I'm a benefit-of-the-doubt giving motherfucker right now. We should roll a DII team and snooze through the process. As pointed out, however, this DII school is loaded with former SEC players with legitimate skill.
Barge and Gonzalez made some absolute circus catches despite good coverage. There were some busts, but that is to be expected with a backfield full of true frosh. The story on the DBs in the preseason has been proven correct: talented starters, but woefully thin on experience behind them. The youngsters showed obvious improvement as they got comfortable in the game and they earned some valuable live action experience. Expect this group to be improved in Baton Rouge with the return of Countess and (presumably) Matthews.
The LBs have been frustratingly out of sync: Cass is playing like a man possessed and Frost is running wild and over pursuing the plays. I noticed that Darrell Williams (he's our defensive #4, right?) was getting big chunks of playing time in the 2nd half.
The interior D-Line has been getting good push. Monty Adams and Devonte Lambert are frequent visitors in the opposition's backfield. Kennion is a non-factor at End/Buck and Cowart is showing flashes of dominance at the same positions but he can't play consistently for some reason. Is it possible that while we recognize his high level of play, we are totally underestimating Lawson's value to our defensive line and, by extension, our defense as a whole? Are we beholden to one player's presence?
I submit that the fundamentals of this defensive unit are far superior to those under Johnson in that we're breaking down and tackling like actual football players and not launching at the ball like a SCUD fired from the top of a sand dune somewhere. I trust the coaching on that side of the ball and feel like we're going to see this group become a team strength sooner rather than later.
This is where I'm supposed to consider the offense by wailing and gnashing and what not. I won't. Jeremy's well-documented fuck-ups are disturbing and, hopefully, fixable. We've seen him perform at a high level, against elite competition and excel. He can do this, but it's up to the coaches to figure out how to get him focused again. It would also be optimal if his wide receivers would not drop the rare ball that is thrown on target. When your QB is struggling but he finally puts one on the money, you have to make the play. All of that said, White needs some warm-up time shortly after kickoff. Just in case.
The receivers are mostly performing well and there were some instances of excellent blocking for the run game yesterday. Of the entire group Louis looks most like the guy who came to play. The aforementioned drops are presumably curable since we've seen most of this group display good-to-elite pass catching ability.
I'm not sure why there is any debate as to who has shown the most potential as the starting running back. Give Peyton Barber the ball and watch him grind yards. The guy reminds me of Tre Mason in his low pads and propensity to fall forward for an extra 2-3 yards per carry. Mix Roc in for sweeps and wheel routes (loved seeing that play again...shades of Ronnie Brown), but let Barber carry the load. Kerryon Johnson was impressive for a young guy and looks like he could be Corey Grant 2.0.
Finally, the O-line deserves some mention. While not the road-grading force that was expected, yesterday appeared to be a live-action experiment. There was lots of rotation at each position (with Braden Smith playing at least 2 positions) and I have to think that wasn't a panicked decision, that there was forethought to that much substitution. The lack of consistency and chemistry led to unsteady run blocking and pass blocking that often found someone rolling around Jeremy's feet, preventing a decent plant. Hopefully, this was a calculated risk against an assumed foregone win. If the O-line is, in fact, as unsettled as it appeared to be, then they are in serious trouble in Baton Rouge.
I think the opponent was underestimated, the offense in flux and the defense undermanned. It was a perfect storm which was weathered by the good guys. LSU might tear us a new asshole, but they're going to have to show up and try.
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