The LSU Tigers returned to familiar form Saturday night defeating the Vanderbilt Commodores 41-7 in Nashville. After giving up over 600 yards passing last week, the Tigers’ defense only allowed 113 yards and a total of 266 yards on the night.
LSU played well on both sides of the ball, but there were miscues that the Tigers will need to fix before they take on the likes of Florida and Alabama. QB Miles Brennan remains consistent, finishing the night with 337 yards passing for four touchdowns.
GOOD:
The Tigers may have found a replacement for Clyde Edwards-Helaire in John Emery Jr.. The sophomore from Destrehan had a career night, rushing for 103 yards and a touchdown. While the LSU offense struggled with consistency in the first half, Emery was a lightning rod that kept them moving the chains. The Tigers rushed for 161 total yards, but it was the shifty Emery who averaged 8.6 yards a carry that made a name for himself. Emery will likely earn more touches going forward as he out-touched Ty Davis-Price 12 to 8.
Another offensive player, who gets a game ball, is wide receiver Terrace Marshall. All #6 does for LSU is find the end zone. Marshall had two catches for 67 yards and those two catches resulted in touchdowns. The junior wide receiver had 13 touchdowns in his sophomore season and should get close to double digit numbers again this year.
Finally, on 3rd down the LSU defense kept Vanderbilt out of it for the entire first half. The Commodores had plenty of drives that stalled around midfield, and the Tigers were able to hold them out of scoring range. Ali Gaye, Jabril Cox and Jacoby Stevens made big defensive stops, only allowing Vanderbilt seven points on the scoreboard.
BAD:
The defense did hold Vanderbilt to single digits, but Vanderbilt was able to expose LSU’s vulnerability to the run especially early in the game. The Tigers allowed 153 yards rushing and most of it was from running back Ja’Veon Marlow. While it isn’t a huge cause for concern, LSU will need to shore up that run stoppage before they take on more dynamic offenses in the SEC. The Tigers’ young secondary looked more confident this week with Derek Stingley Jr. back to take away part of the field. The Tigers saw true freshman Eli Ricks intercept the ball in consecutive games now. I think you’ll see constant improvements as the Tigers gel through the season.
UGLY:
Finally, the biggest takeaway in the 1st half was inconsistency of the offense against an inferior opponent. LSU had 21 points on the scoreboard at halftime, but could have easily finished 2 to 3 more drives. Miles Brennan does have some new faces at wide receiver, which resulted in multiple dropped passes.
Last season Burrow and the Tigers pressed the gas pedal from opening kickoff to the final second. I still think LSU is trying to figure out some things at RB and opposite WR to Marshall. They’ll have another week to clean things up, when they play Missouri next Saturday. After that, LSU’s next big test will be against top-5 ranked Florida.
