LSU Football: Grades for the Tigers' First Game

LSU's national title hopes are still alive after the opening week of the college football season. And after an impressive 40-27 victory over No. 3-ranked Oregon, those title hopes look pretty good going forward.

Despite being without suspended quarterback Jordan Jefferson, LSU showed up in a big way, and senior Jarrett Lee filled in and did everything LSU coach Les Miles could have possibly hoped for.

The Tigers looked impressive throughout the big victory, but what players shined the brightest?

Let's break down the game and hand out some report card grades.

School's in session...

Passing Game

As we mentioned, the Tigers were without quarterback Jordan Jefferson, but it didn't matter in this one.

Senior Jarrett Lee filled in admirably, and while he didn't put up numbers that set the world on fire, he did everything that was asked of him, and that proved to be more than enough.

Lee completed 10-of-22 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown. But, the most impressive number in Lee's stat line was 0: the number of interceptions he threw.

LSU won with its steady running game and a dominant defensive performance. Lee managed the game and didn't force anything when it wasn't there.

Again, he wasn't the star of the game, but he certainly did his job.

Grade: B+

Running Game

There seemed to be some worry about how the Tigers were going to replace Stevan Ridley, their 1,000-yard rusher from a season ago who is now a member of the New England Patriots.

From the looks of it, LSU should be just fine with that running game.

Sophomore running backs Spencer Ware and Michael Ford combined for 195 yards and three touchdowns on the ground in the victory. This duo looked nearly unstoppable at times Saturday night.

Many expected LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner to be the top backfield in college football this fall. 

Perhaps the duo of Ware and Ford have something to say about that. 

Grade: A

Receivers

LSU was forced to play this game without arguably its top receiver, junior Russell Shepard. But in the end, Shepard's absence truly wasn't felt.

Quarterback Jarrett Lee spread the ball out across the field, connecting on 10 passes to six different players. Leading the group was senior tight end Deangelo Peterson, who hauled in four passes for 62 yards.

The top passing play of the game came on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Lee to Rueben Randle, who was the top receiver on the field Saturday night, despite only recording one catch.

With Shepard back, this group has the chance to be something special. 

Grade: B

Offensive Line

At the end of the game, Oregon's offense out-gained LSU's offense by more than 60 yards. But the telling story of this game is that LSU had 80 more yards on the ground than Oregon, and LSU only committed five penalties, compared to Oregon's 12.

That right there is a credit to LSU's dominant offensive-line play.

The Tigers' O-line paved the way all night for LSU's running backs and seemed to open holes at the most opportune times.

Jarrett Lee was provided time to throw and the backs were given holes to run through. What more could you ask for here?

Grade: A

Defense

LSU has always been a program known for its defense, and in the most anticipated Week 1 game in the programs history, the defense was great yet again.

The Tigers' defensive unit forced four turnovers, three of which were fumble recoveries, one of which was returned for a three-yard touchdown early on in the second quarter. That score was the first touchdown of the game, and set the early tone for LSU.

As impressive as the turnover ratio was, perhaps the most impressive feat by the defense was the fact that it held Oregon to under 100 yards rushing in the game.

LaMichael James was expected by many to be the top rusher in the country this season, but the Tigers held the Heisman trophy candidate to just 54 yards on 18 carries- an average of 3.0 yards-per-carry.

The Tigers held Oregon's offense, which was is believed to be the most explosive offense in college football, to only 27 points.

Only a championship calibar defense could do that.

Grade: A-

Special Teams

Heading into this season, there were some questions about how LSU's special teams would play out after the graduation of both its kicker and punter.

Those questions were quickly answered after Saturday night.

Kicker Drew Alleman was 2-of-2 on field goal attempts, including a 44-yard kick on LSU's opening possession.

On the other end, freshman punter Brad Wing looked solid as well. He had six punts with an average of 41 yards-per-punt.

As far as the return game, Mo Claiborne and Tyrann Mathieu looked solid, as was expected. Clairbone broke off a 39-yard kick return, which he just barley missed taking to the house had it not been for a touchdown-saving tackle from Oregon.

This unit looks strong and should remain that way throughout the season.

Grade: B+

Coaching

Les Miles appeared to have his LSU team ready for this game, while Chip Kelly did not.

The bottom line here was that both of these schools had to deal with suspensions to key players, but LSU's players looked like they were prepared and up for challenge. Oregon's players looked confused and not prepared to take on the challenge. 

We gave Les Miles the edge heading into the game, and we'll certainly give him the edge after the game's conclusion. 

Grade: A

Fans

Both schools packed Cowboys Stadium for this much-anticipated Week 1 game.

But when taking a glimpse into the stands, it sure seemed like there was more purple and yellow than green and yellow.

It was reported that over 87,000 people were in the stands on Saturday night to watch the game.

It was also reported that LSU was able to get 37,000 tickets for students and fans, which breaks a school record for a regular-season road game. That tells the story right there.

Grade: A

Overall

All-in-all, LSU looked like a championship caliber team in this game, while Oregon simply did not.

We had a feeling that this game would be a high-scoring affair heading into Saturday, but not many expected LSU to beat Oregon at their own game.

The Tigers dominated the running game, and look like they have something speical going there in that backfield.

LSU also dominated on defense, which we expected, but they did it with big plays and turnovers. 

Overall, LSU has to feel good about themselves after this one and have put themselves in the early season drivers seat. Now, lets see if they can keep it going.

Overall Grade: A