After last week’s somewhat underwhelming, at least offensively, performance against North Texas in a 41-14 win, the LSU Tigers put in a complete performance against the Washington Huskies of the PAC-12 in a 41-3 demolition job. I was disappointed in our pass protection in the opener but last night against a BCS opponent, we protected waaaaaaay better & Zach Mettenberger, apart from a personal foul late hit, was hardly bothered all night long by the Huskies’ pass rush.
LSU did spot the Huskies the ball right off the bat when Odell Beckham (ODB) fumbled the opening kickoff which led to the Huskies’ only three points. Despite the opening gift, Washington was overmatched & undermanned all night long against LSU’s defense. Everyone knows about the “SEC speed” meme by now, but what knuckleheads from outside of the South still don’t seem to grasp is that where the SEC has superior speed isn’t at the skill positions, where everyone has burners, but it’s along the lines, most notably the defensive lines where SEC teams have faster, big athletes that face offensive lines from other conferences that employ big guys that lack athleticism. An example of this can be seen on LaVar Edwards‘ sack of Husky QB, Keith Price (0:44 to 1:05 from the LSUsports.net’s official highlights video). Washington’s LT, Micah Hatchie (#72), is looking inside to the center for the snap of the ball because of the loudness of Tiger Stadium. However, by the time the ball is snapped & Hatchie gets his head up, Edwards is already by him on the way to deliver a big hit on Price.
Washington’s OL was missing one starter at RT forcing them to move their RG there which in turn, he ended up getting banged up during last night’s game too. So with 2 regulars out of the Husky lineup, LSU’s defensive line, which can literally go 10-deep, & according to a Holly Rowe tweet last night can actually go 13-deep (!), had a field day last night stuffing the run & pressuring Price constantly. Price had come into the game with a good bit of fanfare & was expected to test LSU’s young secondary, but our pass rush kept him off-balance (he was 17 of 36), uncomfortable (7 QB hurries) or on his back (4 sacks) all night.
LSU’s run game was its usual physical, punishing self but last night we added a passing threat too. Mettenberger was 12/18 for 195 yards & a TD, which aren’t glitzy stats by any means but his performance, especially compared to last week’s indifferent one, was stellar. All of his incompletions last night arguably could’ve been catches, so in theory Mettenberger, or the Mettenchrist, could’ve gone a perfect 18 for 18. Funny enough, LSU could’ve had a further completion on a halfback pass that was dropped, albeit on a tough throw, that could’ve seen LSU go a pefrect 19 for 19 in the passing game last night.
With the win LSU remains #3 in the AP poll & leapfrogs USC into #2 in the Coaches’ Poll.
Let’s get to the positives & negatives from last night’s win:
Positives
• Pass rush; it was relentless & never let Keith Price get comfortable
• Linebacker play; it was almost flawless all night long, particularly in pass coverage
• Brad Wing; he’s a freaking punting machine; one of the 1st quarter TDs we scored should be credited to Wing who helped “flip the field” leading to that score
• Zach Mettenberger; Mett could’ve arguably been perfect with all his pass attempts last night but his performance was still stellar; looked very comfortable all night long, being more composed than in the opening game & he showed on multiple occasions that he can actually read a defense & work through his progressions
• Pass protection; a much improved performance from the North Texas game
• Run game; once again it was physical & performed well
Negatives
• Drops; Being a former high school receiver myself, drops drive my crazy. Don’t know why LSU has to deal with seemingly prolonged bouts of the drops
• Penalties; LSU still was plagued by some lazy penalties which shows a lack of concentration that can prove critical in a big game provided this isn’t tightened up during the season
Position Grades
Quarterbacks (A)– See Mettenchrist comments above but again, he read well, he threw well & he looked comfortable all night.
Running Backs (A)- The stable of Alfred Blue, Kenny Hilliard, Michael Ford & Spencer Ware were very good. Ran physically, ball security was good, etc.
Wide Receivers (C)- Freaking drops. Drops. James Wright had a good game going for career #s (5 catches for 75 yards) but I can’t give anything other than C because of the drops. Although I would like to note for aspiring wide receivers- watch Jarvis Landry on run plays. He is fierce & physical in his blocking. There’s more to being a receiver than being fast, kidz.
Offensive Line (A-)- Run blocking was excellent again & the pass protection much improved.
Defensive Line (A)- D-line was pretty much flawless. Pass rush was relentless all night long & run defense stuffed UW all night & made them one-dimensional pretty early on.
Linebackers (A)- Also, pretty much flawless. Gave up some completions but were particularly impressive in pass coverage for me. Chavis likes his linebackers a bit on the smallish size compared to other LB corps, so if you’re going to go with smaller linebackers they better be able tackle & do well in pass coverage. They did that last night with aplomb.
Secondary (A)- LSU’s young secondary got their first test last night & with the help of the work from the D-line & linebackers, performed really well.
Special Teams (B+)- Kicks, punts & kick coverages were excellent all night long. If Brad Wing doesn’t win the Ray Guy this year, it’ll be a freaking joke; however, ODB, made some questionable decisions on returns on multiple occasions (opening kickoff, waited late to come up & filed two punts).
A’ight, Tiger fans, catch y’all on the flip side.
GEAUX TIGERS!
The Tasty Nuggetz 