LSU Tigers-Florida Gators: Should Jordan Jefferson Be the Starter?

During the 2009 season, LSU's offense underachieved under the leadership of quarterback Jordan Jefferson .  As we all are painfully aware the 2009 offense was ranked at an embarrassing 112 out of 120 FBS teams. 

To add to the frustrations of 2009, Jordan Jefferson was also sacked a conference-high total of 37 times. Most of these sacks were due to Jefferson's either not finding secondary receivers, his inability to make decisions, and/or his failure to react to pressure.  

Jefferson claimed that he recognized his problems and he promised to work on improving for the 2010 season.  However, in the Spring of 2010 nothing really changed, and in fact some things went backwards.  Then came Fall camp and still the same old problems continued and they even seemed to get worse for Jefferson.

Even in light of the struggles that Jordan Jefferson was having, coach Les Miles continued to say Jefferson was the best quarterback they had and they would work with him to simplify the offense and do the things he felt most comfortable in doing. 

As the 2010 season got underway, Jefferson  continuously showed pathetic passing statistics, but Miles would continue to defend Jefferson while at the same time he would still say things like Jarrett Lee is working hard and he has improved and we want to try to get him in the game, but they rarely ever did for any length of time.

Then Jefferson's numbers finally plummeted to 10-22 for only 75 yards and one interception against West Virginia. It was the third game this season where he finished with under 100 yards passing.   

It was at this time that the fans finally had enough and they became so frustrated that they lashed out with an array of boos for Coach Miles as he continued to play Jordan Jefferson over Jarrett Lee in the West Virginia Game.

Jefferson again started the Tennessee game and after a surprising 83-yard touchdown run on the second LSU possession, Jefferson threw his first of two interceptions.

The Arrival of Jarrett Lee

At this point things began to change as Miles finally sent Jarrett Lee in the game for his first full series.  Jarrett Lee started with the short passing game and had good success and then he began to go downfield and also had success.

As the game went on it was Lee that jump-started the passing game and finally LSU's offense began to put up some decent offensive numbers both running and passing.  They had a respectable 434 total offense in the Tennessee game which was about 200 yards higher than the previous week against WVU.   

Lee then took LSU on their final drive to win the game as he connected with Rueben Randle on a beautiful 47-yard pass play, and he connected with Terrance Toliver on a  desperation, game-saving 4th-and-14 conversion. 

Jarrett finished the day 16-23 for 185 yards passing with one interception in the end zone, while Jordan Jefferson finished 3-10 for 30 yards and two interceptions. Shouldn't those numbers tell us something?

In post-game interviews, both wide receivers Ruben Randle and Terrance Toliver remarked that things began to happen when Jarrett Lee came in the game and without a doubt you could see it.

So, you would think like most of us LSU fans that finally Coach Miles would have to see the great game that Lee had just performed and now Lee would take over and LSU's underachieving offensive woes would finally be over.

But, not so fast my good man.  This is Coach Les Miles making this decision and it is Jordan Jefferson that is whining and almost demanding that he be named the starter in the upcoming game against the Florida Gators. 

Jefferson has repeatedly said in the media this week that even though Lee played a good game that he still had the confidence of the coaches and players so he felt he would be named the starter.  I mean what happened to the best man plays and the guy that can help the team the most plays?

What is it that allows Les Miles to fight the obvious and defend the undefendable.  Low and behold he now says in the BR Advocate that he will probably start Jordan Jefferson.

Can anyone on that LSU staff evaluate performance and let that be the benchmark for deciding who is the best player to help the team win?

What reason could Les Miles possibly have for continuously sticking with an obviously unskilled player like Jordan Jefferson as his starting quarterback and then looking at a potential winner like Jarrett Lee and telling him to take a back seat so "Jefferson the chosen" can start?

What could Jordan Jefferson possibly have over Les Miles to make him stick with a guy with these pathetic, stinking, and embarrassing passing statistics?

I can tell you one thing for sure: Les Miles did not make his decisions based upon the performance of a player.  It appears he just refuses to listen to the fans.

The only explanation I can have for Miles' continued refusal to go with Jarrett Lee is that Les Miles is out to show the fans that they do not run his team and he will make whatever decision he wants and they can like it or lump it.

If this Les Miles decision bits us against the Gators Saturday, Tiger Fans will not be easy to deal with.  

I SAY TURN UP THE HEAT ON THE HOT SEAT.