QB: B+ The interception was the only poor decision all night, and even with that a great pass is a completion on that play. The play calling in the 2nd quarter was abysmal and prevented Mettenberger from having a tremendous night. Still completed over 10 yards per pass attempt, which is excellent. And that's with a 50 yarder dropped by Beckham and another one called back due to poor officiating. RB: B+ Even with 8 and 9 men in the box constantly all game long, LSU rushed for 229 yards and a 5.3 yard average with 4 touchdowns. The average was lowered when we simply stopped trying to advance the ball midway through the 4th quarter. Magee fumbled and never saw the field after that. WR: B+ Another huge game for the duo of Beckham and Landry. The only issue is not having a 3rd wide receiver step up in this offense. Kadron Boone is lacking in this area, not sure what happened with him after making a bit of a splash last season. Beckham dropped a huge pass early in the game. Those have to be caught. TE/FB: B+ Big play by Dickson was very nice to see. Rushing touchdown by Copeland, a 270 lb fullback simply isn't fair. Copeland's blocking was dominant all night long. OL: B Four false starts is unacceptable. That needs to be cleaned up. The pass protection broke down a couple of times but was satisfactory for the majority of the dropbacks. The run blocking was very good considering the defensive alignment with 8 and 9 in the box all game long. DL: C+ Still cannot get to the quarterback. That needs to change next weekend, or Murray will have our lunch. Being active is great, not obtaining the results is not so great. LB: B Kwon Alexander is emerging as our best OLB in this unit. He needs to keep that level of play up as we face much better offenses. Welter is solid but very unathletic and can be exposed. Barrow is going to have to come up big in games like Georgia next week. DB: C Auburn lost one of their primary receivers early on in the game due to injury. Given that fact, Auburn's passing game should have been shut down almost completely. They passed for 219 yards on the night. A dropped pass for a pick 6 culminated a lackluster night for this unit. We did end up with 2 interceptions, however. Special Teams: C+ Still averaging less than 40 yards per punt, which is unheard of nowadays at the collegiate level. It is what it is, hopefully it doesn't cost us down the line. Missed an opportunity to catch Auburn napping and almost pulled off a fake field goal. Coaching: C When you have 8 and 9 in the box the entire 2nd quarter (it was 9 in the box much more often than 8, by the way), and you don't make the defense pay, then that's unacceptable. I thought I was back in 2012 all over again. It was disgusting. That mindset and mentality has to change. And no the field conditions and weather didn't dictate we run the ball with 9 in the box. The passing offense ALWAYS has the upper hand in slick rainy conditions. The receiver knows where he is going, the defender doesn't. Advantage offense. Manage the game this way vs Georgia, and you have yourself a loss. I don't know what to make of trying to go for a fake field when you need 10 yards for the first down. Especially in a game where a FG makes it 31-7 and takes Auburn completely out of it.
F on coaching for the fake field goal. Thats a terrible play on a video game. I don't understand it. That's my only thought.
I'd say a D. The mentality of sitting on a lead lost us every game last year. It really did. Between the penalties, tackling and coaching, a win is nice, but damned if we didn't try to throw it away.
Yep. I'd have to agree with a D for coaching. The fake FG was just plain stupid; going up 31-7 at that point would have been huge. I think trying to be cute there gave Auburn some life as they promptly marched down the field after that and scored. The playcalling the latter part of the 2nd quarter was unacceptable, wet conditions or not. We were having a lot of success and could have really stepped on their throat at that point. I can understand that type of conservative playcalling in the 4th quarter, although that also led to letting them hang around too long...
Its what u get with Les. I'm glad there are more people here that can see a win and still see that there are issues to be addressed.
I figure the parts you guys are complaining about result in an F, but then we still won by 14 over an SEC opponent. Thus, the C grade. I actually had it as a C- then upgraded it to a C. It won't be good enough to beat Georgia, let's just put it that way.
I mean, it is about the principle with me. Vs AU, we can get away with it. Not with Bama or with ATM. It just brings flashbacks of 2012 vs Bama and Clemson.
I don't see giving up over 200 yards on the ground and getting anything more than a D for the d line and linebackers.
Looked like Landry could've come back for it too. lol. We have, probably the best pair of receivers in all of CFB and they open up a lot for us. We also have a Dickson at TE and Copeland out of the backfield who have great hands. We'll get them the ball later. No need to show our hand yet. Any grade less than an A is laughable here. Our Oline GASHED Auburn's Dline. As I said in another thread, I liked the call. Was even thinking it was a good time. THAT'S when you call it, in a situation they aren't expecting it. We were in control of the game and getting a first down/touchdown would've also put the game away. A 30 yard FG on a wet field with a wet ball is no gimme.
