Stephen Lew
By Hunt Palmer
Saturday night was embarrassing for the LSU football program.
Texas A&M outclassed LSU for the final 30 minutes and drained Tiger Stadium in the process. As expected, the Pro Football Focus grades are not kind to LSU. The Tigers have myriad issues on both sides of the ball, and that’s reflected in the grades.
No sense in rambling on any longer. Here they are.
HIGHEST GRADES
- Trey’Dez Green, TE – 78.9
- Jack Pyburn, DE – 74.1
- Harlem Berry, RB – 73.5
- Jimari Butler, DE – 72.1
- Braelin Moore, C – 68.0
For the second straight week, Trey’Dez Green is simply unstoppable in the red zone. He caught yet another fade for a score Saturday night. He also split the seam for a big gainer long after the issue was decided. Michael Van Buren found him over the middle. That’s been a missing piece to the LSU offense.
Pyburn generated a couple of hurries off the edge and didn’t miss any tackles. He graded 76.6 against the run which is his strength.
I’ll talk about this Harlem Berry night for a long time. The freshman shined in the first half like an LSU running back hasn’t since the South Carolina game last year. He showed patience, burst and tackle-breaking ability. And then he touched the ball once in the second half. LSU ran 12 plays in the third quarter, and one of them was a handoff to Berry. Yes, the score got lopsided, but trailing by 17 with four minutes left in the third quarter does mean the running game is off the table. Berry’s run grade was 75.1, and his pass blocking was a 78.0.
Butler joined Pyburn with a solid grade on the edge. He hit Marcel Reed once and graded 73.2 against the run.
Braelin Moore was part of LSU’s running success in the first half. He was excellent in pass protection at 85.0. LSU problems there are on the edges, and that shows up in our next segment.
LOWEST GRADES
- DJ Chester, LT – 27.3
- Davhon Keys, LB – 48.5
- Zavion Thomas, WR – 51.0
- Carius Curne, LT – 51.7
- PJ Woodland, CB – 52.5
Chester and Curne played left tackle, and both struggled mightily. Chester’s pass blocking grade on 10 reps was 0.0. I’ve never seen that. He allowed five pressures, three hurries and a sack in 10 snaps. Curne was beaten by Cashius Howell for an early sack and graded 44.9 in pass protection. It’s hard to be a pass-first offense when the quarterback’s blind side is so poorly protected.
Keys has filled in for Whit Weeks the last two weeks. After a solid game at Vanderbilt, he graded low on Saturday against Texas A&M. He was marked a 47.9 in coverage and a 55.7 against the run. The coverage ding was on the 24-yard touchdown pass to Morrow.
Zavion Thomas was penalized for a false start and bottled up on his only carry. That was about it for him.
PJ Woodland graded 52.9 in coverage allowing three catches on five targets including a 47-yarder. He also missed a tackle.
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