October 17, 2019
DENHAM SPRING RADIO/INTERNET BROADCAST
The Jackets play host to Zachary HS on Friday, October 18 (tomorrow night). You can catch all the action on Family Radio, 91.9 FM, Baton Rouge and on the Internet at JonFineProductions.com. Air time is 6 PM with Sport N Center Jackets Warmup
Josh Ward, Andy Duckworth and Jon Fine are on the call.
DENHAM SPRINGS INTERVIEWS
Former DSHS Basketball Great (and DSHS Athletic Hall of Famer) Drexel Robinson will appear on Sport-N-Center Jackets Warmup. DSHS Lady Jackets Basketball Coach Blake Zito will be a guest on the North Oaks Health Systems Half-Time Report.
GOLDEN TORS FOOTBALL
Sulphur travels to Comeaux HS tomorrow night. You can tune in at 6:45 pm on Sports Radio 1310-KEZM-Sulphur/Lake Charles or online at KEZMOnLine.com. Bruce Merchant and Patrick Frey are on the call.
LSU, SAINTS AND MUCH MORE
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HOUSTON ASTROS BASEBALL
Catch Houston Astros PLAYOFF Baseball on SportsRadio-1310-KEZM-Lake Charles.
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
What else can be said about a game that has gained the attention of the national media, pollsters, and Tiger nation? Probably not much, but I’ll take a crack at a few thoughts anyway.
Many have wondered why Aranda waited so long to bring pressure against Florida. I have to admit I wondered the same thing, especially since LSU had the same issue in the Texas game. Coach Orgeron talked about how the cage rush against Ehlinger didn’t work. The next few games, LSU did a lot of different things that didn’t always mean blitzing.
Against Vandy and Utah State, LSU disguised pressure looks in addition to a variety of stunts from the front four. So why did LSU choose to sit back against Florida? My best guess is that LSU didn’t think Trask and the Florida offense could drive down the field without making mistakes. Interestingly, Aranda was almost correct. If Delpit holds onto the interception and Queen knocks the pass down, then LSU most likely would have held Florida to under 20 points.
That is the key moving forwards for this defense. When given the opportunity, the defense needs to make plays to get off the field and keep the opponent out of the end zone.
In this era, to be dominating on defense you have to be dominant on the defensive line and LSU is not there. Consequently, LSU has to be creative, but that does not necessarily always blitzing. Without confusing themselves, LSU must disguise their looks on defense.
There has also been a lot of talk about Chaisson and his impact on the game. I don’t know how anyone watched that game and couldn’t tell his impact. Drawing a holding penalty, getting sack, and other tackles for loss are exactly what LSU isn’t getting consistently from other defensive linemen. The reason Chaisson didn’t cause more havoc is in the first half was because either by Florida’s scheme or LSU’s scheme, he was dropping into coverage on a third of the passing attempts. The second half, Chaisson rushed on almost every pass and he was disruptive.
I can’t add much to the offense, except to remind LSU fans not to forget the value of the simple plays Burrow makes. For example, take the touchdown to Chase that sealed the victory. Certainly, Chase was wide open. But, let us not forget how many times we have seen LSU quarterbacks underthrow or overthrow open receivers. Saints fans are watching it happen on Sunday.
My last thought looking back is how well the coaches have adapted to this team. There has been a lot of discussion about the offense scoring too quickly and the defense wearing down. From the beginning, LSU used its depth in the front seven to stay fresh and that was vitally important in the fourth quarter.
I suspect that will also be the reason LSU will be able to play well at Mississippi State. As anyone who followed LSU football will remember, the week after beating number one Florida in 1997, LSU lost to Ole Miss. LSU’s depth and explosive potential on offense should prevent anything like that from happening this week.
The Saints, on the other hand, are in for a huge challenge this week. Kamara isn’t 100%, the Saints historically struggle on offense in Chicago, and the Bears defense is awesome.
In reality, I feel I have fallen into a time warp and it is the early 1990s. The Saints kick field goals in the red zone and win low scoring games. Of course, back in the early 90s, the offense didn’t have the talent of Hill, Thomas, Cook, Kamara, and company. How can Payton get this offense going on the road against Chicago’s great defense?
I think Payton needs to go a little off script. The irony of all the attention Joe Brady has received for bringing the RPO to LSU is that the Saints have not been willing to run RPOs with Taysom Hill. Even if it isn’t pretty, the Saints need to let Taysom drop back and pass. With Teddy’s conservative nature (I am not complaining), Taysom is a great change of pace.
The same is true of using Murray like he was used against the Jaguars. He should get 10-12 touches each game as a great change of pace from Kamara.
Even if Payton is able to work some magic, the reality is this offense is like the early 90s Saints offenses in that there just aren’t any explosive plays to be made. Therefore, everything is a grind. In the NFL, you can only grind out so many long drives. If the special teams or defense doesn’t set this offense up with great field position, points will be hard to come by at Soldier Field. Fortunately, the same can be said of the Bears offense against the Saints defense.
HEY REF
Tonight I think I’ll reverse things just a bit. Usually I answer questions and inquiries from my loyal readers seeking advice and the truth. But this week I’ve got to change things up so I can get right to the “meat ‘n potatoes” of what’s bothering me. Last week I had the opportunity to relax and watch a Thursday night game from the press box. Things were clicking along with no really big problems until we started the final twelve minutes.
What seemed to be a very routine kind of play turned into a horrible, almost tragic one as three players were slow to get up. But after what seemed to be a very short while we noticed one player not getting up. I stopped the clock as the team trainers came onto the field to check on their downed player. I noticed the trainers didn’t move him and just kinda asked him questions thru the opening in his helmet.
Five maybe six minutes go by and nobody’s moved the player. It appeared to me that the training staff members called for the team doctor wanting help since this player remained in the same position he was in just after the whistle blew. Again we’ve kept our attention on the downed player since he still hadn’t been moved and the time he was down without any movement on his part signaled a possible major injury but we all just kept a watchful eye on other things. I happened to look at the parking lot and noticed there wasn’t the usual Acadian Ambulance sitting at the ready.
I believe the first attendants to treat the player were in fact EMS from the local fire department. As they worked on him it was very apparent he had suffered a major injury. When we realized that they still hadn’t moved the player it became very quiet in the press box. As the minutes kept ticking away with no medical staff making its way to the field we were very afraid this player wouldn’t be getting up for a long while.
After at least 30 minutes had gone by we finally had an ambulance arrive to try and help the fallen player. Again I noticed that there wasn’t any movement coming from the player and all those medical people now by the player’s side still weren’t trying to move him which just caused us all to have this very sick feeling in our stomachs. It’s probably the worst feeling you can have when you realize these are just kids and serious injuries are not what anybody wants to see.
Then came the announcement for everyone in the stands and on the sidelines to vacate the stands because what we’ve all feared had come to pass; this young player had indeed suffered a major injury and would need to be airlifted to the hospital. Without a doubt this was a very serious injury. We watched as a copter set down on the 50 yard line at A. W. Mumford Stadium. This type of situation is one we all regret and hope to never see or be a part of.
But something good did come out of this horrible happening; both teams along with all the coaches, cheerleaders, ball boys, students and fans stopped what they were doing to pause and say a prayer asking for God’s help to heal this player. It’s something we don’t see enough these days with all the unrest and hatred at an all-time high.
I just want to say we, as parents, players, fans and officials should never pass up a chance to ask for the safety of all the players. There’s no shame in asking and praying that all the kids return home on a Friday night to their families with nothing more serious than sore muscles and broken fingernails. This message hit home for me this week. Just a couple of days ago I flagged a player for a late hit out of bounds and from the sidelines came this arrogant individual screaming he was going to make sure his team paid the refs next week so his team wouldn’t get flagged for a hit that “was in bounds”.
I made sure to lock eyes with this individual and I said to him “maybe next game it’ll be your son on the receiving end of a chickensh*t late hit like this and I wonder how you’ll feel if it doesn’t get called”! If I never make another correct call I can live with it as long as I don’t miss calling dirty hits since football is violent enough without trying to hurt another player. I’ve had players tell me their coaches teach them how to hurt someone to get them out of the game. There’s no place in the game for any coach to teach a player that. If you’re one of those coaches do all of us a huge favor; GET OUT NOW BEFORE YOU SUCECEED IN HURTING ANOTHER PLAYER. The game doesn’t need you, players don’t need you and society doesn’t need yopu!
Till next week…
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