QB: A+ Mettenberger had a college QB rating of 250.4, bolstered by the enormous 14.7 yards per pass attempt. You're usually content with your QB in the 7 to 8 yard range. Even the pass to Dural would have been caught had it not been for holding by the defender. But I digress. Zach is making it look easy. RB: A+ 292 yards, 3 TDs, 8.1 yard average per carry. Terrence Magee is arguably LSU's 2nd best running back. But don't tell that to Alfred Blue. Conner Neighbors rambles 51 yards on a pass out in the flat as a 240 lb bulldozing fullback. That was fun. WR: A 10 catches, 179 yards, 3 TDs along with a couple more pass interference penalties. TE: B Good to see Dickson catch a huge pass, and nearly for a touchdown. The TEs continue to block well on the edges, springing our running backs. OL: A Had it not been for penalties, this group would have received an A+. I swear I saw Zach Mettenberger make himself a sandwich on one pass play. DL: B- There were some notable defensive plays by Freak and Ego that bolster the grade here, but overall still a very inconsistent unit. Rasco is underwhelming greatly. We look really small, and are playing that way on the D-line, specifically speaking about the defensive ends. LB: C The most inconsistent and underwhelming unit on the team heading into SEC play. We are putting everybody and their grandmother out there trying to secure starting spots and heavy playing time. Nobody stands out. Nobody. DB: C By far the worst showing by the secondary. Again, a lot of influx of players and trying to figure out who our best players are going to be. We need to settle on who is going to see the most playing time and quick. Special Teams: D+ Yikes. Dural doesn't need to field any more punts, that's obvious. I am assuming that was only because Beckham was held out due to the finger issue. Coverage teams were decent, except for the kickoff out of bounds. Coaching: B We must get these penalties under control. You simply can't get a false start on a hurry up play, that's almost unheard of. It cost us from getting 7 points, we ended up with a FG instead. Game plan was solid and Mettenberger's confidence level is at an all time high heading into SEC play. We are in a great spot offensively, but still trying to find our way defensively. I am just glad we are playing a mediocre offense in Auburn next week.
I agree with your assessment, the only reason I wouldn't have given the Lb's an DB's a lower grade is because they tightened up and held Kent State to 2 FG's on drives where it seemed the golden flash was moving the ball relatively easily by attacking with alot of underneath shit. I liked what I saw out of Lorenzo Phillips tonight.
So depressing that our offense is finally clicking and our defense is not dominant for the first time in years.
The defense was frustrating the hell out of me, too. But when looking at the stats, they weren't getting as much as it seemed. And we weren't letting them score TDs, minus the first one, even with the really short field thanks to the muffed punt. Also, it looked like the Chief was really moving a lot of guys in and out tonight. Collins, after a while, truly looked like he was playing for his life.
I noticed that too, Collins even had damn good coverage on a deep ball which was nice to see from him.
Even more depressing for me is the fact that this Zach Mettenberger led offense goes 14-0 last year and an easy national championship. We may very well be 1 year too late hiring Cam Cameron. Make that 2 years too late. Sigh.
Special teams didn't do great and all those stupid penalties pissed me off. Tackling could be better. Everything else was great. I can't find the superlatives for Mettenberger's improved play. Who was the last LSU QB who played this consistently excellent for 3 consecutive games?
