QB: A Mettenberger threw for 251 yards, with about another 120 yards in dropped passes. His 50 % completion rate should be totally ignored. He looks much improved and playing like he knows it. He knows what he wants to do with the ball now, much more than last season. He is even mastering the Joe Flacco back shoulder pass. Surprising? RB: B+ The fumble at the 7 yard line brought down what would have been an A grade. Otherwise a stellar night. Two running backs going for nearly 100 yards each and 2 scores. WR: B Just too many drops. Great plays as well and 248 total yards is significant, so the grade is mixed but upgraded. TE: C We need to get them involved, obviously, in the passing game. OL: B+ I thought the pass protection was much improved over last year. Mettenberger was kept clean a good part of the night, allowing him to get off several intermediate to deep throws. The run blocking needs some work, although their were many shining moments as well. Seemed to be feast or famine. DL: C Very inconsistent pass rush. Not getting a ton of pressure from this group. We need to get better in this area, as it has been our bread and butter the past couple of seasons. Run defense was adequate for the most part. Huge late hit penalty kept a drive alive and kept TCU in the game for way longer than necessary. LB: B I thought they played well, even with the injury forcing us to play a lot of nickel. DB: A- Save for a disappointing 3rd and 17 conversion by TCU, this unit performed extremely well. Loston lays the lumber the likes we have not seen since Laron Landry. He will strike fear in any receiver trying to go over the middle this season. Special Teams: C When you give up a touchdown, it's hard to give the unit anything better than a mediocre grade. Also a big penalty that backed us up deep as well as a poor punt. It was later redeemed to some degree with the late kick return that helped put the game away midway in the 4th. This unit has excelled so much the past 2 seasons that we are spoiled. So I see us correcting the problem and becoming a dominant unit once again. Mr. Delahoussaye came up big in his opening game as a Tiger placekicker. Coaching: B A good overall game plan was affected by some sloppy play. Too many penalties as well. But overall the team was prepared to take on a pretty formidable opponent in it's opening game of the season.
I agree with all except DL gets a C, OL gets a C+ because of poor run blocking, defensive coaching gets a B+ while offensive coaching gets a D. I'll add WR with a C+ simply because Landry greatly increased the grade. Beckham was inconsistant and no one else even showed up.
I just can't give the offensive line unit a C+ when they helped produce 450 yards against a solid D like TCU. That's saying they were nearly mediocre. If that was the case, Mett would have been on his ass a lot, we would have been punting a lot. I would not take issue of a C grade for the D-line. I was in between B- and C+.
TE: Our starter didn't play right? LB: Injury for our starter, should have played better. Special Teams is a D except for Beckham's return. Beyond that, agreed.
I can also see a D grade for the special teams. The kick return by Beckham was the backbreaker for TCU however. So might have given a bit more credit based on when it took place.
LSU had a big size advantage over the TCU DL. They should have been better at run blocking than pass blocking. They simply didn't look like a cohesive unit and didn't create many creases for the RB's to run through. Mett did a much better job of getting rid of the ball quickly and moving around in the pocket. The difference in his pocket presence from last year to this year is simply amazing. Mett had as much to do with the pass blocking success as the OL did. above average pass blocking with below average run blocking averages out to a C IMO.
Red Zone Offense: C- Mett's rushing ability/awareness: B- (much improved) ST: Caused a TCU fumble early
I just changed my grade on the D-line to a C. I forgot about the horrific late hit penalty by Ego that kept the TCU drive alive and why they stuck around in the game for so long.
I dunno, we had our 2 running backs with 32 carries for 184 yards and 2 TDs. I agree there were way too many plays for little or no gain, but a lot of big plays with the line opening up huge holes. The run around end by Magee was textbook line blocking, a thing of beauty. If we were playing Kent State, then yes I give them a C grade. But this is a solid TCU defense. They may be small, but they leverage that by playing smart and with great technique.
