January 1st, 2010 at 4:40 PM ^
I wouldn't say his game management skills at the end of this game were that questionable. That penalty was kind of BS and basically gave the game to penn state
January 1st, 2010 at 4:58 PM ^
They ran a slip screen to the middle of the field from the 50 with 33 seconds left and no time outs...how is that not questionable game management?
January 1st, 2010 at 5:06 PM ^
That was definitely not why LSU lost though, the penalty was complete BS (I'm saying that and I wanted Penn State to win). It's a shame the refs decided to hand PSU the win
January 1st, 2010 at 5:09 PM ^
i think the penalty was a legit call if it was the first quarter, which goes back to the scenario whether or not the refs should swallow their whistles at the end of the game
January 1st, 2010 at 5:50 PM ^
You honestly think the refs handed PSU the game? That's utterly ridiculous. First of all, I think it is debatable that the call was bad. You could definitely argue that you should leave it up to the refs to call a delay of game penalty on the PSU player and not take matters into your own hands (literally). Also, even without the penalty, whose to say they would have scored anyways? Saying they handed the game is essentially saying they took points off the board, which is very very far from what happened. There was a strong chance LSU wouldn't have scored anyways. Honestly, you can't really think they handed them the game.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:23 PM ^
game management. That's a play call--something I believe Miles had no hand in. Game management is use of timeouts, going for it on 4th or punting, etc.
It was an absolutely indefensible call however based on the given situation.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:53 PM ^
You don't think Les Miles at least knew what the call was coming in? Whether or not he made the call himself, he surely knew what the play call was and could have over rode it. Also, he is in control of his staff. They plan for end of the game strategy all the time. It's not just snap decisions made in the heat of battle. They have war room meetings where they draw up end game strategies depending on the score, field position, time left, and time outs left. Les Miles definitely had control and a lot of say at those meetings and if any of his assistants mentioned calling a play like that at a time like that, Les has proven that he is a huge risk taker and it is very reasonable to think he signed off on it when he heard it. No way you can exculpate Les from complete responsibility for that play call, which was atrocious.
January 1st, 2010 at 6:28 PM ^
I'm curious how you know the inner workings of the LSU staff?
The offensive staff probably meets to determine some end-game scenarios, but you can't cover EVERY situation that MIGHT arise. There's a difference between 40 seconds left, no TOs, ball on the 30, need a FG and 1:00 left given the same parameters.
Also, you have 25 to 40 seconds to get the correct down and distance, get a call in your mind, communicate it to the players, get everyone lined up, and snap the ball. There isn't enough time for Miles to overrule the call even if he wanted to and most staffs don't operate under a "head coach veto" system anyway (LSU might, although I highly doubt it).
Miles isn't responsible for the call (unless he made it which, again, I highly doubt), except in the sense of he hired the guy who made the call.
January 1st, 2010 at 7:40 PM ^
Secretly I am a member of the LSU staff. Either that or I've paid attention to sports in the modern era. As we all know, coaches can only practice and work with their players for 20 hours a week. Add in some recruiting, what else do they do with their time? They are getting paid millions of dollars and the stakes are very high. If you honestly think they don't spend time in the offseason and some in season meticulously planning for end game situations so that it isn't left to snap, rushed decisions, then college coaches are more overpaid then they are even accused of.
January 1st, 2010 at 6:57 PM ^
In and of themselves, the time mismanagement incidents in both the Mississippi game and this game aren't all that damning. When you add them together, though, they become a pattern, and that pattern isn't too flattering for Miles.
Similar to the OP, my first thought at the end of the game was "I sure am glad Miles isn't at Michigan right now." People around Ann Arbor would be ripping Miles a new one for two gaffes like this.
January 1st, 2010 at 4:42 PM ^
I would say yes, but I would love to have had Ryan Mallet this year in an offense that he can run.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:01 PM ^
Ryan Mallet was gone regardless of who was coming in as coach.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:02 PM ^
He was gone anyway, if you read Brian carefully. I think he said it explicitly once.
Hell, if I remember right, Carr almost threw him off the team when there was no other viable option at QB, he was a big enough jackass.
January 1st, 2010 at 7:01 PM ^
And I am pretty sure that Brian has posted this a lot more than once. I have personally commented on this at least ten times in the last two years, as have many others here. I would imagine that the words have been posted here as many as a hundred times if not even more.
It isn't that difficult a concept to understand; I'm really having a hard time figuring out how we still have anyone here who isn't able to do so.
January 1st, 2010 at 8:57 PM ^
It's been widely speculated that Mallett was gone. Brian has posted it. None of that makes it true. It was rumored that Greg Mathews was going to transfer. It was rumored that Mike Cox was going to transfer. Neither event happened. Unless you've personally interviewed Ryan Mallett, you just don't know what he was going to doing given the different circumstances that could have surrounded Carr retiring.
What if Les Miles had been named coach? He had just put Jamarcus Russell into the NFL as the # 1 pick. Mallett would have been crazy to leave at that point (and Miles likely would have told his that). Assuming he put up reasonable numbers during his sophomore and junior years, he could be heading to the NFL this April. He most likely delayed his NFL entry by transferring. None of us know what would have happened if a different person had been named head coach. It's all just internet speculation.
January 2nd, 2010 at 12:21 AM ^
I know that alot of people say that Mallet was probably gone but I don't know if it was a sure thing. Alot of guys give the impression that they are going to transfer and change their minds. As for Carr threatening to throw him off the team, didn't he have a history of doing stuff like this as a motivational tactic (like when he told Chris Perry that he should just transfer).
Some say that he was gone to Arkansas as soon as Mustain left but I didn't see this as a sure thing. I mean he looked at alot of different schools before choosing Arkansas and considered going to places like UCLA.
I personally don't think that Ryan Mallet would have turned down the starting job at Michigan (if we had a coach who system he fit) to sit out a year at Arkansas. Usually guys who transfer are guys who are riding the bench.
I also remember the Mallet family saying that they were pretty happy with the development that he was getting from Loeffler and there was some talk of following him. Henne also made some comments talking about how much Mallett had matured over the course of the season and would have been a good starter at U of M if the coaching change hadn't happened.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:41 PM ^
Basically, Internet Guy, you just pointed to the endzone and chanted "Scoreboard". I think you are exactly right. I understand people having problems with this coach or that coach, but I just can't take it seriously when any True Blue would have any problems with Miles's results. Jeez, we'd be creaming our shorts for the International Bowl this year.
I had wanted Miles, but after we signed RR I committed to not looking back. I just won't accept someone saying we are better off without Miles, because I haven't seen the guy do anything with LSU that we wouldn't be proud of in Ann Arbor.
January 1st, 2010 at 4:45 PM ^
I think that Les Miles would have landed even better recruits that we got along with the recruits we got. At the time when we hired RR I thought we should have hired Les.
January 1st, 2010 at 4:56 PM ^
I'm 100% confident that RR's our guy.
January 1st, 2010 at 8:32 PM ^
Too bad non-MGoBloggers aren't sure of him. I think it'll be tough to win more than 7 with our D, and if he only wins 7, he could be gone.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:07 PM ^
Les Miles has a brass set, or at least he did a couple years ago (I haven't watched much LSU recently). But that year he went for it on 4th down a lot - and they made it nearly every time. I was impressed. Isn't that the kind of coach you want?
Of course the corollary is you have to have a good enough team to make that decision pay off.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:07 PM ^
i believe in rr and think that eventually if given time he will get things right, but i am not at all happy going 3-9, 5-7 and winning 3 big ten games in two years.
this rose bowl will help me have a better feeling on how the future will turn out with a very good spread o going against one of osu's lesser defenses in recent memory
January 1st, 2010 at 5:13 PM ^
All I could think of while watching the end of the game was how truly dreadful Les Miles' clock management is.
January 1st, 2010 at 9:21 PM ^
even the announcers called him out on it. Something to the tune of "shades of Ole Miss" out there.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:16 PM ^
I would have liked the success and recruiting he brings, but he does make some poor decisions. RR has made some odd calls in games, but no where near what Les Miles tends to do. I definitely think we have the right guy right now, though.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:59 PM ^
Good points. I do wonder how well Miles would recruit in another area. He is the coach of the only major program in a state which produces as many players for its population as any in the country.
January 1st, 2010 at 5:40 PM ^
And still was wistful about the whole thing somewhat. . . until that LSU- Ole Miss game I watched this year. Les Miles completely and utterly failed in clock management and end-of-game management in that game by allowing like 30 seconds to run off the clock before calling a timeout in the last minute. He claimed the officials didn't see it, etc, but regardless, you just can't screw something like that up. Not to mention the whole "spike/no spike" thing with 1 second left. If he had done that at U of M, Ann Arbor Torch & Pitchfork would have been out of stock. My friends that went to LSU and/or are LSU fans (one buddy grew up in BR but went to Syracuse) were livid. The ones I've spoken to would love to trade us coaches. I think we've got the right guy.
January 1st, 2010 at 6:22 PM ^
The LSU offfense let 15 seconds go off the clock before their 2nd to last snap. You want to blame the refs for that too?
January 1st, 2010 at 6:37 PM ^
For RR to WIN so all those people who are glad Les Miles didn't come can stop telling the world about it every time Miles makes a mistake.
Two games is justification for being glad Miles isn't the Michigan coach? I think the last 24 Michigan games would offer a larger body of evidence to the contrary. But I know--the future is so bright and all...
LSU played a pretty damn solid game, actually. Penn Sate was 10-2 going in, had a ton of senior leadership and plenty of talent throughout their lineup. LSU's defense held PSU to field goals time and again, giving their team a chance at the end. And they are a young team.
January 1st, 2010 at 8:36 PM ^
It doesn't always cost them, but LSU seems to have terrible clock management in every close game they play.
January 1st, 2010 at 11:35 PM ^
I'll give you a +1 because you'll definitely get negged for speaking your mind.
I'm not convinced that Miles would be the best fit (he does make some crazy decisions) but I personally believe that he would have won more games than RR has up to this point. That is, after all, the coaches' main job, right?
I'm also not convinced that RR has a greater ceiling than Miles. Will he be better than a 9-3 coach in the Big Ten? Nobody knows. I'm pretty sure that Miles could do it because of his record in the SEC (a step up from the Big East if you're watching the Sugar Bowl tonight).
RR has also never coached an exceptional defense that I'm aware of (Miles has) and that's what it mainly takes to win at this level. Just look at Florida, Bama, Texas, OSU....this year.
We'll just need to sit back and see if RR "rights the ship" in 2010 so that he'll earn years 4 and 5 when we should see more measurable results.
January 1st, 2010 at 11:44 PM ^
This outcome is what happens when you only get a "damn solid" game instead of a "damn strong football team"
Don't underestimate the difference.
January 1st, 2010 at 7:20 PM ^
I hope Les is successful wherever he coaches. I feel bad for him in that he coaches at a school with fans that are hard to please. Fans in Baton Rouge were questioning his future there last season only one year removed from a title.
January 1st, 2010 at 7:49 PM ^
I don't really blame them. I don't think Miles gets the most out of the abundant talent at his disposal. (Before you say, "But he won it all," note that they lost two games that season, and needed many other fluky finishes to go their way.) He recruits well enough that they shouldn't have a serious downturn, but I don't see LSU seriously challenging Alabama or Florida (assuming Meyer comes back) for SEC supremacy from here on out.