I for one, think that LSU did a phenomenal job coming out and taking care of business. I can't imagine having to play a game with the concern of a potentially devastating hurricane in the back of your mind, especially in light of Katrina. Kudos to the tigers for having the mental toughness to do what needed to be done.
This game reminded me of the Va. Tech game last year. The Apps will most likely roll the rest of the season. As far as the kicking game goes, Colt David will solidify that when he gets back.
My 2 cents on this: A. It seems like we may be seeing another year where holding just won't get called against the other team. :lol: B. Edwards was fast and very intelligent getting out of the pocket on blitz packages. I do not think we will see the combination of fast and experienced with QBs through most of the season. (Tebow may be the only other QB we face that has those credentials)
I agree with this. Edwards was pressured quickly on nearly every throw. He's a very talented QB. Amazing he didn't throw any interceptions. And he had a lot of balls dropped on him because the DBs were laying the wood down big time. Edwards deserves the hype - he's very good.
And that could possibly be an understatement. The mans amazing.. bright future for sure. He impressed me to no end.. He takes his shots when he has to.. but he's very good at avoiding hard hits.
Our running game is going to end up getting a lot of hype by the end of the year. We ran at will...albeit against a lesser defense than that of the SEC. Still, the execution and the blocking were first rate, especially for game one, and execution will be key down the stretch. I'm no longer worried about the defensive backs. They tackled well and made plays when they had to. The only thing I would have liked more would have been to see a couple more picks, or at least a few near-picks. That could have been the quality of Edwards' play, though. LB's were scary good. That may be a better crew than last year. Linemen - as advertised. Kick Coverage - MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT. I know he only punted once, but that other new kid (not Dalfrey) hit his 41 yards with good hang. Dalfrey averaged 25.5? Not going to cut it... Finally, QB. I believe I've praised our Tigers enough to get away with slamming the QBs. Granted, they collectively only made one mistake, but to complete JUST over 50% against App State with those kinds of receivers and THAT kind of protection? The SEC is going to chew them up if they don't pull it together. I will say that Hatch was impressive running the ball and making his checks and that Lee is definitely a good pocket passer with the potential to be a great pocket passer...although we all noticed he has a tendency to telegraph. A couple more games and some coaching and they may be ready. Let's hope we get to play Troy this weekend for that extra bit of experience / practice before Auburn. Overall: B- (good for a first game).
From my vantage point (somewhere close to the clouds) it appeared that Armanti was playing very tentatively. It definitely wasn't the strongest game I've seen him play. Some of that was definitely the LSU D - very solid. Some may have been the FCS games he missed last year after being injured at Michigan and not wanting to take chances. He does have an amazing sense of the game and is a real pleasure to watch on the field (especially closer up!). I'm glad he's so small ... otherwise, some big school would have wanted him :hihi:
