The LSU Tigers handled business on Saturday night completely dominating McNeese State. The offense was humming, and the defense shut things down. So, let’s get right into what stood out with the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good:
No injuries.
This was the first game since Week 1 where the Tigers finished without any major injuries taking place. The Tigers played every starter a significant amount of time in this game, even playing an injured Sam Leavitt for most of the first half.
The team looked
really good against an opponent that was never going to live up to the task of playing this team. The expectation was for the Tigers to come out, execute, and not take this team lightly. They did exactly that.
The team recorded the second-most yards in a single game in program history with 731 total yards of offense. They held McNeese to only 1-of-12 on third-down conversions. They had multiple 100-yard rushers for the second time this season.
The young players were also able to come into the game and make some key contributions. There were also players who will have bigger roles later in the season due to injuries who needed to have a good outing, and they did. You saw contributions from Roman Mothershed, Ty Singleton, Corey Barber, and even Stacy Gage stepped up in a big way after seeing his role reduced with Harlem Berry stepping up.
Harlem Berry and Corey Barber stole the show on offense.
It was good to see Berry step back into the No. 2 running back spot and make the most of the opportunity on Saturday night. For the second consecutive week, Berry finished with an average of more than eight yards per carry. To go along with that, he also finished with more than 100 yards rushing on 15 attempts.
Berry played very well, and his emergence as a complement to Jones is vital. Berry is a home-run-hitting back and is the best change-of-pace complement to the downhill running style of Jones.
Corey Barber was able to get his opportunity because of some drops that took place with the first unit. But when the true freshman entered the game, the moment was not too big for him. He made the most of the targets he received on Saturday night.
He caught every single target thrown his way. The former five-star receiver was targeted seven times and finished with seven receptions for 83 yards and two touchdowns. This is the type of game that will force the staff to give him more opportunities as the season gets into the heart of the schedule.
The final good of the night was the defense, specifically Princewill Umanmielen, Deuce Geralds, and Tamarcus Cooley.
Cooley has been integral since the loss of Dashawn Spears. His ability to elevate his play has had the added effect of helping Ty Benefield transition into the STAR position and Jhase Thomas become a starter at the other safety spot alongside him.
Cooley shut down the very first drive with an interception after it seemed like McNeese was gaining a little confidence following a couple of early first downs.
As for Princewill Umanmielen, what more can be said?
He is the sole leader in the country with eight sacks. He is one sack shy of his season total from last year through only five games, and with seven games to go, he is five sacks away from breaking the LSU sack record set by Arden Key at 12.
He plays hard on every down, no matter the opponent, and it shows. When he is on the field, you can see the rest of the defensive line feed off his swagger and confidence. This is a key player LSU simply has not had for several seasons, and his play continues to prove exactly why Lane Kiffin and this staff ensured he was wearing purple and gold this season.
Finally, Deuce Geralds.
Geralds is a superstar and is quickly becoming a household name. It’s gotten to the point where members of the national media are now comparing him to Aaron Donald. But back in August, I made a video stating that Geralds was not only comparable to Donald, but actually ahead of where Donald was as a true freshman.
At the pace Geralds is on, he will be regarded as one of the best true freshman defensive linemen to have played.
Through five games, he has five sacks. He is not an edge rusher. He is an 18-year-old interior defensive lineman fighting against 20-to-24-year-old grown men and dominating them in the middle of the line, where he is double-teamed a majority of the time.
At this point in the season, Geralds is no doubt a Freshman All-American, but he could very well become a straight-up All-American and Shaun Alexander Award winner with the way he is playing right now.
At this moment, Geralds is 2.5 sacks away from tying Harold Perkins’ record of 7.5 sacks as a true freshman. With 3.5 more sacks, he could break the freshman record set by redshirt freshman Jarvis Green in 1998.
Deuce Geralds is absolutely different, and it’s great that he will be playing for LSU for at least another two years.
The Bad:
There was not a lot of bad in this game, but there were two very bad plays that will stand out, and both came from the same player.
Winnie Watkins had an opportunity to run up his numbers, as well as Sam Leavitt’s, but instead, the young wideout dropped two touchdowns in the first half. After one of the drops, Sam Leavitt threw an interception on the very next play, which now gives him at least one interception in every game this season.
After the second dropped touchdown, Watkins was replaced by Corey Barber, who we spoke about earlier in the article, and Barber made the most of the opportunity.
Having these types of mistakes, especially in the red zone, is costly. Considering that one of those drops went from a potential touchdown to an immediate turnover on the next play, mistakes like these can threaten your opportunity to win a close game as the competition gets tougher throughout the season.
The Ugly:
The defense was pitching an epic shutout at one point in the game. McNeese had zero points and zero third-down conversions, but in the third quarter, the LSU defense gave up two explosive plays on back-to-back drives. Later in the game, they surrendered the only third-down conversion McNeese would have for the entire night.
No, the backup unit will not be in the game during pivotal moments, but it’s important for those young players to learn to remain focused at all times throughout the entire game. They need to finish with the same level of excellence they began with, and practice can’t replicate that type of experience.
Lagniappe:
Personally, I enjoyed seeing Lane Kiffin call a timeout right after halftime to make sure this team knew they were not giving up or letting McNeese off the hook just because the score was already high.
Treat every game the same, and like Coach Kiffin said, make them upset that they put LSU on the schedule.
What were some things that stood out to you? Who were some players you felt deserved to be mentioned?
