LSU Football: What Have the Tigers Learned From Win Over Vanderbilt?

It is always said that a college team grows the most from game 1 to game 2, but did LSU really grow between these games or did they leave game 2 with a better understanding of themselves as a team. 

Coming into the Vanderbilt game, LSU had been stumbling and struggling along with the same ole anemic offense as they had for much of last year.  For over 3 quarters they even struggled more than in previous games as Jordan Jefferson was either off target on his passes or his receivers couldn't catch them. 

The quarterback play was so poor that Jefferson was only 3-12 and 37 yards at half time, and that alone can count for why the offense has been so weak. Actually he ended up as 8-20 for 96 yards and another interception, which is still extremely pitiful for an SEC team that considers it's self as an SEC West contender.

However, as this game went along, LSU did begin to discover several areas of strength and I think several questions were answered, and areas of weakness where change is drastically needed were further exposed.   Let's look at some to the areas where the Tigers learned.    

No 1 Running Back:  Steven Ridley had a full week to think about his two costly fumbles in the UNC game and he said in a  Baton Rouge Advocate post game interview that it has been bothered and hurt him all week knowing that he let his team down with those fumbles in the UNC game.   

Well, he more than acquitted himself  with a night of 17 carries for 159 yards and a 65 yard TD run and no fumbles and Ridley has basically settled who the number 1  running back is for LSU in 2010. 

New Running Backs: The LSU coaching staff has also discovered that they have several other young freshmen that are ready for their time in the limelight. Alfred Blue, a 4 star back from Hahnvillle, La , and Spencer Ware, a 5 star back from Cincinnati, Ohio showed they are ready to get much more playing time to give Ridley a breather.  Of course Michael Ford, the Spring Game sensation, and fifth year senior Richard Murphy are also ready to get into the mix as well.

Running back Receiver: Spencer Ware also made a nice 24 yard over the shoulder catch to demonstrate his other skills.  This guy has stardom written all over him and If Les Miles will give this guy his chances I think we will see that stardom blossom.      

Quarterback:  With the performance of Jordan Jefferson against Vanderbilt, the need for change could not be more clear for the LSU coaching staff.  It just seems that each week Jefferson continues to go backwards, and despite his public claims of confidence,  his confidence and grasp of the offense continues to regress and struggle.   With numbers like 3 for 12 for 37 yards and a half time score of 10-3,  it doesn't take rocket science to see that is why the offense struggles and fails to achieve. 

Jarrett Lee did not get into the game until under 5 munutes to go, but he completed a very crisp pass for 16 yards to Rueben Randle for his only attempt.  Lee just seems to be so more polished and crisp with his ball handling and with throwing the ball.   

Receivers:   LSU has 3 of the very best receivers in the SEC in Terrance Tolliver, Rueben Randle, and Russell Shepard, plus several other top ranked freshmen.   With this great receiving corp  LSU just needs to find a quarterback that can consistently make the throws and put the ball in these guys hands, and their offensive woes will be over.   

Play-makers:  Need we say more than Russell Shepard as the big play maker for LSU.  So far in two game he has 2 TD runs of 50 yards or more and he only carried 7 times in the Vanderbilt game and only caught 2 passes.  I think it is abundantly clear that this guy needs to touch the ball much more. 

Tight end Play: All year the LSU Tight end has shown to be a very good option for LSU to throw to as the defense is thinking other things.  Mitch Joseph caught only 1 pass for 10 yards this week, but he did great things against UNC and he just needs the ball much more. 

Defense: Wow, that defense is everything I thought it was and more.  Surprisingly, in the LSU Spring Game the TV guys like Craig James were saying how small LSU was up front and how they would not be able to stop the run.  My, how their opinion suddenly means nothing as LSU is dominating the line of scrimmage in every game so far. Vanderbilt had only 51 yards rushing - 50 on one play-  and just 22 yards passing.  That is what you call a dominating defense.  

Defensive Stars: I have always been very impressed with Barkevious (KeKe) Mingo and the Tiger Staff needs to be getting him into the game much more than they have.   He is just so fast off the corner that he just flat beats the lineman almost every time. Good example is where he came in the game and got an 11 yard sack immediately.  Hopefully, Les Miles and staff with see what this guy is doing and start utilizing his talents.

Also, Eric Reid, Craig Loston, and Tyran Mathieu all showed their presence when in the game.  Reid and Loston seem like devastating hitters in the secondary and Mathieu has the skills to spell Peterson if need be.  

Offensive Line: There has not been much to say positive about the LSU offensive line so far, but I do believe the insertion of Josh Wiliford at right tackle is proving to be a very nice move. All of the running success that Ridley had was on Josh's side and sometimes right behind him and I felt he was maybe the only lineman really doing his job properly.    No offense intended,  but T-Bob needs to stay as the back up center at this point and let big Josh control the right side.  

If LSU will take these learning steps and put them into effect,  I can see a dominating team emerging in the SEC West that can challenge Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide. But staying with status-quo thinking time on the job will do it, will result in miserable failure.