LSU-South Carolina Review: Grades For Offense and Special Teams
By Scotty Nola
After a 45-24 shellacking of an SEC opponent, the team grade is pretty much going to be a solid A+ every time. Still, it helps to look over the individual units for performance so we can see where this 2015 LSU Football squad is at, as they get ready to head into the “homestretch”.
The Wide Receivers and Tight Ends B+
Oct 10, 2015; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers wide receiver Travin Dural (83) runs after a catch for a touchdown against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the third quarter of a game at Tiger Stadium. LSU defeated South Carolina 45-24. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
The Wide Receivers got a lot of negative attention this week for dropped passes, including being called out publicly by their head coach and threatened with a lineup shuffle.
I didn’t agree with the way this was handled, I felt the team needed to commit to throwing the ball more to get the receivers into the game rather than blaming them for being shaky with sporadic usage.
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Whether I was right and the extra passing attempts helped or Coach Miles was right and the receivers responded to the challenge the fact is they did have by far their best game of the season.
Travin Dural broke the century mark and made one of his signature big plays for a touchdown. Malachi Dupre caught 6 passes proving once again that he has the skill set to be a #1 receiver.
Trey Quinn also appeared to have hauled in a very good pass but it was called back because of a penalty. Tyron Johnson caught two short passes, DJ Chark and John Diarse both rolled goose eggs in this one.
The Tight Ends were a little more of a mixed bag. Dillon Gordon, my favorite TE and one of my favorite Tigers was out in spite of practicing in pads this week. He is expected to play against Florida on Saturday.
DeSean Smith made an appearance catching one pass, and Colin Jeter didn’t have any receptions but continues to develop as a run blocker.
All in all it was a very good effort from the Tigers pass catchers after an off game and rough week of practice.
Running Backs A+
Oct 10, 2015; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers running back Derrius Guice (5) breaks a tackle by South Carolina Gamecocks safety Isaiah Johnson (21) during the fourth quarter of a game at Tiger Stadium. LSU defeated South Carolina 45-24. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Any time the team racks up 396 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground it’s an A+ effort. Surprisingly Leonard Fournette, in spite of generating a very Fournette-like 158 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries was the second most productive Tiger back on the day.
Derrius Guice had a career day with 161 yards and a score on only 16 carries. Included in his effort were several acrobatic highlight reel type plays.
I don’t want to go too far and make Derrius Guice out to be the next Fournette quite yet. There’s something to be said for coming in late after Fournette has softened up the defense with runs like this.
Still, Guice has world class talent and gives us reason to hope there won’t be much fall off when Leonard Fournete does take his talents to the NFL draft.
Probably the only real negative in the game was a fumble by freshman Nick Brossette. Brossette was visibly disturbed on the sideline after, and the first person to his side was Leonard Fournette.
Fournette clearly takes his duties as a leader on this team seriously. Tiger fans have heard much about his character on and off the field, this was a great opportunity to see that character in action.
In another strong display of character Fournette, a Katrina survivor like so much of his local fanbase asked for and received permission to auction his game jersey off and donate the proceeds to flooding victims in South Carolina.
Offensive Line C
Oct 10, 2015; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers running back Leonard Fournette (7) runs for an 87-yard touchdown during the third quarter of a game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
It’s difficult to imagine giving a less than stellar grade to a line that paved the way to such massive gains on the ground and held up against the South Carolina pass rush to allow Brandon Harris his career day.
Still, in spite of the great offensive production I was more tempted to lower the grade than raise it.
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LSU has an immensely talented offensive line. They have a great mix of veteran leadership and young up and comers, and all of them are superior physical specimens capable of dominating at the point of attack,
They are also maddeningly inconsistent, and at times threaten to become a liability to the team instead of a strength. Once again their best and worst was on display against South Carolina.
On the positive side they wore down South Carolina’s defensive front seven and opened up lanes for the backs to exploit. They also did very well against the South Carolina pass rush for most of the day.
On the negative side it seemed to take them a long time to really get in gear against the gamecocks. Bad penalties were once again an issue.
Center Ethan Pocic had a holding penalty and a personal foul that was offset by another personal foul on the South Carolina player he was engaged in. Guard MAea Teuhama had a bad holding penalty early in the second half and was pulled in favor of Josh Boutte.
Shuffling linemen after mental errors and inconsistent play have dogged the line all year.
The fact that the coaches did not settle on a starting five and work them together as a group during the offseason probably has a lot to do with this. At this point we are deep enough in the season that the linemen and their lack of 100% focus on every single snap is the main culprit.
At their best they are the best line in the country. With the toughest part of the schedule here the linemen need to take personal responsibility for being at their best all of the time.
Quarterback B
Oct 10, 2015; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers quarterback Brandon Harris (6) throws during pregame of a game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Brandon Harris had the game Tigers fans have been hoping and praying to see from him all season. He was in command in the pocket, throwing the ball early and often and involving his entire group of receivers and backs in the passing game.
This performance was so good after several really bad outings it felt like an A+ effort all around. It also feels like a sign of things to come, which is why I am giving it a solid B with room to keep improving.
Special Teams F
Oct 10, 2015; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers quarterback Caleb Lewis (14) kicks a field goal past South Carolina Gamecocks cornerback Chris Lammons (3) during the second quarter of a game at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
An F Grade is a harsh one but at this point it is clear that the Tigers Special Teams are a liability and their play must improve.
The issues on Special Teams were as varied as the multiple duties those units have to excel at on game day.
The punting wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t good. Any time your punter fails to break a 40 yard average it’s an off day. Jamie Keehn’s 38 yard average on three punts was not enough to give the Tigers any advantage in field position.
Punt returns were nonexistent, with Tre White returning only one punt for -1 yards. Kick returns were not a factor either.
Kick coverage was terrible. The opening kickoff went out of bounds, giving South Carolina excellent field position which they capitalized on with a short drive into field goal range.
The Tigers also gave up a touchdown in kickoff coverage, meaning special teams errors created or contributed to 10 of South Carolina’s 24 points.
Some Tigers fans will point out that the officials missed a blatant illegal block that sprang the kick return for touchdown. This is true, but by the time that happened the return team was so out of position there was no one else there to make the play.
The most disturbing aspect of the kick coverage unit happened before the snap. The Gamecocks returners had so litle respect for the Tigers kickoffs they were lining up on their own 5 yard line instead of in their own end zone. Ever kick is returnable and the return man gets 10 free yards to start with in other words.
The special teams weren’t all bad. Trent Domingue made his only field goal attempt from 29 yards and was perfect on extra points. There is a lot to be said for that. But lack of production in the return game combined with poor kickoff coverages has been a theme this season, one that could come back to haunt the Tigers.
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