By Hunt Palmer
The folks at Pro Football Focus rewatched Saturday’s LSU loss so that you didn’t have to. LSU was beaten by double-digits by a team missing eight starters. Neither side of the ball got the job done, and that was reflected in the grades.
The offense certainly had more film to evaluate. LSU snapped the ball 93 times on Saturday night, their most in four years. The defense was only on the field for just 18 minutes.
Let’s just dive into the numbers.
HIGHEST GRADES:
- Will Campbell, LT – 74.8
- Emery Jones, RT – 73.5
- Zy Alexander, CB – 71.5
- Sage Ryan, S – 67.1
- Bradyn Swinson, DE – 67.0
When you give up more sacks in four quarters than you had in nine games, the tackles don’t figure to finish atop the grade chart. That happened on Saturday. Campbell’s pass blocking grade was 83.3. He allowed one sack in 58 pass protection snaps. That was the only pressure he allowed. Jones allowed two hurries and no sacks and graded 84.4 in pass protection. LSU’s youth on the interior of the offensive line was a far bigger issue than the veteran tackles.
Zy Alexander has really done a nice job this year. He’s clearly LSU’s best cover man. He was targeted seven times on Saturday. Only two were caught for 16 yards. He also graded 77.0 in tackling.
Sage Ryan broke up the only pass that went his way. His tackling grade looks good on paper, 77.1. However, he only made one stop. When one of your top four grades made one play on the ball and one tackle, it’s probably not an effort to write home about.
Bradyn Swinson sat the first quarter for disciplinary issues. He played just 35 snaps and pressured DJ Lagway twice. One of those pressures resulted in a big play when Lagway evaded Swinson coming off the edge and dropped a dime to Elijhah Badger down to the one.
LOWEST GRADES
- Whit Weeks, LB – 35.9
- Paris Shand, DT – 45.3
- Chris Hilton, WR – 46.2
- Ashton Stamps, CB – 47.0
- Paul Mubenga, LG – 47.3
Whit Weeks was in coverage for 22 of his 45 snaps, and his coverage grade was poor, 33.3. He only made three tackles and missed one, so that’s a 25 percent miss rate.
Shand graded 50.0 against the run and just 27.0 in tackling.
Chris Hilton just hasn’t gotten into the rhythm of the offense since returning to the lineup. LSU is trying to get him the ball down the field, but it’s not working for one reason or another. He’s mistimed a couple of jumps and had a potential late touchdown go through his hands on a sliding effort in the back of the endzone Saturday.
Stamps only allowed three catches, but one went for a score. That dings you significantly, and his 51.4 grade in coverage reflected that. He received a 26.2 in tackling and a 38.5 against the run.
It’s no surprise that Mubenga made this list. He really struggled in the second half. His pass blocking grade was a 36.6. He yielded seven pressures in 58 pass blocking reps. One went for a sack, one was a hit on Nussmeier, and the other five were hurries. In the run game, Mubenga graded 46.4.
