Positives and negatives from yesterday

It’s never as bad or as great as it seems. Last week the sky was falling, this week LSU fans are complaining that they’ll have to beat UGA and Bama twice.

Here is the good and bad I saw from yesterday.

The bad:

1. There were no long TD “drives”. LSU scored it’s first TD on a short field after Delpit’s INT, The second TD was a 71 yard pass. LSU was not able to drive the length of the field with consistently good offense.

2. Joe Burrow is inconsistent. He missed several throws and on the early completion to Jefferson that was reviewed, had he made a halfway decent throw it would have been a TD. A bad throw forced a circus catch that had to be reviewed.

3. The defense dissappeared in the 2nd and 3rd quarter. Auburn ran and threw at will.

4. Way too many penalties. Sloppy and undisciplined at times.

5. Play-calling was inconsistent. In the last 3 games, the LSU’s play-calling has looked very good early, but not great afterwards. This is a weird trend.

6. Tackling on Whitlow was spotty. I had never heard of this kid. He looked great. I hope he is great. Bama and UGA have some very good backs and poor tackling will spell disaster.

The good:

1. The Oline took a huge step forward. That was a great Dline and the LSU line more than held their own, especially in pass protection. Getting Charles back and Deculus to RT has solidified the line for now. Hopefully they can stay healthy and build on this. Getting Magee back will certainly help.

2. Joe Burrow is clutch. This is one of the greatest attributes a QB can have and it can’t be taught. When plays absolutely had to be made down the stretch, he made them. He also has a short memory and didn’t dwell on mistakes from earlier in the game. He’s only got 3 starts and will get better and better, but the intangibles are through the roof.

3. Clock management was perfect. Also, all the little coaching things were on point. LSU ran hurry up after a questionable completion in an attempt to avoid replay, and O called timeout to allow a replay (which inexplicably never came) after the missed call on the fumble. Offensive play-calling was spotty at times, but all of the other nuances were very tight in a tough environment.

4. Rashard Lawrence was unblockable at times.

5. As a team, LSU seemed unaffected by the environment. Props to the coaching staff. I’ve seen many an LSU team go to Auburn and fall apart.

6. Cole Tracy may be the best kicker in the nation. He’s obviously very accurate, but the last question I had about him was could he make a clutch kick with a big game in the line. Not only can he do it, but he can do it in one of the toughest venues in the country. The guy is a weapon.

7. Grant Delpit may be the best safety we’ve had this century, which is crazy, because there have been so many good ones.

8. Devin White is so damned good.

9. Watching Auburn’s DB’s grab and hold every other play makes you really appreciate the LSU secondary. They were great yesterday. Talented and well-coached.


The big questions left for this team to answer, are can they avoid being upset by lesser teams, and does the offense have enough firepower to hang with Bama and UGA.