Prep roundup for Week 10 football action
November 6, 2012
Keeping up with the local pro: Sumar’s final thoughts
November 6, 2012
LSU
Quarterback – On the biggest stage he’s ever played on and against the best defense he’s ever faced, Zach Mettenberger shined. The haters can hate until they are blue in the face. This young man showed the heart and poise of a champion against Alabama.
Grade: A+
Halfbacks – If LSU continues to give Jeremy Hill the lion’s share of the carries for the rest of his career, he has a chance to win the Heisman Trophy someday. His combination of power and speed is frightening.
Grade: B+
Receivers – The Tigers’ receivers were a mixed bag in Saturday’s game. Early, drops plagued the group and kept points off the scoreboard for LSU. Late in the game, Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry were pure magic. Both players are sophomores. It will be fun to see them grow.
Grade: B
Offensive line – The LSU offensive line was and still is battered and bruised with injury. But their young, patchwork group did themselves proud against a massive Alabama defensive front.
Grade: A
Defensive line – It’s really hard for me to be critical of LSU players, but Sam Montgomery and Barkevious Mingo did an awful lot of nothing in Saturday’s game. Their disappearance, combined with the middle of the unit being gashed on rushing plays makes this unit the low-point of the night.
Grade: C-
Linebackers – It’s easy to point blame at LSU’s linebackers for Alabama’s success on screen passes, but they were always called at the perfect time on blitzes. All-in-all, this group did its usual sound job.
Grade: B
Defensive backs – For 58 minutes, the group was dominant. But in the final minute of both the first and second halves, they were far from flawless. I will give blame where blame is due later in this report card. I don’t blame the defensive backs for prevent defense.
Grade: B+
Special teams – Brad Wing had a wonderful night and LSU forced a turnover in special teams. It’s a shame Drew Alleman continues to believe the object of a field goal is to kick the ball outside of the uprights.
Grade: C+
Coaching staff – I am not a Les Miles hater. I’ve never been one of the guys who line up to bash the guy at every corner. But a fake field goal on 4th and 12? Really? Or how about a 54-yard field goal with a kicker who struggles to make any field goal at all? Really? Or how about the decision to play prevent defense at the end of both halves, resulting in not one, but two touchdown drives for Alabama. Really Les? Really? Zach Mettenberger played the game of his life on Saturday. The rest of his teammates sold their souls to victory. It’s a shame the guys making the decisions (and the big bucks) didn’t hold their end of the bargain.
Grade: F
Overall – LSU emptied its hearts on the field at Tiger Stadium Saturday night, playing easily its best game of the season against Alabama. The loss stings. The fact that some questionable coaching decisions contributed to the loss makes it sting even more. But there’s still a lot to be proud of in Baton Rouge. The team wearing purple and gold is a very strong squad – a team with a lot of youth. The future remains bright.
Grade: B
Nicholls
Quarterback – The numbers for the Colonels’ quarterbacks look nice – 24-of-37 for 265 yards. But four combined interceptions between Landry Klann and Beaux Hebert is not getting the job done.
Grade: C-
Halfbacks – The Colonels had success rushing the football when the situation allowed. They just didn’t really stick with it and do it enough times. That’s a problem.
Grade: B
Receivers – A total of 10 Colonels caught passes against McNeese – that’s a solid mark. This facet of Nicholls’ team appears to be pretty full of depth.
Grade: B+
Offensive line – Protection was decent for the Colonels’ quarterbacks – a rarity. The running game was also existent – another rarity. Not a bad day overall for the offensive line.
Grade: B
Defensive line – Four McNeese players carried the football eight or more times against the Colonels. It didn’t matter who had the football – they all had success. Allowing 276 yards rushing with three touchdowns makes it awfully hard to win a football game.
Grade: D
Linebackers – Too many missed tackles really hurt Nicholls’ defense against McNeese. The linebackers have to own some of the blame for that.
Grade: C
Defensive backs – Allowing 274 yards over just 17 completions just isn’t very good. The Colonels’ secondary allows too many big plays. There’s no other way to slice it.
Grade: C-
Special teams – The Colonels didn’t have anything abnormal happen in the special teams game against McNeese. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Grade: B
Coaching staff – The Colonels’ just don’t seem to have a lot of fire, nor pizzazz right now. Sure, some of that has to do with the fact that the team is 1-7 and is out of the running for the playoffs and every other major goal for Southland Conference teams. But blame still has to be laid onto the coaching staff for not having the team more ready to play. A 32-point loss isn’t solely the players’ fault.
Grade: C
Overall – We’ll keep this short and to the point. Nicholls isn’t very good on offense, defense or special teams. With that said, why should anyone be surprised with the team’s weekly drumming at the hands of a Southland Conference opponent? The future was supposed to be bright – it still may be. But we sure have been hearing about that supposed change within the program for a while now with little sign of hope.
Grade: D
LSU junior quarterback Zach Mettenberger fires a pass during Saturday’s game against Alabama. The first-year signal caller had the best game of his career against the Crimson Tide, tossing for nearly 300 yards and a touchdown. His efforts were unable to secure victory, as the Tigers lost a close contest.
