Craig Loston Makes It Official; Coaching Saga Drags On; Reviewing The Chick-Fil-A Bowl

 Send This Story To A Friend

Content provided by Bayou Bengal Blog.

This figures to be a terrific weekend for LSU football, as the Tigers are in position to nail down a handful of national superstar recruits at the three major all-star games taking part tonight, tomorrow and Sunday which will all but nail down what could be the best recruiting class in school history.

The first of those commitments came this afternoon, as Aldine, TX safety Craig Loston, the top-rated safety in the country by Rivals.com, Scout.com and ESPN, threw his hat in with the Tigers.

In getting Loston, LSU is now sitting with five commitments rated as five-star recruits by either Scout, Rivals or both – the other four being Russell Shepard, Chris Davenport, Janzen Jackson and Michael Ford. There will unquestionably be more, as the Tigers are heavily involved with 12 others that either Rivals or Scout rank as five-star prospects. Of that group maybe half of them are truly serious possibilities to sign with LSU – Rueben Randle, William Campbell and Andre Debose are decent bets to be Tigers and Trent Richardson, Jelani Jenkins and Kendall Kelly have relatively credible interest in LSU if it can’t be said the Tigers lead for those guys.

Even so, there is no question that LSU is THE hot place for recruits in the Class of 2009 to commit to, and it’s very clear that Russell Shepard is as good a reason for it as any. Shep’s contribution to the Tigers getting Loston – who is, after all, his cousin – can’t be overstated.

With Loston on board, new LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis is getting the kind of superstar player at free safety that he’s had several times in the past at Tennessee – a perfect example being Eric Berry this year, who was the star of a Vol unit which finished fourth in the country in total defense. Like Berry, Loston isn’t exactly a big guy as a safety – what he brings to the table is a downright mean attitude, scary speed and a great nose for the football. He’s not terribly small – Rivals and ESPN have him at 6-2, 193 while Scout says he’s 6-1, 190 – but on film he looks a lot like Laron Landry did as a freshman at LSU; namely, he’s a little on the thin side. He’ll drill people just like Landry did, too, and when Tommy Moffitt gets a hold of this guy and puts 10-15 pounds of muscle on him he’s going to be a killer safety.

Safety play probably cost LSU a couple of games this past season, and while LSU definitely looks like they may have taken steps to remedy that in the bowl preparations (see below), Loston has got to see an opportunity to get on the field immediately this fall. It’s not totally unreasonable to see him as a player with the potential to make an immediate impact at LSU the way Landry did – after all, when a guy is rated as a five-star recruit that’s exactly what the services think he’s capable of being as a freshman.

There’s a good bit of buzz surrounding another safety LSU is targeting, Atlanta Carver four-star prospect Darren Myles. Myles apparently was extremely impressed with the Tigers’ 38-3 bombing of Georgia Tech in Atlanta Wednesday night, and though he’s saying he won’t be making a commitment this weekend the grapevine is spitting out that LSU is ahead of the game for a guy who is rated No. 87 in the country overall by Rivals, the No. 4 safety in the country by ESPN (they rate him as the No. 39 player in the country overall) and the No. 12 safety by Scout. Alabama, Florida, Georgia Tech and Purdue are the other options for Myles, but LSU is in the lead.

Tomorrow we will find out about Campbell. Rivals rates him No. 25 overall and No. 4 at defensive tackle, while Scout says he’s the No. 4 defensive tackle in the country. ESPN isn’t quite as high on him, rating him as the No. 22 offensive tackle in this class, and their evaluations of him make him sound a little like Al Woods – a space-eater who clogs up the line and frees the linebackers to make plays but not especially active in penetrating or pass-rushing. At 6-5 and 315, though, it’s entirely possible that Campbell could end up playing tackle like previous Detroit Cass Tech product Joe Barksdale did after committing to LSU a couple of years ago.

Of course, Chavis might well see a guy like Campbell and look at him as another Albert Haynesworth or John Henderson, and he had a great defense when he put those two behemoths in the middle and surrounded them with speed. And with Davenport already in this class, LSU would be set for behemoths – not that Akiem Hicks, Cordian Hagans and Lavar Edwards don’t qualify in that regard.

There are all kinds of indications that Campbell will commit to LSU tomorrow. He’s said that Michigan, where he’d originally committed, is out and it’s down to the Tigers, Miami and Florida, and in interviews he’s done and scuttlebutt coming out of the Army All-Star game in San Antonio it sounds like he’s all LSU. But the word is Campbell’s mother isn’t crazy about him going so far from home and she’s pushing for him to recommit to Michigan tomorrow. We’ll see how it goes – this guy is absolutely icing on the cake for LSU given that they’ve already got commitments from Davenport, Hicks and Josh Downs, who has completely torn up the practices at the Under Armour All-Star game and has made the ESPNU commentators broadcasting from Orlando make statements like “most underrated player in the country at his position” about him.

The third player LSU is waiting on this weekend is Debose, who is both probably the guy LSU fans ought to be most nervous about and the guy the Tigers need as much or more than anybody in this class. Debose is down to LSU, Miami and Florida, with all kinds of rumors floating around saying he’s going to be a Gator, but the recruiting experts still say he’s most likely coming to LSU when he makes his commitment on Sunday. The 6-0, 170 pounder (according to Rivals; Scout has him at 5-11 1/2 and 176 and ESPN says he’s 6-0 and 180) rates VERY high by all three services; Rivals says he’s the No. 24 player overall in the country, Scout says he’s the fifth-best wide receiver and ESPN rates him the fourth-best wideout and the No. 30 player overall. Watching him on film, he’s one of the most explosive receivers with the football you’ll ever see; when I see this guy play I can’t help but dredge up my Eddie Kennison memories and for LSU to have an electric player like that to play in a Gary Crowton offense is just plain scary. He’s the guy in this recruiting class the Tigers will most regret not getting if he commits elsewhere.

Of course, LSU is waiting on the NCAA Clearinghouse to sign off on DeAngelo Benton’s eligibility (he has until Jan. 25 to enroll for the spring), which would actually produce yet another Rivals five-star recruit in this class, and with Kenny Bell and Drayton Calhoun committed they’ve already got a pair of lightning-quick four-star receivers aboard. And everything is starting to sound good on Rueben Randle, who reportedly was really impressed by Jordan Jefferson’s performance Wednesday night and recognizes that going forward LSU’s quarterback situation is actually considerably better than Alabama’s is (or Oklahoma’s, for that matter, given Sam Bradford’s likely entry into the NFL Draft). So it’s not like losing Debose would ruin this recruiting class; this class is basically unruinable at this point. But losing a guy like that to Florida just when we’re finally getting rid of Percy Harvin would flat-out stink.

And given that Tiger receivers coach D.J. McCarthy has a LOT riding on his ability to score Randle and Debose in this class, you know McCarthy is sweating things out in a major way. Unlike Loston and Campbell, LSU doesn’t really have a Plan B in case Debose goes elsewhere; right now they don’t really have a small/quick/explosive wide receiver in the can waiting for an offer in the way they’ve got Josh Johns at safety or Darrington Sentimore at defensive tackle. D.J. knows he needs to sew this one up.

There are lots of other high-profile recruits out there who sound like LSU is in really good shape for them. One of them, Greenwood, SC defensive end Sam Montgomery (6-4, 230) has had a tremendous week of practice at the Under Armour game in Orlando, and Montgomery is still talking up LSU – in fact, the word is that he and Shepard, Loston and Downs have been hanging out all week and when Loston made his commitment today Montgomery was seen celebrating with him afterwards. And of course, Debose’s teammates at Seminole High in Sanford, Florida – Ray Ray Armstrong and Dyron Dye – will also make announcements on Sunday. Dye and Armstrong are considered much more likely to choose Miami or Florida, though LSU is supposedly under consideration by both. In addition, Tiger commitments Chris Garrett and Dexter Pratt are at the Offense-Defense all-star game in South Carolina tonight; I’m watching bowls and DVR’ing the game so I don’t have a report on it for tonight’s update.

The Coaching Thing: In our last update, we had the John Chavis thing as defensive coordinator, and that has held up by all indications; head coach Les Miles hasn’t issued a statement on Chavis’ hiring, but all the reputable media sources seem to agree that he’s the guy.

But Ed Orgeron coming with Chavis didn’t happen, despite published reports it was going to. Orgeron ended up taking a job at Tennessee instead of LSU after reportedly giving a verbal commitment to Miles and Chavis; the Tigers offered Orgeron $600,000 per year, an absurd amount for a position coach and a salary more than either Crowton or Chavis (who signed for $500,000) is set to make next year – but Orgeron and Jimmy Sexton, his agent, played LSU and the Vols off of each other for a salary as high as $900,000 before opting for Knoxville.

I’ve said before on this blog that I was very ambivalent about Orgeron as a hire here. This is a guy whose character issues are well documented, and his performance and behavior as Ole Miss’ head coach was hardly something to write home about. Upon his leaving for Tennessee, the story has come out that Saints head coach Sean Payton was not thrilled with Orgeron at all this year, and the whole Sexton-plays-the-game-and-sticks-people-for-endless-money deal is retarded. The idea of paying Orgeron more than Crowton or Chavis is a terrible one, and in all likelihood that would have created really awful staff chemistry at LSU. When you consider that Miles, who never liked Orgeron in the first place and was largely pressured into pursuing him, was prepared to make this man recruiting coordinator and associate head coach, which would have displaced Josh Henson as the recruiting coordinator at a time Henson is in charge of reeling in the best class in the country and diluted Larry Porter’s role on the staff when Porter has proven time and time again what an asset he is to this staff, it becomes even more apparent that this was a mistake in the making and Tennessee might well have saved LSU from it.

There is no doubt that some of what Orgeron brings to the table is valuable to LSU. He’s a really intense guy and a hard driver, and he’s also a pretty good recruiter by reputation. That’s what LSU wants out of its defensive line coach, but I don’t think the Tigers need to bring on Orgeron’s baggage in order to get it. Besides, several media sources report that a new name has surfaced as a favorite for the defensive line job – outgoing Denver Broncos defensive line coach Bill Johnson, a Monroe native and highly-respected veteran coach who has coached at Denver and Atlanta (2001-06) in the NFL and at Texas A&M with RC Slocum before that. Johnson is one of the best defensive line coaches at any level; getting him would be a coup far beyond anything Orgeron would bring to the table without all the character and chemistry issues the latter drags around. In fact, LSU’s chief competition for Johnson at this point appears to be the Saints, as Payton has told the Times-Picayune he’s a top target. But if I’m Johnson, and I have the choice to work with John Chavis and the elite of the elite recruits at LSU or Gary Gibbs and some underachieving millionaires like Will Smith and Charles Grant with the Saints, it’s a no-brainer for reasons of job security if nothing else.

I’m done making predictions or attempting to derive any concrete conclusions from the grapevine on these coaching hires, because virtually everything my and everyone else’s sources have had on this subject has been ridiculously wrong. But a guy like Johnson looks like he could be a good fit. And Vance Joseph, who we discussed as a potential defensive backs coach in the last update, is still being thrown around in published reports; he seems like he might be a pretty good fit as well.

As for the fourth new coach, it is possible that there won’t be one. Apparently, the chance exists that Miles might decide to stick with Joe Robinson as the special teams coach. If he does that, it’s going to be interesting to see what LSU does with respect to recruiting; with Earl Lane and Bradley Dale Peveto leaving Miles is losing two very good recruiters and while Chavis, Johnson and Joseph have certainly recruited before none of them have reputations of being out-of-this-world recruiters like Peveto and Lane. Of course, should the Tigers jump back into the national championship chase in 2009 based on the defense returning to top form it might not be all that hard to sell kids on signing here – and what’s more, with this year’s haul numbering as many as 28 or 29 recruits, there simply won’t be a lot of room for the 2010 class anyway. As a result, recruiting could well not be that much of an issue next year.

Tigers Eat Mor Yellow Jacket: As we’ve referenced above, Wednesday night was a big night for LSU football. A five-point underdog heading into the Chick-Fil-A Bowl against Georgia Tech, the Tigers tore up the No. 14 Yellow Jackets to the tune of a 35-3 halftime lead en route to an impressive 38-3 final. The win was like manna from heaven for a program which had limped badly to a 7-5 regular season finish, and it gave a measure of redemption to a lot of players and coaches who did not perform to expectations or acceptable standards during the year.

You could definitely see the relief and enthusiasm on LSU’s sidelines during the game as the rout proceeded, and it was probably the most fun anybody in purple and gold has had all year. Getting that win eliminated a perception that LSU’s program is in a downward spiral, which has been stated and fueled in the national media repeatedly of late – in fact, one of the chief motivating factors for the Tigers came courtesy of ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, who predicted a 20-point blowout in Georgia Tech’s favor and called LSU’s defense “soft.” This aired during a dinner that LSU’s players were having with their coaches and families, and everybody in the room saw it – and not to their amusement.

So LSU goes out and drums Georgia Tech, by a margin that so far outstrips any of the other bowl victories in college football this year, and that bad mojo goes away. 2008 was an eminently forgettable year, but the win takes a lot of the stink off it. And that’s what the Tigers needed to accomplish in the game.

On to the grades without any further ado, since this update is already War And Peace as it is…

Quarterbacks (Grade – B): I’m giving Jordan Jefferson this grade as a compendium of his A in the first half and C in the second half, and I recognize that some might think Jefferson did better than “B” work Wednesday. That’s perfectly fine, and I’m certainly not down on him – in fact, I think Jefferson showed that he gives Crowton a great deal to work with as a quarterback for the next three years.

First, I think Crowton has some things to work on with Jefferson. First, he has a tendency to not put as much air under the ball as he needs to, which showed up on a number of his downfield passes in the game and also cost LSU an easy short touchdown to Richard Dickson in the third quarter when all he had to do was drop a lollipop into Dickson’s hands instead of the high fastball he threw him. Also, it seems like Jefferson is slow getting the ball out to his receivers at times, which comes partly from the fact that his release is still a little slow and partly because he’s not picking his receivers up as quickly as you’d want on occasion. And finally, I noticed a few occasions where Jefferson had LSU in the wrong protections, which he paid the price for.

All of those things are correctable with coaching and experience, though. And since Jefferson is the No. 1 quarterback heading into the spring and he’ll get the reps associated with that status, he’s going to have a major opportunity to develop. In fact, I see a significant amount of improvement in Jefferson from the end of the regular season to now; I was not one of these guys who saw him as this magical answer to the Tigers’ quarterback woes that Miles and Crowton stupidly buried on the bench this year, and when he played in the second half of the season I thought he clearly wasn’t ready to be an SEC starting quarterback. But now he looks like he is, and that is a colossal development for LSU football.

Running Backs (Grade – B+): The numbers weren’t flashy in this game, but they really didn’t have to be for LSU. When the game was still in doubt LSU operated on a short field the whole time, and so if Charles Scott was only a little over four yards a carry for the night (15 carries, 65 yards) it ought to be remembered that half his carries came in short yardage or goal line situations. Scott’s three touchdowns gave him 18 for the season, which is a sensational number. He was his usual self in the game, and I think if he’d been given a little more opportunity to hammer away at Georgia Tech in the second half he’d probably have topped 100 yards against a demoralized and worn-out defense.

Keiland Williams also had a strong performance, carrying five times for 42 yards and a touchdown. Williams showed a really good burst and some better moves than he’s had, which can be attributed in some respect to the playing surface in the Georgia Dome as opposed to the cow pasture he’s been playing on in Tiger Stadium. That and a return to health contributed to Trindon Holiday looking great on his two runs in the game, though Richard Murphy wasn’t able to get anything going on his two carries.

A special congratulations needs to go out to Quinn Johnson, who was once again sensational as a lead blocker. If this guy doesn’t play 10 years in the NFL I will be shocked. QJ even showed some good hands and nifty moves on his one catch of the game.

Wide Receivers (Grade – B-): Jefferson spread the ball around a good bit in this game, though the wideouts did have 10 of LSU’s 17 receptions on the night. None had more than three catches, though, and the receiver who posted that number, Demetrius Byrd, had a grand total of 10 yards. Byrd could have had a fourth catch for about 15-18 more yards over the middle, but he dropped the ball and completed a very forgettable senior year in typical fashion. I’d be more charitable about Byrd but for his pulling up lame twice in the game only to be seen dancing with the Chick-Fil-A cow afterwards. Safe to say his contribution can be replaced next year without much trouble.

Otherwise, it was pretty good. Brandon LaFell tripped over somebody’s foot in pregame warmups and turned his ankle in the process, but he managed to overcome that and have a pretty good game anyway. LaFell officially only had two catches for 26 yards, but he had an 86-yard touchdown pass from Jefferson that was an absolute thing of beauty in the third quarter called back due to a hold called on Ciron Black. Terrence Toliver and Jared Mitchell caught a couple of passes each, though neither one were really asked to do anything sensational, and R.J. Jackson finally managed to get a catch in a game – though it was for a loss of a yard.

Tight Ends (Grade – A): If you don’t absolutely love Richard Dickson, something is very wrong with you. This guy is as good a receiving tight end as there is in college football, but it’s not only that. Watching the DVR of the game this morning, I focused on Dickson’s blocking and it’s flawless. He gets terrific leverage, he fires off the ball fast and when he’s in space blocking people he’s probably as good or better than anybody. Going into this past season the blocking aspect of his game was something of a question; coming out of it he should rightly be considered as one of the best blocking tight ends in the country. If there is a better tight end anywhere heading into 2009 I’d like to see him.

Mitch Joseph also did a nice job when LSU was in two tight end sets, though I’d like to see him develop into more of a receiving threat in the offseason given that we’ve only got one more year to enjoy Dickson as the starter. And when Josh Dworaczyk was out there as the third tight end in goal line situations, he was outstanding. Dworaczyk will move into the starting lineup at guard next year in all likelihood and he is going to be a big-time player.

Offensive Line (Grade – B-): At times, LSU’s line was dominating, but not consistently. I thought they fell off a good bit in the second half, and I wasn’t crazy about how they handled Georgia Tech’s Michael Johnson, who is a very legitimate NFL prospect as a defensive end. But when LSU needed a yard or two, for the most part they blew that team off the ball. I think they probably could have done a lot more if Miles had committed himself more to running it down Georgia Tech’s throat in the second half rather than launching bombs the whole time.

Joe Barksdale didn’t have a great night, and I didn’t think Brett Helms did either. Helms actually came out of the game in the second quarter and Ryan Miller looked like he played most of the rest of the way with slightly better results. Also, Black’s holding penalty on LaFell’s erstwhile touchdown was totally regrettable; he also really looked a bit heavy in that game and I’m not sure he couldn’t stand to lose a few pounds in the offseason.

Herman Johnson, however, was unbelievable. He wore that team out like nobody’s business.

Defensive Line (Grade – B+): This was the best LSU has played on the defensive line in a long time, and it was very obvious how much the Tigers benefited from some R&R after the grind of the regular season. I thought the defensive line played with a lot more aggressiveness and discipline than they’ve been playing with, and it showed in the results – although nobody on the defensive line had more than two tackles.

Rahim Alem is going to be a big star at LSU if the new defensive line coach can get him to play with consistency and focus. He’s such an explosive athlete and he comes off the edge with such speed that he’s a real weapon for LSU. Alem even showed at time that he can contain the run to the outside a little, and that’s a good development.

Ricky Jean-Francois, who subsequently declared for the NFL Draft as a lot of people expected, also played a good game. I wish Jean-Francois would have figured out how to bring his A-game before December 1 before leaving LSU, but it is what it is. Another outgoing Tiger, Tyson Jackson, really played a good game. Both of Jackson’s tackles were for loss, and he harrassed the heck out of Georgia Tech QB Josh Nesbitt virtually every time he dropped back to pass. Charles Alexander and Al Woods did a nice job of clogging the middle, though Alexander had to survive a chop block in the first half in order to do it.

The guy who really impressed me, though, was Pep Levingston, who had LSU’s only sack of the game. Levingston played a lot of defensive tackle, though I think he’s probably destined for first crack at Jackson’s left defensive end spot in the spring.

Linebackers (Grade – B+): Georgia Tech racked up rushing 164 yards and a 4.1-yard average in the game, numbers which would indicate that LSU’s linebackers could have done a better job, but that’s really not how it played out in the game. Other than one drive which led to a field goal, the Tiger linebackers did a terrific job of containing the option – and with the help of the defensive line they really did a good job of stopping the dive play.

Perry Riley was particularly good, leading the way with 11 tackles and demonstrating that he’s a guy who could really become a star with Chavis’ tutelage next year. Kelvin Sheppard had six stops, which Darry Beckwith and Jacob Cutrera combined for seven from the Mike position. Beckwith played the best game he’s played in a while, which indicates that maybe injuries played a part in his poor season.

All in all, I couldn’t find much to complain about with this group. They were generally in good position to make tackles, they didn’t get blocked out of plays, they didn’t miss many tackles and they applied some monster hits at times. That’s what you want out of your linebackers. Kudos to outgoing linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator Bradley Dale Peveto for the strong finish, and best of luck to Coach Peve at Northwestern State next year.

Secondary (Grade – B): I saw some things I wasn’t crazy about in this game, even though Georgia Tech’s passing numbers were generally pretty horrible. They completed just eight of 25 passes as a team, and though the only recorded pass breakup in the game was the one Chad Jones had in the end zone in the first quarter I thought Patrick Peterson should have gotten credit for another one in the end zone in the second quarter. But the 8-of-25 had a lot more to do with the fact that Nesbitt is the worst passing quarterback LSU has played in probably the last decade and not so much that the pass defense was all that great. Nesbitt missed some wide-open receivers in that game.

But Jones getting the start at free safety is probably worth a letter grade all by itself, and even though Georgia Tech caught him out of position on a 40-yard pass to tailback Jonathan Dwyer on their first play from scrimmage – Dwyer beat Riley’s coverage on the play but Jones got sucked in on a play fake and couldn’t provide safety help – and then burned him deep on their second play only to see him flash some recovery speed and knock the ball away from Demariyus Thomas to rob GT of a touchdown. After that, there was no more getting anything over on Jones. He settled down nicely, finishing with four tackles and the pass breakup, and on the whole did a good job there. One wonders why this couldn’t have been tried earlier in the season; with Jones trying to figure out what he was doing while serving as a jack of all trades in the secondary all year, the free safety play was nothing short of putrid in 2008. It will go down as a mystery for the ages how this could have happened.

Karnell Hatcher and Danny McCray both got to see time in the game, and both made plays in earning tackles for loss. I still can’t understand how Harry Coleman was a starter and Jones, McCray and Hatcher were not for most of the regular season, but I won’t beat that horse any more.

At cornerback, Peterson had a good game, forcing a fumble, and Chris Hawkins forced a fumble and had a terrific interception while otherwise not playing the greatest game on earth. Jai Eugene played OK but not fantastic.

Special Teams (Grade – A+): LSU really won this game on special teams, which is one reason why I could handle the idea of Robinson coming back if that does end up happening. The Tigers outplayed Georgia Tech so incredibly badly in that game that I would call it the single most important factor in the game – give me more of this and I’m more than happy to carry a full-time special teams coach.

Josh Jasper was pretty darn good in the game. Jasper executed an onside kick brilliantly in the second quarter, nearly coming up with the ball on his own despite getting drilled in the face – Stefoin Francois got it to set up a Tiger possession. Jasper also had two touchbacks in his six kickoffs and averaged 69 yards, which I think is a season high for him. He’s got a great leg.

Brady Dalfrey had a great game as well. Dalfrey punted four times for a 41.5 yard average and buried two kicks inside the 20. He also contributed to a fumbled punt return by Georgia Tech that was extremely damaging to the Rambling Wreck, kicking a high, tailing ball that the return man couldn’t secure before getting stripped. Dalfrey also threw the pass on that fake punt to Jones in the second half, in what was perhaps the prettiest fake punt I’ve ever seen. That play is somewhat controversial, though I’m not sure why – if Miles wanted to run up a score on Georgia Tech I think he maybe could have done a better job than winning the second half 3-0.

Then there was Colt David’s 53-yard field goal, which might well have secured an NFL future for him. There were Trindon Hollday’s two 18-yard punt returns, in each of which he came oh-so-close to breaking it for a score. And there was Ron Brooks, who got a chance to return a kickoff and looked like he knew what he was doing, who made a saving tackle on Georgia Tech’s fake punt and who covered the fumble on the aforementioned GT punt return. I want to see a LOT more of that guy next year.

It was a drop-dead awesome special teams performance. Give me that anytime.