In year 1 with LSU. It's been a very up and down season so far. I started out on Heisman default and lost to Oregon 34-7. I dominated the game yardage wise but Jordan Jefferson threw 6 interceptions.
I had three straight decisive wins from there: 29-3 v Maryland, 41-7 v NM State, and 21-3 over Mississippi State. That's when shit went south again. After switching over to KNUBB's AA sliders (which are great, btw), Kentucky came into Tiger Stadium and opened up a 21-0 lead. A furious comeback was not enough. Just like the Oregon game, turnovers negated our sizable yardage advantage. After a few late red zone failures, the Tigers fell at home, 28-14.
With the 7th ranked, 5-0 Florida Gators coming into town, the season was at a crossroads. After posting a 3 TD/8 INT line in his first five starts, and dropping two games at home, I had no choice but to abandon senior QB Jordan Jefferson. I tried to remain loyal to the senior as long as I could but his continued struggles necessitated the move. The Zach Mettenberger era has begun, effective immediately.
Things couldn't have gotten off to a better start. After both teams traded three and outs to open the game, the sophomore gunslinger led a 7-play scoring march which included five straight completions. The drive culminated with Mett's first touchdown pass as a Tiger, a beautiful middle screen to Russell Shepard which you can view here:
http://www.easports.com/media/play/video/84886323
On the next drive, Ryan Baker extended the lead when he stepped in front of a Jeff Driskell pass and returned it for a touchdown. Sparked by the two early scores, the Tigers dominated the rest of the half. They entered the locker room with a 28-7 lead that they would not relinquish. Mett ended up with a hell of a debut in the 35-21 win, completing 21 of 28 attempts for 254 yards and adding 2 TDs vs. zero turnovers. For his efforts, he was awarded the game ball.
But, as is bound to happen with young QBs, he came crashing down to earth the next week in Knoxville. Absolutely terrible game planning on my part, I abandoned the run and asked him to do too much on his own. With all the third and long situations, Mett was exposed to the fierce Tennessee pass rush. He was sacked him 4 times, intercepted twice and he lost a fumble as the Vols went on to romp 34-7. This was very much a coaching loss.
So that's where we are. We're 4-3 with a crucial stretch coming up with Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss and Arkansas left in the conference slate. The only gimme game left is Western Kentucky in week 13, and by then the season could very well be effectively over.
Mettenberger was dazzling at home, but imploded the very next week in Neyland Stadium. We play the Tide in Tuscaloosa and will need a win to stay anywhere remotely close to contention for the SEC West title. Needless to say, I'm not confident. The running game and defense are going to have to step up majorly if we're going to pull a division title out of our ass this year.
