Post by tigerbait99 on Oct 24, 2004 9:29:39 GMT -5
LSU 24 - Troy 20. And it could have been Troy 20 - LSU 17 if not for a scoring drive of 56 yards with 2:18 to play in the fourth quarter. Troy broke a 17-17 tie with a 24-yard field goal to give the Trojans a 20-17 lead with less than four minutes to play and things did not look good. LSU's offense had not picked up a single first down the previous four times they had the ball. The winning drive was setup on a 46-yard kick return by Xavier Carter that gave LSU great field position. On the first play from the 46-yard line, Marcus Randall connected with Dwayne Bowe for 13 yards and a first down, and after picking up first downs on two running plays Randall found TE David Jones wide open on the 10-yard line for the winning touchdown. With the win, LSU improved to 5-2 on the season and kept their hopes alive for a decent bowl game and will probably move up a couple of spots in the polls.
LSU played very well in the game on defense, but the offense committed four turnovers that accounted for both of Troy's touchdowns and one of the field goals. On offense, Marcus Randall completed 24 of 37 passes for 328 yards, but threw three interceptions, and on several of the completions Randall made bad throws that made LSU wide receivers have to change their pass patterns. I believe at least three of Randall's completions would have gone for touchdowns had Randall hit his receivers in full stride. I thought all of the LSU wide receivers did a great job of catching the football and made Randall's stats look very good. LSU could never get the running game going because Troy was putting eight men in the box and it is very hard for five offensive linemen to block seven or eight men in the box.
I knew going into the game that Troy had a good defense against the run and I said that if LSU could not run the ball against Troy the game could be very interesting. I want to give credit where credit is due. Troy is a very good defensive football team. The 24-points LSU scored against the Trojans of Troy were the most points given up by Troy in any game this season. Troy's defense held Marshall to 15 points, Missouri to 14 points, New Mexico State to 22 points, South Carolina to 21 points and Arkansas State to 13 points. I am not trying to Sugar Coat LSU's lack-luster performance because there is no excuse for the way LSU played on offense, but I am pleased with the defense who would have probably shutout Troy if not for the unacceptable showing by the LSU offense.
On defense, I thought Marcus Spears played his best game ever as a Tiger. Spears made 10 tackles in the game including three sacks and two tackles for losses. I also thought Kyle Williams played a very good game on defense and Claude Wroten played well. All of the LSU defensive backs played very well, especially Travis Daniels and Jessie Daniels.
LSU still has a chance at finishing the season with a very respectable 9-2 or 8-3 record, but the offense is going to have to cut down on mistakes, especially at the quarterback position. In the last two games, Marcus Randall has led LSU to wins in the last drives of the game and it is hard to criticize Randall because he gives 100 percent all the time, but the bottom line is that Randall cannot throw the football downfield and does not always make good decisions. In my opinion, LSU will beat Vanderbilt next Saturday, but will have trouble beating Ole Miss and Alabama with Marcus Randall at quarterback.
LSU played very well in the game on defense, but the offense committed four turnovers that accounted for both of Troy's touchdowns and one of the field goals. On offense, Marcus Randall completed 24 of 37 passes for 328 yards, but threw three interceptions, and on several of the completions Randall made bad throws that made LSU wide receivers have to change their pass patterns. I believe at least three of Randall's completions would have gone for touchdowns had Randall hit his receivers in full stride. I thought all of the LSU wide receivers did a great job of catching the football and made Randall's stats look very good. LSU could never get the running game going because Troy was putting eight men in the box and it is very hard for five offensive linemen to block seven or eight men in the box.
I knew going into the game that Troy had a good defense against the run and I said that if LSU could not run the ball against Troy the game could be very interesting. I want to give credit where credit is due. Troy is a very good defensive football team. The 24-points LSU scored against the Trojans of Troy were the most points given up by Troy in any game this season. Troy's defense held Marshall to 15 points, Missouri to 14 points, New Mexico State to 22 points, South Carolina to 21 points and Arkansas State to 13 points. I am not trying to Sugar Coat LSU's lack-luster performance because there is no excuse for the way LSU played on offense, but I am pleased with the defense who would have probably shutout Troy if not for the unacceptable showing by the LSU offense.
On defense, I thought Marcus Spears played his best game ever as a Tiger. Spears made 10 tackles in the game including three sacks and two tackles for losses. I also thought Kyle Williams played a very good game on defense and Claude Wroten played well. All of the LSU defensive backs played very well, especially Travis Daniels and Jessie Daniels.
LSU still has a chance at finishing the season with a very respectable 9-2 or 8-3 record, but the offense is going to have to cut down on mistakes, especially at the quarterback position. In the last two games, Marcus Randall has led LSU to wins in the last drives of the game and it is hard to criticize Randall because he gives 100 percent all the time, but the bottom line is that Randall cannot throw the football downfield and does not always make good decisions. In my opinion, LSU will beat Vanderbilt next Saturday, but will have trouble beating Ole Miss and Alabama with Marcus Randall at quarterback.
