Saturday’s 63-14 victory over McNeese was just about all Lane Kiffin and his staff could ask for. LSU won the game by a margin that they should have won by and stayed healthy. Also, some of the younger players that we’ve been hoping to see make their mark did just that. Multiple reserves stepped in and heavily impacted the game, showing that they just may deserve more opportunities going forward.
In a game like this, there isn’t a ton of negative. There are times where we have to dig a little deeper
to find a few players to list as Cubs. There were just a few bad plays, but nothing that can be deemed as concerning going forward.
Tigers
Harlem Berry
A week after moving up from RB4 to RB2 against Texas A&M, Berry had a career night against the Cowboys. He carried the ball 15 times for 125 yards a touchdown, which was his first career 100-yard game. The entire night was impressive, but his 46-yard carry on the opening drive of the second half put his skillset on full display. He was juking back and forth, showing his lateral quickness, then bursting down the field and being a tough tackle.
The true sophomore is the perfect compliment to Dilin Jones. If he can continue to improve his pass blocking, he could absolutely solidify himself as another running back that deserves touches throughout the game.
Corey Barber Jr.
After having just a single catch through the first 4 games of the season, the true freshman stepped in with the starters in the 2nd quarter and shined. When Trey’Dez Green went down against Ole Miss, the question became who would emerge to be reliable targets with Winnie Watkins and Eugene Harris III. It was Jackson Harris who broke out against Texas A&M last week, while it was Barber this time.
His production did not come with the reserves, either. He was running as one of the four wide receivers in four-wide sets. Both of his touchdowns came from Sam Leavitt. Barber finished with 7 receptions for 83 yards and the two scores. He was quick to flip his commitment from Ole Miss to LSU after the hire of Lane Kiffin and it’s becoming clear why the staff is so high on him.
Stacy Gage
After watching Harlem Berry take over for the first 3 quarters, it became the Stacy Gage show in the 4th. McNeese had scored two quick touchdowns following 3-and-outs from the offense and while the game was still comfortably in the hands of the Tigers with a 49-14 lead, the offense had become stagnant. That’s when Gage ripped off the first of two long touchdown runs. He finished with 6 carries for 110 yards and scores of 46 and 39 yards.
Deuce Geralds
As you know, typically we only put three players on each list. It would have been impossible not to include Geralds, though. After recording his 5th sack of the year in the first half, the star freshman returned in the 3rd quarter to take a direct snap on the goal line and score a 1-yard rushing touchdown. He became the first LSU player in program history to record a full sack and score a TD in the same game. He is rapidly approaching Harold Perkins Jr’s freshman sack record of 7.5 and there’s still 7 regular season games to play.
Cubs
Winnie Watkins Jr.
This isn’t a name that you’ll see listed with the Cubs very often, but Watkins had a rough night. He dropped two different guaranteed touchdowns, neither of which were difficult. After the second in the 2nd quarter is when he came out for the night, allowing Corey Barber Jr to step in, so there was, at least, something positive to come from it.
Zach Grace
There’s not a ton here, but Grace continues to struggle to get on the same page as his quarterback. We’ve seen it a few times going back to the Ole Miss game and it was a similar situation on Saturday. It resulted in a pass-catching grade of 38.9. Thankfully, his blocking is tremendous with a run-blocking grade of 80.9 and a pass-blocking grade of 72.9. It seems pretty clear that Lane Kiffin and Charlie Weis Jr. will have to continue to find creative ways to replace Trey’Dez Green.
Michael Turner Jr.
Turner came in to the Texas A&M game and made a nice interception in the 4th quarter, but he struggled against the Cowboys. It was his missed tackle that sprung Jamaal Levi for the first of his two long touchdowns. As the boundary cornerback, Turner simply can’t allow Levi to get outside of him, but he took a poor angle and Levi was off to the races.
Turner’s 26 snaps were tied for the team-lead on defense, but he finished with an overall grade of 57.0, including a 59.1 coverage grade and the 38.3 tackling grade.
