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Les Miles has been a lot of things as coach of the LSU Tigers. Conservative is usually not one of those things. Against Florida, he toned toned down the offense as much as possible, helping keep the Tigers in the game and eventually allowing them to come out with the win. It was the 100th of Miles’ career in the bayou, and while the ending was as bizarre as any of those wins, the play-calling was as vanilla as can be.
After waiting all week to name his starting quarterback, Miles ended up going with sophomore Anthony Jennings over freshman Brandon Harris. Miles and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron did everything they could to make things easy for their starter.
The Tigers, seemingly against logic, ran the ball over and over against a stout Florida defense. Part of their effectiveness came from being extremely persistent, with 50 rushing attempts on the night. Miles and Cameron let Leonard Fournette loose on the Gators, and the freshman Tiger softened up the defense with 27 carries for 140 yards, many of them bruising runs up the middle.
They were just as buttoned up in the passing game, and that helped make some of Jennings’s throws a little easier. Many of his 21 attempts came on short throws out of play-action, with little or no decision making required by Jennings. His first option was there for him more often, even if they were just a few yards up field.
Of course, two of the biggest plays of the game came when Jennings was allowed to take shots downfield. They were two near-identical throws, both fades down the sideline to Travin Dural. With Vernon Hargreaves out of the game, LSU had the opportunity to take advantage of a secondary without its best player. They waited until the crucial moments, but hit on the big plays when it mattered.
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
