The Anatomy of a Collapse

I’m going all CSI Baton Rouge to break down the disaster that took place Saturday night. I’ll set the scene and then give you the details on the horror in case you missed it. 6:24 remaining in the 3rd quarter and the Troy Trojans have a 31-3 lead over mighty LSU (at LSU).

At that exact moment, the light went on for the LSU offense with Jarrett Lee going 5-8 for 47 yards and Freshman QB Jordan Jefferson rushing for his first college touchdown.

Score: 31-10 Troy

Troy gets the ball back with 1:26 left and proceeds to rip off a 1-yard run and two incomplete passes. They punt the ball and, after taking only 78 seconds off the clock, LSU gets the ball with :18 seconds to go in 3Q.

Jarrett Lee again on fire (how little those words have been uttered this year). 4 of 4 for 80 yards with a touchdown pass to Brandon LaFell.

Score: 31-17 Troy

At this point, despite only about a quarter of LSU fans remaining, the momentum had so clearly swung in favor of the Tigers, and yet Troy didn’t want to acknowledge any of that. At least they had some sense to run the fricking ball on the next drive to run some clock down. Sort of.

14:00 minute mark- Troy passes incomplete on 1st down, rushes for 9 yards on 2nd down and 0 yards on 3rd and 1. 4th & 1 from the LSU 40 and Troy decides to go for it. Gutsy attempt to swing momentum back in your favor for Coach Larry Blakeney. Try and “out LesMiles” Les Miles. Unfortunately, the universe simply can’t handle that type of quantum computation and the risk backfired. Troy went incomplete on a 4th down pass giving LSU decent field position and 12:54 left on the clock.

Score: 31-17 Troy

Jarrett Lee on fire again (still, strange to type). 4-4 for 36 yards passing, with Charles Scott and Quinn Johnson getting the rest on the ground. It’s slipping away Troy fans- can you feel it?

Score: 31-24 Troy

Next possession Troy gets a poor kick return and takes over at their own 18 with 10:33 left in the game- an eternity based on how the last ten minutes had elapsed. Time to run the ball and take some time off the clock, right? Wrong.

1st down- pass incomplete. 2nd down- pass complete for 4 yards. 3rd down- pass (of course) intercepted by LSU returned to the Troy 13 yard line. Total elapsed drive time- 62 seconds.

Fortunately, LSU returned to their first half self and their drive stalled out. Field goal attempt good.

Score: 31-27 Troy

Another poor kickoff return and Troy starts their drive at their own 16. After the previous drive, lesson learned right? Run to burn time off the clock or if you’re going to pass, make sure they’re complete. Yeahhhhh….not so much.

1st down- pass incomplete. 2nd down- pass incomplete. 3rd down- and stop me if you’ve already heard this- pass incomplete. Total elapsed time: 35 seconds. Now it’s time for second-guessing:

It’s 4th down, you’re at your own 16 yard line and you’re getting your ass beat in by the defending national champs after dominating them for almost three quarters. Do you a.) punt the ball giving LSU fantastic field position with plenty of time to score the game-winning touchdown, or do you b.) run the ball through the back of the end zone for a safety and take a kick off? Granted, the kick off only gains you about 20 yards and with so much time remaining, probably doesn’t matter.

Troy elected to punt giving the ball back to LSU at the 50 with 7:16 left to play. Seven plays later, Charles Scott goes in for a touchdown.

Score: 34-31 LSU

4:50 left to play- Troy with plenty of time left to salvage the game with a late field goal. One rush and three incomplete passes later, Troy turns the ball over on downs on their own 34. LSU scores again to put the game on ice and finish off 30 straight points for Les Miles’ crew.

When the dust settled, Troy had blown a 28-point lead and managed only four rushes during that 21 minutes or so. An egregious lack of game management by Coach Blakeney, who afterward said:

“If you do what we do, you have to do it all the time. You can’t do it for a half and then lock down with a wishbone in the second half.”

Wishbone certainly would have been extreme, but a few more rushes and LSU may have run out of time for their miraculous comeback. Instead, Troy goes home a loser and the SEC remains as dominant as ever, even if they aren’t really.