January 3, 2019
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
SPORTS PUBLICATIONS GALORE
ArrestedDevelopmentMediaGuides, our EBay store, sells media guides. programs and baseball cards. Please visit JonFineProductions.com and click on icon to get to the store. Check out a full array of New Orleans Saints media guides and LSU media guides and programs and publications from much of the entire sports world. Over 5,000 publications listed.
WE THANK YOU FOR DOING YOUR UTMOST TO PATRONIZE SPONSORS OF OUR PROGRAMMING. THIS HELPS US TREMENDOUSLY IN SUSTAINING OUR WEEKLY LINE-UP AND WILL ASSIST US IN ADDING MORE PROGRAMS IN THE FUTURE. KINDLY MAKE AN EFFORT TO LET SPONSORS KNOW YOU HEARD THEIR BUSINESS MENTIONED ON OUR BROADCAST(S).
THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
Now that the LSU football season is complete, let’s zoom out to get some perspective. A year ago LSU had lost to Notre Dame at the end of a bowl game due to a poor passing game, poor special teams, and an inability to finish on defense. Texas A&M and Florida were hiring great coaches, LSU was changing offensive coordinators again, and the recruiting class was ranked outside of the top 10.
LSU fans need to learn something that coaches try and teach players. Focus on the things you can control. LSU cannot control was happens at Texas A&M and Florida. Mullen and Fisher are going to do a good job no matter what LSU does. LSU lost to both those teams this year, though the A&M game is still under dispute. The good news for next year is LSU had to play both teams on the road this year, so they will be in Tiger Stadium next year.
LSU won ten games this year because they played complimentary football and won a third of the game (special teams) in every game which did not happen a year ago. Coach Orgeron fixed the situation by adding a special teams coordinator and signing Avery Atkins and Cole Tracey. Avery Atkins will return and he eliminates the need to cover kickoffs. There is no reason LSU cannot be just as good in punt coverage. Returning kickoffs is pretty much obsolete these days due to the new rules.
That leaves place kicking and returning punts. LSU signed Cade York, the second highest rated kicker in the country and Derek Stingley, the number one player in the country who will return punts and remind LSU fans of Patrick Peterson. Neither is a guarantee, but there is reason for optimism.
There are many Tiger fans who will stay in a state of fret over the offensive coordinator. Neither of LSU’s running backs this year are NFL backs, though both compete extremely hard and were excellent in pass protection. LSU’s best receivers were true freshmen and a sophomore (3 star recruit). LSU played the whole year with one tight end. The offensive line played most of the year with only one player who played last year, and the starting quarterback joined the team in May and had never started a game before.
Sure LSU got shutout by Bama again, and statistically was not impressive at times. The red zone efficiency was not good in regard to touchdowns. Watching the Rose Bowl, I heard Washington was 100th in red zone efficiency. Their quarterback was on his 54th start and they play in the Pac 12, so that is an area for Washington and LSU to improve for next year.
Again, there is reason to be confident that LSU will improve on offense. LSU has signed two great running backs and LSU will be more powerful and explosive at that position. The offensive line has to be better just from the experience gained this year. Chase, Jefferson, Marshall, and Sullivan will be a year older and better. LSU should be deeper at tight end as well. I still hold out some hope that LSU will make a Wildcat package a staple of the offense.
Overall, we saw many changes in offense that teams around the country have been doing for ten years, but we had yet to see at LSU. We saw tempo used effectively and LSU stretch the field with formations. Unfortunately, we did not see an effective screen game or wide receivers block well, but these are areas that can improve quickly with the experience that has been gained this year.
At this point last year, we didn’t see LSU’s defense close out halves well, and that was a problem again this year. The more I watch football in this era, the more I am convinced there is little defensive coordinators can do in these situations without great defensive lines. The Saints are the best example as they have held on at the end of the games due to Rankins, Davenport, and Jordan, not the defensive backs.
The experts and I expected more this year from LSU’s defensive line, but there were some positive signs in the Fiesta Bowl. If Lawrence, Fehoko, Chaisson, Divinity, Logan, and others can take the next step that will make Aranda’s job a lot easier next year.
Of course there are many off the field issues to handle between January and September. Transfers, discipline issues, injuries, and the other many unforeseen pot holes will arise before we even get around to Texas, Auburn, Florida, Alabama, and Texas A&M next year.
Coach Orgeron and the staff guided the team very well through adversity that every team faces from January 2018-January 2019. The coaches did a marvelous job of self evaluation and improving their weaknesses. As a result, the negative trend that started in 2012 (10 wins, 10 wins, 8 wins, 9 wins, 8 wins, 9 wins, 10 wins) is turning in the right direction.
The next step might be the toughest, though. Coach Orgeron and his staff will need to sustain the improvement over this past year, and fix the weaknesses from this year with the same effectiveness. If they do it, the LSU football program will truly be back in 2019.
HEY REF
Dennis is taking this week off
DENHAM SPRINGS HS FOOTBALL RADIO BROADCASTS ARE A JON FINE PRODUCTION ON FAMILY RADIO, 91.9 FM, BATON ROUGE and JonFineProductions.com.
OUR EBAY STORE, ArrestedDevelopmentMediaGuides, SELLS SPORTS PUBLICATIONS. YOU CAN LINK TO IT BY VISITING JonFineProductions.com.