Grades for the Wisconsin Game

Discussion in 'The Tiger's Den' started by islstl, Aug 31, 2014.

  1. islstl

    islstl Playoff committee is a group of great football men Staff Member

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    QB C+
    This was very hard to grade. While Jennings did struggle for much of the night, the majority of the blame could easily be placed on the offensive line. All in all, he has to make quicker decisions and pull the trigger. You simply can't have broken plays on almost every dropback. It doesn't work that way.

    RB B-
    Never got into a rhythm in the first 3 quarters, mainly due to poor offensive line play. Fournette looks tentative and lacks confidence at this point (understandably). Hilliard appears to be back to his dominating ways from 2011. Magee will get going once this O-line performs up to their capabilities.

    WR B
    The young receivers appear to be ready to step in and contribute. Diarse makes the game changing play. Dural looks to be the leader of this unit as the elder statesman. Trey Quinn is going to be a great receiver at LSU. When Dupre steps on the field in short order, this unit will be quite electric.

    TE D
    Ineffective blocking for most of the night and a huge drop of a pass by Smith marked an unremarkable night for this unit.

    OL D
    Abysmal, appalling, embarrassing. Just a few words to suggest how they played last night. Against a Wisconsin defense that will probably end up as a middling defense when all is said and done this year. Thank God their star NT went out with injury. It changed the entire complexion of this game in the 4th quarter.

    DL D
    Wisconsin just ran for 13 yards....again. Couple the extremely poor run defense with the fact we were constantly having to blitz a DB to get any pressure on the QB, and this unit has it's work cut out for it this year. It looks like a repeat of last year....something has to change over these next 3 games heading into the heart of SEC play. Why the Wisconsin head coach decided to stop feeding his best player the ball in the 2nd half is beyond me. Thank goodness he did.

    LB C
    Looks a lot like last year, with some sparkling plays sprinkled into a sea of mediocrity. MLB is still a huge void of nothingness. If we can't improve at that position, teams will continue to run right at us up the middle, and with great success.

    DB A+
    LSU is indeed DBU. It showed last night, as the Tigers are deeper than deep at all positions in the defensive backfield. Granted, Wisconsin will not wow you with their passing game, but don't let that take away from what was a tremendous performance by this unit. The interception by Mills was one of the crucial plays in this game as the receiver appeared to be on his way to a huge pass reception. Wisconsin averaged just over 2 yards per pass attempt.

    K/ST A-
    Excellent special teams coverage all night long. Colby Delahoussaye is simply automatic. Huge conversion on a fake punt helped turn the game around.

    Coaching C-
    A very mixed bag here. On one hand, this team was poorly prepped for this game and was dominated for 3 quarters. On the other hand, these players showed intangibles such as fortitude and resiliency that allowed this team to come back and win what appeared to be an embarrassing loss.
     
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2014
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  2. red55

    red55 curmudgeon Staff Member

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    I might grade the wide receivers as B+ or A-. They saved our bacon last night.

    Just like last season the DT's left too many inside runs for the linebackers to handle when they should have plugged the hole. They deserve that D. Kwon Alexander had a good night. I might bump the backers to a C+

    Rumors on the Wisconsin boards is that Gordon teed off on his coaches at halftime about the quarterback and got himself in the doghouse.
     
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  3. islstl

    islstl Playoff committee is a group of great football men Staff Member

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    All very fair comments. Hard to know if the troubles Jennings had last night were partly due to a lack of wide receivers getting separation, as plays took too long to develop. My guess is Jennings not able to see the open receiver or confidence to fit the ball into a slightly tighter area.
     
  4. cajdav1

    cajdav1 Soldiers are real hero's

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    Special teams should receive a split grade, I think we need to have the punter just kick to the middle of the field to limit his shanks.
     
  5. cajdav1

    cajdav1 Soldiers are real hero's

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    @islstl & @red55 just want to let you guys know how much I love coming to this forum the first Sunday of the season and seeing the Grades along with The Good, the Bad & the Ugly.
     
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  6. islstl

    islstl Playoff committee is a group of great football men Staff Member

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    I am looking at how he played in the all important 4th quarter. He definitely stepped up, and this can only serve him well from a confidence standpoint moving forward. I still do agree with Red stating he has to play much better in SEC play. But then again, the O-line has to improve dramatically if that is even going to happen.

    I remember 3 dropped passes, although the screen pass to Fournette was a bit behind him but still should have been caught. Fournette also dropped a pitchout and struggled mightily in his debut.
     
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  7. red55

    red55 curmudgeon Staff Member

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    Uhhh, that team went 13-1. Did you forget something?

    And yes, passing for 42% will not cut it in the SEC.
     
  8. COTiger

    COTiger 2010 Bowl Pick 'Em Champ

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    I would give Les and the special teams coach low grades, probably C- or D.

    I would give the Chief & Cam some credit for making adjustments at halftime that enabled us to make the second half comeback. Probably B-
     
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  9. islstl

    islstl Playoff committee is a group of great football men Staff Member

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    I love Chief.
     
  10. red55

    red55 curmudgeon Staff Member

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    And you think that is good quarterbacking? I rest my case.

    LSU did not go undefeated in 2011. It was 13-1. Despite a couple of mediocre quarterbacks.
     

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