Terry, There are two elements to targeting: 1)Striking a "defenseless" player in the head or neck with any part of you. 2) Striking WITH the crown of the helmet. Usually "launching" is part of determining if you were being naughty. ;-)
Scott, maybe but Lawrence completed less than 50% of his passes, no TDs and had a fumbled lost. That is certainly a below par day for him. That is the problem with this type of offense. If your quarterback has an off day, there is no fall back. No running game to pick up the slack. That is what I kept harping on Alabama to do. Keep a balance! I think the analogy to Manziel is very accurate. Also, Clemson's only exposure to an offense anywhere close to LSU's caliber was against Ohio St. and OSU didn't have the receivers that LSU had. I only got to watch the 2nd half, but the bad calls seemed to go both ways, and frankly I think there is much more offensive pass interference that needs to be called.
There is one facet of that definition that is never enforced. There are many times that the runner lowers his head a strikes with the crown of his helmet but it is never called.
That kid for Clemson was launching and leading with the crown of his helmet all night long. He caught Burrow near the end of the half in the ribs. The problem with that, and the reason for the rule, isn't just to protect the ball carrier but to protect yourself. One of my friends, who has since passed, when I was a kid wound up paralyzed because he tackled like that and one day broke his neck. Anyway, when you do that all the time, you leave yourself open to a guy sliding down, or being tackled, and then you are launching with your crown at his head, or neck. That's exactly what happened, and exactly why it was targeting. I know people don't like it, but I like kids in wheelchairs even less.
Great performance by LSU. For me the interesting part of the game was the adjustment the LSU O line made to Venable's defense. They obviously struggled with the blitzes up the middle on the first few possessions but then gave Burrow enough time to torch Clemson. Someone, Terry I think pointed out that he has exceptional receivers, he does. The LSU offense was just unstoppable this year.
That is good news, I see that Chubba Hubbard the Oklahoma State kid who rushed for over 2,000 yds this past year is also returning. That's pretty unusual for a RB to come back who has had the success that both of these guys have had when they are NFL draft eligible. The freshness seal on RB's in the NFL is pretty short so they are seemingly served best by getting there as soon as they can with as little mileage as possible on their wheels.
That whole OBJ was handing out cash after the game, well initially LSU officials said it was funny money not real cash. But Joe Burrow threw his mates under the bus when he said on a podcast that it was real cash. I guess he wasn't thinking about it being an NCAA violation that could cause some of his team a bit of a problem. I doubt if anybody who took that cash and will be coming back next year will have to do anything other than give it back or donate it to charity, but still Joe you should've feigned a lack of knowledge. ___________ The money that Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. distributed on the field after LSU's national championship victory Monday was real, Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow said in a podcast interview released Wednesday. "I'm not a student-athlete anymore, so I can say yeah," Burrow said on the most recent episode of Barstool Sports' "Pardon My Take."
It took Joe Burrows about one hour to shed his Golden Boy image after the game. Turns out he'll be just perfect for the Bengals. Beckham is a cancer. He tore the Giants apart; they would have traded him for the Browns dirty laundry. Now he is doing the same thing in Cleveland. Now his showboating in New Orleans may have jeopardized some LSU players.
What I think is funny is not OBJ handing out high fives of cash after the game.... it's fans of teams who have kids from some broke ass community and a family with no money, but he drives a $35k 'used' car with $10k rims and no one even bats an eye at that stuff.. It's everywhere, no one is immune. It may be more widespread at some schools, but it's everywhere.
I saw a report that said 9 juniors for L$U are declaring for the draft. (along with Brady) You don't lose seniors and all those juniors and not take a significant step back. Payback's gonna be a b!tch Ed!
For a team whose defense was reportedly suspect, there are going to be quite a few LSU players taken in the early rounds on defense. One thing though, LSU under Eddie O has recruited well. Since 2016 when they had the #2 class they only had one class that was not a top 10 class, that one was #15. So like Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Clemson...while good players are leaving it's not like there isn't talent on the roster that has been developing. It's not likely though that they have any QB in the same class as Joe Burrow and it's unknown how the loss of Joe Brady will impact their offense. They aren't going back to the run dominated offense that Les Miles preferred that's for sure.
Losing Burrow, Brady and all of those magnificent receivers has to drastically reduce what LSU can do on offense next year.
And it continues. At LSU, another OL and another WR declare for the draft on the last day. Alabama losing a lot also. This happens a lot to Alabama. Both teams lose great quarterbacks and talented receivers. LSU also having coaching staff turnover which has been another Alabama problem. It will be interesting to see how next season develops in the SEC West.
An item that seems to be bothering me more each year is that about a dozen teams are reaping all of the good talent coast to coast. I venture to say that college football will never be what we use to enjoy on Saturdays down the road? With a few teams recruiting the bulk of the talent, the remaining teams will become sub par and not able to compete.