We got screwed by the refs in the 4th quarter, when it was too close for them. No excuses, but we played an awesome 3rd quarter. lsu is good this year - there is no doubt. We need to STOP playing them - it does us no good and we will never win against their refs. We can do better playing P5 programs like MState (this year maybe more difficult), Kansas, and some B12 programs. I would LOVE to have Nebraska this year. Hats off to ODU yesterday, though! Must be nice have VTech come to your stadium!
Was it an SEC crew calling the game?
You are showing your own ignorance.
First, I have not seen ONE post, NOT ONE! where Smith was blamed for the loss. If I missed one, please quote it so I can see it.
The WRs caught grief, especially in the 1st half, but they earned that criticism. Still, I have not seen a post that reads: we lost because of the WRs. Again, maybe I missed one. The defense continues to be disappointing. Maybe that's because some of us had high expectations and they are simply not delivering...yet. But, I for one, am not blaming the defense for the loss either.
It was a team effort. The OL played well, but every other unit fell short of what was needed to get a win.
Now....Smith.
The position of QB is the single most important on any team. Defense wins championships, but no one single position, safety LB, a DL is more important than the others. It takes all 11 players working together to be effective. But the QB handles the ball every play and it is he who determines the overall success of the offense. This has been demonstratively shown time and time again, at all levels. I posted some examples yesterday, like Notre Dame. And if it is true at ND, with all those 5-star recruits on their roster, it is 1,000 times MORE important for a program like Tech.
Smith is now 9-8 as a starter. Look who those 9 wins are against, and who the 8 losses are. You will find a marked difference in quality between the two groups. Look at his personal career stats. Last night he was 27 of 50, barely over 50%. That's not the kind of performance Tech needs from its QB if we hope to be successful, and especially if we ever hope to get some big wins.
Last night Burrow was 16 of 28, 191 yds. A blah performance! But programs like LSU are not as dependent on their QBs because they have great running attacks, and play great defense. They had 48 rushes for 218 yds and 5 TDs. Not AS important when they can over-match an opponent. BUT! just watch what happens when LSU meets UGA and Bama and some others. Burrow will have to step up and deliver a MUCH better performance or he will get the tiggers beat. The position of QB is the single most important position at LSU, and at Bama, and at UGA, and at Clemson, and any other program you care to mention.
Nit-picking? Hmmm...? Nit-picking? Nah! analyzing, critiquing.
Positives: he stepped up into the pocket, and he maintained his cool under pressure. Two HUGE good things! I posted as much during the game. Even said he was being "Drew-Brees-like." Can't get anymore complimentary than that.
Negatives: he has no touch on passes, it's a 100mph fast ball, no matter the situation. And I said he's afraid to get hit and won't run when that is what is called for at times.
I challenge you to dispute those negatives. Produce evidence to the contrary.
They wouldn't. For them, there is ZERO motivation to play anywhere else in Louisiana, on-campus or off. Their home stadium seats 102,000. It is far and away the largest sports venue in Louisiana...and they/we sold it out last night.
Think about that a second. Not withstanding those who got free tickets, those who paid for PREMIUM seats, and no concessions revenue, strictly super simple "gate": 102,000 attendees X average of $30/ticket = $3,060,000 ticket sales only, before expenses. That's about 14% of our TOTAL ATHLETIC BUDGET, made off one home game's ticket sales.
It's an obscene amount of money they earn playing in Baton Rouge...and they'll do that 7 times this year (although all games won't sell out, they'll draw 90K+).
Smith was fine. The OL was the real surprise and the WR fumbles were the big disappointment. Game was in doubt late in the 4th until LSU got a little help.
Lack of touch is such a snowflake criticism. 😁
We were never gonna win at LSU, in their stadium, with SEC refs unless we played lights out. Turnovers cost us the game,
Now everyone needs to shake this loss off because I’m prett sure the western c-usa conference championship spot is on the line in six days.