CBS’s announcers kept yammering on about tonight’s game between Alabama and LSU being a so-called “referendum” on Les Miles. The whole idea is silly… LSU has far superior talent, they’re deeper, and they’ve had a lot more continuity over the past 2 years than Alabama has. So the only sense in which this was a “referendum” would be if LSU lost… after all… given the make-up and recent history of the two teams, LSU was supposed to win.
That said, I think it’s pretty clear who the better coach is.
LSU won tonight on pure talent. They were bigger, stronger, faster, and the team was deeper. Saban came out with inferior talent. Talent that has been developed, for most of its time in Tuscaloosa, by Mike Shula. With that shallow, inferior talent, Alabama went toe-to-toe with LSU for the full 60 minutes and was one good right tackle from a convincing win.
That doesn’t make it less of a win, but anyone who thinks, based on the outcome of this game, that Miles has somehow “proven” that he’s a better coach than Saban is just nuts.
Hats off to both teams, though… another instant classic from the SEC this year.
November 3rd, 2007 at 11:21 pm
Honestly, after that game… I can’t tell you which team has a better coach. Neither one had any particular great game-planning or out-witting the other coach. Both game plans were pretty blah. And honestly, if there was any coach vs coach stuff… it was really Applewhite vs Pelini… both of whom won some battles.
Bama’s players made some great plays and some terrible plays. LSU’s players made some great plays and some terrible plays. In fact… with all the stupid, stupid, dumb-ass penalties LSU did, and with their INTs… I think LSU made more terrible plays than Bama did.
Give both teams a lot of credit though. There were a lot of emotional swings during the game and neither team backed down.
If Miles is really a good coach… he is going to be on the player’s butts about the stupid penalties. He can’t put up with that crap.
I’m sure we will see plenty of games in the future to see who is the “better” coach… provided of couse Miles does not go to Michigan.
November 4th, 2007 at 9:54 am
Those announcers were driving me insane last night. It was a good game. Give him a few years and his own recruits and everything will be just fine. ROLL TIDE!
November 4th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
I disagree whole-heartedly, Bobby.
LSU’s talent is so much better than Alabama’s this year that the only possible way for Alabama to stay in this game (and damn near win it, really) was through coaching and game-planning.
Miles and Pelini both got their hats handed to them. As the defensive coordinator, if you hold a team to 20 yards rushing for a game, but still give up 20 first downs and 34 points, you’ve just gotten schooled. ESPECIALLY when you’re facing a hot-and-cold passer with one stand-out receiver.
To say nothing of the penalties… 14 penalties for 130 yards? That’s on Miles, and I’m not sure how it could really be on anyone else.
November 5th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
You can’t be serious.
Last I checked, Miles was not losing his composure, getting in fights and drawing unsportsmanlike penalties. Miles was not ripping his helmet off. Miles was not hitting the QB a full 2 seconds after a pass was thrown. The ONLY penalty I can place on Miles was that stupid 4th down simulated snap call.
I fail to see how Pelini got his hat handed to him. Look at the stats:
The 34 points were scored on 2 TD passes over 20 yds, 1 shorter TD pass, and a punt return. So, 27 of the points were given up by the defense. Of those 27 points, one td was on a short drive of 20 yards after a pick by the Bama defense.
Alabama had 254 yards of total offense. Yes… they made the most of those yards. How does that compare to past Bama SEC games:
Tennessee - 510
Ole Miss - 378
Georgia - 349
Arkansas - 450
Vandy - 371
So the LSU Defense kept Bama’s O to more than 100 yards less than their previous low-yardage SEC game. Not to mention, LSU’s 7 sacks… many of which were on Pelini-called blitz packages that Bama could not pick up.
The only way to really judge coaches is to judge if they call the plays that put players in positions to be successful. By that measure… Pelini called some great coverages and blitz packages. By that measure… Applewhite called some great downfield throws.
Alabama stayed in the game because, let’s face it… Alabama’s players played above their talent levels, and LSU’s players played well, well, well below their talent level.
And, to take it one step further, if you will, Saban’s great defensive game planning gave up 41 points against an LSU offense that really is not all that great. With the exception of the three terrible passes that were picked off… a lackluster LSU team pretty much did whatever they wanted offensively. Saban’s players were not in position to make the plays they needed to make.
November 5th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
“The ONLY penalty I can place on Miles was that stupid 4th down simulated snap call.”
Right. Because it’s not the coach’s job to have his players mentally ready to play. Totally not his job at all. The fact that LSU is the most penalized team in the SEC has nothing to do with the coaching at all.
Individual penalties aren’t his fault. But they’re his fault in the aggregate, and this isn’t an isolated occurrence. His players just aren’t disciplined.
As for the numbers comparisons, those would make a lot of sense to do if the talent levels between LSU’s defense was even comparable to the defenses of the other teams Alabama has played.
Besides… if you’ve got superior talent, your opponent can’t run the ball to save their lives, but you STILL can’t stop the passing game, you’re getting out coached. Period. Because it means that you know what’s coming and can’t stop it.
Pelini’s blitz packages were picked up just fine… there was nothing confusing about them, the Alabama players knew what their assignments were… but at the end of the day the LSU defense was just too big, fast, and strong to stop.
So… with inferior talent and no rushing offense to speak of, Applewhite managed to create enough offense to control the game for the better part of three and half quarters. Pelini had to sit around and wait for the raw talent to overwhelm the Tide offense… a trained monkey could do that.
Advantage: Applewhite.
This: “Alabama stayed in the game because, let’s face it… Alabama’s players played above their talent levels,” this is an almost embarrassingly ignorant comment. There’s not a single play, stat, series, or event that hasn’t already been seen this season from these same players.
But this makes my point about as clearly as it can be made: “LSU’s players played well, well, well below their talent level.” LSU wasn’t playing up to their talent level… and that’s all on Miles. This, like the penalties, is a frequent issue this year.
Advantage: Saban.
November 5th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
LSU could not stop the passing game?
Wilson went 14/40. So he completed 33 percent of his passes. Let me say this another way. Wilson had 14 COMPLETIONS!! The entire game!!!
That’s not exactly carving up a defense. His QB rating was 104. Decent but not exactly world-beating.
Alabama’s entire offense consisted of 14 passes, several of which went for big plays. The rest of the time, it was beyond inept, as their total yardage proves. It was about as inconsistent an offense that I’ve seen in a while.
Further, if Pelini’s blitz packages were picked up just fine, there would not have been 7, yes, 7, sacks. LSU’s defense is big, strong, and fast… but it’s not like LSU was playing a high school team. Any SEC-caliber offensive line, if they truly were not surpirsed, should have performed better.
So, either, Bama’s O-Line is just awful (which from other games I’ve seen… they are not too bad) or, they were confused.
As far as Alabama’s talent level… they clearly are not to LSU’s level. You’ve just about admitted that yourself. Alabama has not and will not play a team this year with the talent of LSU. So, Bama has NOT seen that level of talent during this season before this game. Alabama played over their heads in this game. Might I remind you that this team lost to FSU for goodness sakes!!! If Bama was not playing above their heads… if they were really playing at their true talent level for 60 minutes… then based on what I saw… Bama would have beaten LSU.
The fact is… Bama could not compete with LSU for the entire game. In the end… the better-talented team won.
LSU played a poor game. But it was not because they were not prepared. Miles had them ready to play. This is most easily explained by the big start to the game by LSU. If they were not ready to play, they would have not come out as fast as they did.
Yes, the coach should have the players mentally ready to play. Yes, they were mentally ready to play. They played poorly. I can’t say that enough. LSU’s players played poorly.
But, it’s obvious that you think Miles is a bad coach and inferior to Saban. And that’s a shame. I don’t know what more Miles can do to prove to you (and unfortunetly, a lot of LSU “fans”) that he’s a good coach.
I know this is your opnion blog… but you are just wrong here. Your numbers don’t back up your opinion on this one. In fact… if I did not know better… I would say you were pretty ignorant in discussing this game. I know you know college football… so I can’t understand why you would have the opinion you have here.
November 5th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Listen to yourself, Bobby… you’re not even making sense any more. I’ll go through this slowly for you.
Completing 33% of your passes sounds like a bad day at work, but if Pelini and Miles were better as a unit than Saban and Applewhite, there wouldn’t have been 40 attempts and there would’ve been a lot more stops. To say nothing of the fact that this LSU team with vastly superior talent wouldn’t have needed a COMEBACK to win the game.
“If Pelini’s blitz packages were picked up just fine, there would not have been 7, yes, 7, sacks”
Simply incorrect. You’re confusing picking up a blitz with stopping it. Whether or not a team picks up a blitz is a coaching thing, whether or not that blitz is stopped or slowed is another. In other words: a picked up blitz can still (and often does) result in a sack. It happened on 5 of those 7 sacks, if I recall correctly. On the other two (and specifically the one that caused the 4th quarter fumble) LSU brought more defenders than Alabama had blockers… JPW didn’t hit his hot routes… so the blitz packages? Not impressive. What was impressive was the skill differential between the D-Line and the O-Line.
“As far as Alabama’s talent level… they clearly are not to LSU’s level. You’ve just about admitted that yourself.”
This explains a lot. Not only have I admitted this, it’s my MAIN POINT. LSU has much better talent. If Miles were, in fact, a better coach than Saban, the game would’ve been a blow-out.
“Might I remind you that this team lost to FSU for goodness sakes!!!”
Heh. You’re just grasping at straws now. Alabama has gotten better in every single game this year. The team that played on Saturday isn’t the same one that suited up against FSU.
“[T]hey were mentally ready to play.”
You can’t really mean this. 14 penalties is all the evidence you need that the team was not, as you claim, “mentally ready”. Penalties are not (with very rare exceptions) physical errors, they’re mental errors… to consistently make so many mental errors is indicative of a team that was not mentally ready. The team just is not disciplined… that’s nobody’s fault but Les Miles.
“It’s obvious that you think Miles is a bad coach and inferior to Saban.”
I know that’s how you FEEL, but if you take those purple-colored glasses off and read what I’ve written again you’ll realize that I’ve never said or implied that Miles is a bad coach.
What I think is that he’s a second-tier coach who makes some really dumb calls at times. Even ignoring the idiot coaching gimmicks, though, Saban is a superior coach and by an obvious but not insurmountable margin.
The bottom line is this: you let two EQUAL coaches into that game, and LSU wins by 3 touchdowns on talent alone and probably never trails. Instead, LSU needed some 4th-quarter heroics to pull out the win.