgotten by a bumbling idiot like me. Congrats to all of them, not only for keeping Stafford out of serious trouble all day, but also for keeping the penalties down for the second straight game as well.

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