Bleacher Report - Articles by Russ Arsaga

LSU Tigers Squeak by Washington Huskies: Tolliver Has a Career Night

Russ Arsaga — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 12:51:55 -0400

Most LSU fans were expecting that this contest would be lopsided with the Tigers winning by no less than 21 points. It certainly did not turn out that way! The biggest surprise of the game was just how effortlessly the Huskies seemed to move the ball!

LSU on several occasions had little or no containment at both defensive end positions allowing Huskie quarterback Jake Locker and runningback Chris Polk to run free most of the night. The two picked up 140 yards on the ground against the Tigers.

That's rather scary given the fact that the Tigers defense will certainly be facing stiffer competition with the Gators, Tide, and Rebels offensive attacks later in the season.

If one was grading the Tigers rushing defense, it would realistically be no higher than a C- performance.

Even more alarming was was the pass defense of the Tigers, or lack of it. Make no mistake about it, Locker is a solid QB and has excellent skills, but LSU gave up entirely too much via the air! The Huskies threw for over 300 total yards averaging nearly 13 yards per reception.

They threw all night long and continued to do so right up to the final play, a nine yard touchdown pass from Locker to Middleton as time expired. The only "bright spots" in the Tigers pass defense were Jacob Cutera's 29-yard interception for a TD in the first quarter and the consistently solid play of sophomore CB Patrick Peterson.

In spite of the efforts of Cutera and Peterson, LSU's overall pass defense was atrocious. John Chavis will have his hands full in correcting the obvious poor coverage, seams in the secondary, and blown assignments witnessed last night.

The passing defense gets a D+ score.

What saved the game for the Tigers was the offensive effort of QB Jordan Jefferson and WR Terrance Tolliver. Jefferson completed 11 of 19 passes for a total of 172 yards and 3 touchdowns. Jefferson also rushed 40 yards on 8 carries.

Tolliver had a career night catching four passes for 117 yards, two of which went for touchdowns of 45 and 39 yards in the second and third quarters of the game respectively. Charles Scott and Keiland Williams collectively rushed 19 times for just over 100 yards.

The Tiger passing offense scores an A- and the rushing offense gets a B+ rating.

Now, let's turn our attention the coaching staff. I will admit that a win is a win, but did Crowton and Chavis have their units ready to play as well as they are capable of or moreover did either make the necessary adjustments during the course of the game to help their squads better handle the situation on the field?

I will leave that up to you to decide, but I will offer the following:

Both ESPN game commentators repeatedly said the Tigers did not fully exploit the Huskie perimeter with their passing game. When LSU did so, the results were remarkable resulting in "catch and run" touchdowns! So why did Crowton only throw to LaFell and Tolliver on average once a quarter?

That's right, each one caught only four passes the entire game which averages to one pass per quarter. Why was Crowton trying to run the ball into the center of the Huskie line all night long when he had such a huge advantage on the perimeter?

And even though LSU's defensive performance was somewhat better in the second half, did Chavis make significant halftime adjustments to improve the coverage on the mid to deep routes that Washington executed in the first half. The answer is sadly, no, he did not!

Both Crowton and Chavis had gameplans that were good enough to get by. Nothing more, nothing less. Will this work when LSU gets into the heart of their SEC schedule? Likely, not.

So the answer is clear. Over the next several weeks, both coordinators will need to make significant improvements on their game preparation and in-game adjustments, at least as much as their units will need to improve upon their onfield performance.

The 10 LSU football players who have best embodied the spirit of the Fighting Tigers, Pt. 1: pre-1975 players

Russ Arsaga — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:45:07 -0400

This is the first of two articles which will start with five players selected from pre-1975 Tiger football teams. The second group of five players has played on Tiger football teams since 1975 and will be released next week. Characteristically, these players epitomize the true spirit of the LSU Fighting Tigers and are, in this writer’s opinion, some of truly greatest players that the game has seen! The players are listed in chronological order based on when they played at LSU. I have sifted through some archived photos to try to obtain an action photo of them in their LSU uniform at the time they were playing.

Begin Slideshow

2009 LSU Tiger Football: What To Expect In The Season Ahead

Russ Arsaga — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:58:31 -0400

LSU Tiger Football -2009

What to expect in the season ahead

Spring practice started Thursday amidst the excitement of what certainly looks to be one of the strongest recruiting classes in the history of Tiger football. ESPN had LSU’s 2009 class rated first in the nation. Rivals.com and Scout.com rated the Tigers second and third respectively.

LSU signed 10 ESPNU Top 150 prospects, Alabama came in second signing seven.

Odds are that at least five signees from this class will see considerable playing time this season. This is due to two reasons: the exceptional talent & skills these incoming freshmen possess and the large number of vacancies which the team must fill with the departure of 20 graduating seniors, and an early-departing junior or two seeking to enter the upcoming NFL Draft in April.

So who do we want to keep an eye on this spring?

Well, here’s a list of my five recruits that should “turn a couple of heads” this spring and see substantial playing time come fall:

Russell Shepard—Dual QB

Don’t be surprised to see Les Miles looking at Shepard in a couple of different roles. Sure, he’ll spend most of his spring working at the QB position, but with Jordan Jefferson sewing up the starting QB slot, Shepard could be used in a couple of positions.

He could be used as a flex back due to his exceptional running ability and 4.4 second speed in the 40. He rushed for 66 TDs and 4,800 yards averaging an incredible 8.0 yards/carry. (Oddly enough, he threw for only 32 TDs during his high school career.)

Shepard could be used on offense the same way Percy Harvin was for Florida last season.

Moreover, Shepard could be used as a CB or DB on the defensive side of the ball. He is a superb talent and possesses the type of speed to play either of these skill positions on defense.

Reuben Randle—WR

LSU landed the best receiver in the nation with the signing of Randle.

No doubt about it, Randle is as close to an immediate impact player that the Tigers have in this year’s recruiting class. He will start as a true freshman and could contribute as much as, or perhaps even more than, Bama’s freshman WR Julio Jones did last season.

Here’s an interesting fact: In his senior year in high school, Randle played QB and passed for 2,461 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also had 683 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns on the ground. He’s truly an amazing talent!

Craig Loston – DB/Safety

Rivals.com not only ranked Loston as the No. 1 safety in the nation, but also rated him in the top 25 recruits overall. He should get a lot of playing time this season, perhaps even contending for the starting safety position in what should be a fine LSU defensive backfield.

By the way, I believe that Loston and CB Patrick Petersen (So.) are first team All-American caliber DB's and are destined to play on Sundays. I believe that they have the potential to be far better than LaRon Landry and Chevis Jackson were a couple of seasons ago.

Yes, that’s right, I said far better and I’m sticking with it!

Chris Davenport – DT

LSU signed yet another Rivals.com top 25 recruit, in DT Davenport. I have seen every film clip available on Davenport and I cannot believe that anyone can be that dominating.

Davenport is 6’4” and 318 pounds. He had a knee injury his senior year in high school, and played in only four games. However, in those four games, Davenport had 45 tackles and nine sacks. He looked like a man playing against boys!

Mark my word, Davenport’s trademark will be his ability to apply pressure when he pass rushes. He is very difficult to block, and has the physical size to take up a lot of space on the line. He should see a lot of playing time this season as a true freshman because John Chavis gravitates towards DTs who “bring the heat.”

Chavis will not have Davenport riding the bench, even if Al Woods and Drake Nevis are the projected frontrunners going into the spring. (Besides, both Woods and Nevis didn’t really live up to the coaching staff’s expectations during the second half of last season.)

Chris Faulk – OL

At 6’ 6” and 310 pounds, Faulk has been clocked under five seconds in the 40-yard dash. He has squatted over 500 pounds, and has a 30 inch vertical leap. These elements are exactly what you hope to see in an outstanding offensive lineman, and Faulk certainly fits the bill.

Faulk should see alot of playing time this season!

2009 Depth Chart (by Position)

Well, so much for the recruits. Going into spring practice, here is my depth chart for 2009 with a bit of a twist; I have made some projections on a couple of players.

The picture will change when Coach Miles and his staff conduct the planned practice sessions which total 15 over the next couple of months. The practice dates are: March 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28, and 31; April 1, 2, 14, 16, and 18. LSU Pro Day is also on March 16.

Offense

On offense, LSU’s priority is in establishing a new line, identifying a new fullback, determining a starting quarterback, and solidifying its WR corps.

Given his performance in the latter half of last season, Jefferson is the frontrunner for the QB slot. I am predicting that Tyler Edwards (RSFr.), whose currently listed as a TE on all depth charts, will try out at FB.

Do not be surprised if Joseph Barksdale (Jr.) also tries out at the FB slot. The WR picture looks great with Randle and dark-horse Tim Molton vying for a slot. Coach Miles has not been able to hide his optimism about Tim’s tremendous talent.

I have identified my sleeper picks with a “Z” and will update these players as practices take place.

I have identified with an “I” players who have an injury concern.

Starting Backup Contending

QB – J. Jefferson (So.) J. Lee (So.) R. Shepard (Fr.)

C. Garret (Fr) – Z

RB – C. Scott (Sr) K. Williams (Sr) R. Murphy (Jr)

M. Ford (Fr) - Z

FB– S. Ridley (So) D. Allen (Fr) - Z T. Edwards (RSFr)

WR– B. LaFell (Sr) T. Tolliver (Jr) R. Randle (Fr)

T. Molton (RSFr) - Z

TE – R. Dickson (Sr) M. Joseph (So) A. Russian (So) – Z

C - T. Hebert (RS Fr) - I P. Lonergan (RSFr)

RG– L. Hitt (Sr) G. Shaw (RSFr) E. Mc Coy (RSFr)

LG – J. Dworaczyk (So) W. Blackwell (So) C. Spencer (RSFr)

LT – C. Black (Sr) T. Parsons (RSFr)

RT– J. Barksdale (So) A. Hurst (RSFr)

Defense

On defense, the majority of LSU's holes are on the line. Rahim Alem (DE) is a certain starter. However, he’s much better rushing the passer than he is against the run.

Charles Alexander (LT) has been granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA. If he can stay healthy, Alexander’s a sure starter and a force to be reckoned with.

Middle linebacker Jacob Cutrera played in all 13 games last season as a junior, two of which he started, but he was often bothered by a chronic hamstring injury. Coach Miles will be taking a look at several other talented players on defense who have not yet proven themselves.

Starting Backup Contending

RE– R. Alem (Sr) C. Clements (RSFr) P. Levingston (So)

LE– C. Aghayere (RSFr) L. Edwards (RSFr) S. Corley (So)

LT – C. Alexander (Sr) – I A. Woods (Sr)

RT – D. Nevis (Jr) C. Faulk (Fr) - Z C. Hagans (RSFr)

OLB – P. Riley (Sr) S. Clemens (So)

MLB– J. Cutrera (Sr) K. Prater (RSFr)

RCB – J. Eugene (Jr) C. Hawkins (Sr)

LCB – P. Petersen (So) P. Jones (So)

SS– C. Jones (Jr) K. Hatcher (So) S. Francois (RSFr) - I

FS – H. Coleman (Sr) C. Loston (Fr) – Z C. Hawkins (Sr)

Special Teams

PR/KR – T. Holliday (Sr) C. Jones (Jr) K. Williams (Sr)

K – J. Jasper (Jr) D. Alleman (RSFr)

P – D. Helton (Jr) J. Jasper (Jr)

Writer: Russ Arsaga russarsaga@aol.com 781-820-1992 (cell)