The Myth of LSU's "Fence" around Louisiana

Make no mistake about it, landing Leonard Fournette, was huge, but at the same time, losing Speedy Noil, Gerald Willis, and Cameron Robinson is even bigger.  In a year where Louisiana had it's best crop of high school talent in years, Les Miles, Frank Wilson, the rest of the coaching staff, and LSU as a whole were unable to capitalize.

In a time where LSU is becoming rather desperate to keep up with Alabama for power in the west, that is a huge disappointment.  In a time where Texas A&M is rising in prominence, and with one more big year, could be building a "fence" around the state of Texas, a state where LSU regularly picks it's players, it's disappointing.  In a time where Auburn has been to two national championship games in four years, again, it's disappointing.

LSU is slipping, and a big reason is because of the myth of the "fence."  This year isn't unique.  Last year, we lost out on Landon Collins, who at the time, was the top player in the state, to Alabama.  In the game in Tuscaloosa against Alabama, with Vinnie Sunseri hurt, Landon Collins stepped in to play, and showed LSU first-hand exactly what they missed out on.  He showed LSU, and the state of Louisiana that he is a big-time player.  Imagine if he were patrolling the LSU secondary in a season where LSU was replacing Eric Reid.  He certainly would have helped against Georgia, and Ole Miss.  He wouldn't have made a difference against Alabama, but imagine a one-loss LSU team in 2013-14.

It goes back to the loss of John Curtis star, Joe McKnight, to USC, the top player in America at the time.  It was the first time that that "fence" around Louisiana became penetrable.  I laugh every time I think about the argument that so many LSU fans made at the time, "But we have Richard Murphy.  We don't need him."

Give me a break.  He would have made LSU better.  Although Murphy wore the fabled number 18 jersey, at the same time, Joe McKnight was torching defenses, and went on to play for the Jets.  I'd rather have McKnight, and as he looks back, I'm sure Les would have preferred the same.

Les has lost out on others such as Travon Reed, Eddie Lacy, and Kenny Bell.  Some went on to have success, and some didn't.  But the line between success, and failure is so thin in Division-1 college football, and who knows what they could have done at a different place, and in a different situation, such as staying home in Louisiana.

The disappointing thing is that in previous years, it was only one or two players that LSU wanted going other places to play, but this year, in a year where Louisiana had it's best crop of talent since the class in the early 2000's that produced Marcus Spears, Andrew Whitworth, Michael Clayton, the late Marquis Hill, and Rudy Niswanger, and in a year where Alabama is now who they are, in a year where Auburn and Texas A&M are surging, and in a year where LSU cannot afford to lose the top players in the state of Louisiana to other universities, LSU didn't only lose out on one or two of the top guys, they lost out on three of their top four, maybe even four of their top five players.  That hasn't happened since the days of Gerry Dinardo and Curley Hallman.

Let's look at why.  Let's start with a top-tier player that LSU was able to land, Russell Shephard.  At the time of his recruitment, he was a top-five player in America, coming out of Houston, Texas.  LSU fans had such high expectations for him, but he rarely got the ball.

LSU fans would contend that he was a "bust," but I disagree.  I contend that Les, Gary Crowton, and Greg Strudrawa had no idea how to properly use him, and had no idea how to coach up Jordan Jefferson and Zach Mettenberger in order to get him the ball down field.  When he was in the backfield, or in the slot, every single person on the field, sidelines, and in the stands knew he was getting the ball.  They knew exactly how he would get the ball, and they knew exactly where he was going with it.  He never got a shot neither as a kick returner, nor as a punt returner.

You would think the coaching staff would be thinking of any way possible to get a player such as him the ball, and would be looking for ways to give him the ball in an offense that, at the time, was sorely lacking in big plays.  If he weren't sturdy enough, or big enough to handle the rigors of handling the ball several times in a game, you would think they would be doing everything possible to bulk a player such as him up.  A player of his caliber, with the potential to bust a touchdown any time the ball was in his hands, never got the ball, much less even saw the field.

There is no disputing the fact the he was indeed an impact player while at LSU, because he was able to win a spot on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 53-man roster as a wide receiver, despite not being drafted.  That shoots down any argument that anybody would have that would be based upon the notion that he was not a good player.

Before Cam Cameron came on board this year, on offense, it was alarmingly easy to accurately predict exactly what play LSU would run based on who was in the slot, and the running back that was in the game.  When Spencer Ware was in the backfield, it was a run straight up the middle, or a toss pitch.  When Michael Ford was in the game, it was a misdirection toss to the outside.  In a rare moment when Russell Shephard was in the slot...  you get the picture.  Before Cam Cameron, that was LSU's offense for several years.  You can look back to Keiland Williams, Charles Scott, and even to the days of Steven Ridley, and see the same things.

For years, before Cam Cameron, LSU's qb's, particularly Jordan Jefferson, Jarrett Lee, and even Zach Mettenberger were unable to get the ball to the wide receivers.  We had stars like Terrence Tolliver, yet another top-ten-in-America player, who never was able to get the ball, because of our inept quarterback play.  And it was also because the fact that our wide receivers were just as predictable on passing plays, as our running backs were on running plays.  The fact that our qb's were so poorly coached, and were absolutely inept in leading an offense didn't help matters either.

I acknowledge that high school players tend to be young, brash, naive.  But they are not blind, and they are certainly not stupid.  They see all these things.

Bringing in Cam Cameron to run the offense has helped things, but it was obviously too little too late.  If it weren't, the "fence" wouldn't be so penetrable.

High school recruits want two things, beside being with pretty girls, which every SEC campus can provide.  They want to win, and they want a chance to be in the NFL.  LSU dropped the ball in games against Ole Miss and Georgia, and were absolutely annihilated in Tuscaloosa by Alabama.  Recruits see that.

Recruits can see that top players like Terrence Tolliver and Russell Shephard weren't used, and struggled to make NFL rosters without being drafted.  Tolliver didn't make an NFL roster last season.  Recruits are, no doubt, able to notice that LSU dropped the ball, and were unable to get the most out of the players that they did have who were top-tier recruits.

The fact that this "fence" around Louisiana is vulnerable, shows that LSU football is in a vulnerable state.  Again, LSU has not lost out on this many of the top players in Louisiana since the days of Gerry Dinardo and Curley Hallman.  I certainly hope we are not on our way back to those days.  It's certainly alarming, considering how other teams in the west are surging, and we seem to be fading.  

No matter how you spin it, losing Speedy Noil, Gerald Willis, Cameron Robinson, and even Hootie Jones is huge, and will hurt the program.  They certainly are guys who would have helped us significantly.  We can hold out hope on Malachi Dupre, but history tells us that John Curtis guys don't favor LSU, so I'm not doing so.  It's disappointing, and the future, and like it or not, in Baton Rouge looks less bright than what it should be.

Geaux Tigers.  Forever LSU.