Keeping up with the local pro: Sumar diaries from Puerto Rico
October 2, 2012Week 5: Prep roundup
October 2, 2012
LSU
Quarterbacks – LSU fans can gripe and quip about Zach Mettenberger all they want – the dude has six touchdowns and two interceptions this season with a 65 percent completion percentage. If he weren’t being sacked all game, it’d be even better. Fans can say the word “bad” all they want. I remember bad. It wore No. 9 for the Tigers just last season and couldn’t get a first-half first down against Georgia.
Grade: B-
Halfbacks – Kenny Hilliard and Michael Ford had a case of the fumbles Saturday. Alfred Blue is pretty sorely missed.
Grade: D
Receivers – Odell Beckham finally had a big game after a disappointing month to start 2012. Add his effort with a solid night from Russell Shepard and you have the offensive bright spot for the night.
Grade: A-
Offensive line – The LSU offensive line is not anywhere near where it needs to be at this point in the season. That’s bad news heading toward a huge road game with Florida.
Grade: C-
Defensive line – The LSU defensive line has been dominant all season. Against Towson, they looked flat and out of sync, allowing 187 rushing yards. I will chalk this up to a fluke – but if this continues, it’ll be a long SEC season.
Grade: C+
Linebackers – Kevin Minter and Lamin Barrow are becoming two stars within this defensive unit. Both players had solid nights against Towson.
Grade: B+
Defensive backs – The LSU defensive backs were stout in an overall sluggish effort, allowing just 103 passing yards on the night. This really is an underrated group. They’ve been solid every week.
Grade: A-
Special teams – LSU shouldn’t need wrinkles and flukes to beat Towson, but special teams miscues are what allowed the Tigers to have as effective a night as they had against the FCS foe. That’s not good news for a team that will eventually have to take the field against Alabama and South Carolina – two of the top teams in America.
Grade: A
Coaching staff – Whether sandbagging for Florida or just straight-up taking their opponent lightly, LSU was awful against Towson. To make it worse, starting fullback J.C. Copeland was lost in the fourth quarter – a time of the game where the Tigers’ starters should have been resting. His blood is on Les Miles and the rest of the coaching staff’s hands.
Grade: F
Overall – LSU had better get its act straight in a hurry. If the Tigers do not clean up their play, they will lose their next two games – a road tilt with Florida and then a home game with South Carolina. The Tigers have a chance to be a dominant team. Heck, they smashed a solid Washington team in the second game of the season. But right now, the team just isn’t sharp in any area. That’s a big problem in the best conference in all of college football.
Grade: C-
Saints
Quarterbacks – For the first time this season, Drew Brees looked like his old self. He was cerebral and absolutely unstoppable against a Green Bay defense that has been fairly stout against the pass. The loss hurts, but he surely looked sharp.
Grade: A
Halfbacks – We do this every week, so why stop now? Mark Ingram – five carries for 11 yards. That brings his grand total for the season to 90 rushing yards. Definitely a guy worth trading up for, eh? The problem is Pierre Thomas wasn’t much better, rushing for just 14 yards against Green Bay. This team simply can’t run the football worth a lick. It’s awful.
Grade: D
Receivers –The box score finally looked normal for the Saints’ receivers. Marques Colston had a big day and Jimmy Graham and Lance Moore combined for 14 catches. Joseph Morgan also proved that he can score a touchdown when unguarded. That’d be a real plus if the Saints ever had to face off against Baylor or West Virginia. Unfortunately they don’t.
Grade: A+
Offensive line – Drew Brees was kept clean in protection, but the running game is abysmal. That makes the offense much more predictable and subsequently easier to stop.
Grade: C+
Defensive line – Cedric Benson looked awful in the first three weeks, but he had a bit of a Renaissance against the Saints, scampering for more than 80 yards. Who doesn’t rush for lots of yards against the Saints these days, though?
Grade: C
Linebackers – Curtis Lofton had another big day. Never in a million years would I expect the Saints’ linebackers to be the bright spot of their defense.
Grade: B+
Defensive backs – The cornerbacks struggle in both man-to-man and zone. The safeties struggle in coverage and aren’t the most savvy tacklers. Is anyone really surprised Aaron Rodgers completed 76 percent of his passes for 319 yards and four touchdowns? I’m certainly not.
Grade: F
Special teams – Maybe I’m too hard on kickers, but as soon as I saw the holding penalty on the first field goal try, I immediately knew the second kick would be no good. Kickers aren’t the most mentally strong people in the world. That’s all I’ll say.
Grade: D
Coaching staff – The Saints had every excuse to walk into Green Bay and get blown out on Sunday, but they didn’t. That perseverance should be applauded. But the team still lacks the discipline necessary to make a strong push. That needs to be better. The team no longer has any margin of error. Even an 11-5 record may not make the playoffs in a tight NFC loaded with top-level teams.
Grade: B
Overall – That was the team’s best performance of the season – that’s the good news. But the bad news is that the Saints’ best wasn’t good enough to win the game – that’s a problem. The team’s defense is atrocious and requires the offense score 30 or more points to even have a chance to win. That’s a tall order – one that will only get more difficult as temperatures begin to cool across the country.
Grade: C-
LSU wide receiver Russell Shepard sprints down the field for a touchdown Saturday against Towson. Shepard’s 78-yard scamper was one of the only bright spots of LSU’s day in an uninspiring performance against Towson.
