LSU Football: Report Card Grades for Kentucky Game

LSU's dominant defense was on display again Saturday, showing the college football world just why the Tigers are the new No. 1 ranked team in the country.

Les Miles' defense registered five sacks and returned a fumble for a touchdown, which put the game far out of reach. All-in-all, the Tigers held Kentucky to just 155 yards of total offense in a 35-7 victory Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers' offense wasn't as dominant as they had been in the past, but they did gain 348 yards of offense and did not commit a turnover in the game.

Let's take a deeper look into this game and hand out some report card grades—Bleacher Report style!

1. Offense

LSU's offense was not outstanding in this game, but they certainly weren't upsetting by any means.

The Tigers rushing attack looked strong as always, gaining 179 yards on the ground, with three touchdowns from three separate players.

Jarrett Lee looked pretty average in the passing game, completing just 8-of-21 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown. Most importantly, though, he took care of the ball and did not commit a turnover in the victory.

The receivers looked good, but again, nothing great. Freshman Odell Beckham continues to impress, catching three passes for 75 yards, including an incredible touchdown reception early on in the second quarter, where he caught the ball, reversed his field and ran 51 yards to the end zone for a score.

Quarterback Jordan Jefferson returned from his suspension and played sparingly, carrying the ball four times for 29 yards and a touchdown.

Overall, pretty good, but we should expect better.

Grade: C+

2. Defense

It's almost silly how good this LSU defense is.

Just when we thought we saw it all in the Tigers' first four games, they were at it again in a big way on Saturday. The Tigers' defense held Kentucky to just 155 yards of total offense in this one. The Wildcats lone score came with just under five minutes left in the game when it was already well-decided.

The big play by LSU's defense came midway through the second quarter, when defensive back Tyrann Mathieu scored on a 23-yard fumble return. That set an LSU record for career forced fumbles.

LSU also recorded five sacks in the win, with DE Sam Montgomery in on two of them.

Another dominant showing by the best defense in the country.

Grade: A-

3. Special Teams

Nothing too spectacular here, but if you had to pick out one individual standout performance, it would be freshman punter Brad Wing.

Wing was phenomenal last week against West Virgina, and it was much the same story this week. The freshman punted eight times for an average of 42 yards per punt.

Kicker Drew Alleman didn't attempt a field goal, but he was 5-of-5 on extra points.

In the return game, Mo Claiborne had one kick return for 24 yards, and Tyrann Mathieu had two punt returns for 30 yards.

Pretty average grade for a pretty average showing on special teams.

Grade: C

4. Coaching

Les Miles had a pretty easy day from a coaching standpoint.

He reinstated Jordan Jefferson, which was a questionable move, but he stuck with his word in starting Lee as Jefferson did not attempt a pass in the game. In fact, when Jefferson did go in the game, it was for a designed quarterback sneak, which was good for a touchdown.

Miles is a great coach. Hopefully this laugher gave him some practice for the Tigers' big matchup against Florida next week.

Grade: B+

Overall

Overall, this was a solid game all around for the Tigers.

The offense was good, but not great, and the defense was dominant as always.

The Tigers were without running back Spencer Ware for the majority of this game, after he was limited by a minor left leg injury. But sophomore Alfred Blue picked up the slack, leading LSU with 72 yards on the ground.

Kentucky is not a good college football team, so it almost makes this one hard to grade. We would have liked to see a little more on the offensive side of the ball, but considering everything, this was a good showing for a great team.

Grade: B-