The goal for Ole Miss and LSU on Saturday night might just end up being don’t put too much pressure on the quarterback.
Yeah, I know that sounds weird. Until you realize Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and the Tigers’ Sam Leavitt both appear most of the time to be better running around.
It goes against everything defensive players are trying to accomplish. There have been games at all levels of football where you take away a natural desire to beat the guy blocking you and get to the quarterback is THE primary goal.
Do that against either one of these two quarterbacks and a defense is going to have a problem. I’m not sure either one of them are that scary staying in the pocket.
“His ability to extend plays with his feet and still throw outside of the pocket stands out,” Ole Miss coach Pete Golding said Monday about Leavitt.
Like everything else so far this week, nobody is giving the other team bulletin board material. Just LSU coach Lane Kiffin being on the sideline is going to build into the biggest storyline of this game.
Kiffin’s return adds another layer to game
It will be the major topic all the way to Saturday night, you don’t even have to guess what the lead will be on ESPN GameDay on Saturday morning. Everybody has an opinion on it.
There have been debates on which team has the better defense. Lingering questions are still hanging out there about the Rebels’ secondary. The Tigers looked like they were playing in a fog last week against Louisiana Tech.
None of that will matter Saturday night. Can either team keep the other’s quarterback from breaking away from the trouble and flip the flow of the game?
“They’re still working to create some of those things where they move the pocket, get (Leavitt) out and give him two-way goes,” Golding said. “I’ve been really impressed with his athleticism, especially once he decides to become a runner.”
Kiffin said the same things about Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy do make the big plays but it’s what they don’t do going the other direction that makes him dangerous.
“If you look at Trinidad and Kewan last year, there’s very few negative plays at all,” Kiffin said Monday. “They both have phenomenal feet, and so even when we don’t block somebody, you know what happens is you don’t get negative plays because Kewan makes the guy miss, and Trinidad scrambles around, and so they rarely play behind the sticks ever because of that.”
Both quarterbacks are betting scrambling around. That’s clear watching them play in any game.
Taming the scramblers comes down to the defense
Now they have to figure out how to tame their defenses to not let those two guys get out of the pocket. Coachs can draw it up as much as they want but it’s going to come down to execution.
It’s why coaching can only do so much and most of it’s mental. Game plans don’t win games as much as the players just simply being able to make plays.
In this one it’s probably going to come down to keeping one quarterback from making a highlight play that beats you. It’s something the defensive coaches will drill into their players.
When it comes down to that, just remember Ole Miss has a defensive coach that’s the top guy now.
It could end up being a huge difference.
