LSU Football: Five Things We Learned From Week 1 vs. UNC
A lot was learned on Saturday night as the LSU Tigers narrowly escaped an upset by a depleted UNC Tar Heel team. After establishing dominance in the first half, the Tigers took their foot off of the gas in the second half, a move that almost ended in disaster.
It is painfully clear that the Tigers have a lot of work to do before they get in to the heart of their SEC schedule. The Tigers still don’t seem to have the ability to put four quarters of good football together and finish off an opponent when they have them on the ropes.
5: Les Mile Lacks Killer Instinct
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As expected, LSU’s offense, lead by inconsistent quarterback Jordan Jefferson, came out of the gates a little shaky. But after a few plays to shake off the rust, the Tigers got things going, mostly at the hands of Russell Shepard.
After scoring 30 points in the first half, Les Miles, as usual, took his foot off of the gas instead of finishing off the Tar Heels. Not only did he rein in the offense, but the defense, who dominated the line of scrimmage in the first half, was dumbed down to a basic, vanilla defense that gave UNC’s T.J. Yates time in the pocket to pick the Tigers apart.
Yates threw for 412 yards, most of which was in the second half, and nearly led the Tar Heels to a brilliant come-from-behind victory.
Miles should have come out in the second half and lit up the scoreboard to kill any hopes and confidence that the Heels had left.
4: Special Teams Are Solid
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With the departure of Chad Jones and Trendon Holliday, LSU was left with a gaping hole on special teams.
Looking for answers, the Tigers turned to their most athletic player, cornerback Patrick Peterson to fill the returner role.
Judging by Saturday’s game, Peterson was the right answer. Peterson finished the day with 257 return yards, second most in SEC history. He also added a punt return for a touchdown.
3: Rueben Randle Is the Real Deal
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As predicted in a previous article, Rueben Randle was indeed able to expose the UNC defense with his speed and athleticism.
Randle had four receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown of 51 yards, proving to be LSU’s top receiver and a big problem for opposing defenses. Unfortunately, Randle only had two touches in the second half for a total of 14 yards.
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2: Jordan Jefferson Is Not the Answer
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As blessed as Jordan Jefferson is athletically, it’s becoming more and more clear that he is not developing into the quarterback that Tiger fans hoped that he would.
Jefferson does not go through progressions, but instead stares down receivers from the snap and then tries to force passes into the receivers with arm strength.
Jefferson ignored open receivers on multiple occasions on Saturday night, while trying to force the ball into receivers that took hits immediately as the ball arrived.
The strength of LSU’s receiving corp. is its ability to make things happen after the catch but unless the quarterback gets them the ball in space, this talent is wasted.
1: Russell Shepard Must Get More Touches
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It doesn’t take a football master-mind to know that if a guy averages 13 yards per carry, he should get more than five carries in a game.
After a first half with three touches for 58 yards, Shepard only got two carries in the second half for nine yards.
Shepard is a phenomenal athlete with tremendous football talent, yet he is still being underutilized. Every time he touches the ball, he makes a play. Why isn’t he getting more touches?
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