Western Kentucky vs. LSU Football: Report Card for Tigers' Win over Hilltoppers

It wasn’t pretty, but the LSU Tigers stay undefeated by defeating Western Kentucky 42-9.

I’m not going to lie, this one has me left scratching my head. I expected the Tigers to come out sluggish after such an emotional game against the Alabama Crimson Tide last week, but this was downright ugly.

And what’s up with the decision to not play Jarrett Lee until the game went into the fourth quarter?

Whether I agree with the way they went about getting the victory or not, it was still a win and these are the report card grades following the victory.

Offense: C-

They eventually got things rolling, but my goodness did this look like a big mess early on.

From Russell Shepard dropping a long pass to Odell Beckham not following through on his route, the Tigers continued their offensive struggles from last week.

Then again, there were some bright spots as Jordan Jefferson delivered a beautiful pass to Reuben Randle for a touchdown score, and Alfred Blue had himself a great day as he scored two touchdowns and went over 100 yards rushing.

And though Jordan Jefferson is having a better year, you still can’t deny that the guy has no pocket presence whatsoever.

Because it wasn’t all that bad, I didn’t give the Tigers offense a failing grade, but my goodness, they need to get things cleaned up before that huge showdown against Arkansas in two weeks.

Defense: B

This defense is too good to give up 100 yards in the first quarter to a weaker Western Kentucky team.

It’s a great thing that the Tigers were able to cause a turnover; the defense stepped up its game the rest of the way.

I’m not as worried about the defense as the offense here, because deep down I feel like these guys were on cruise control for this one.

We’ve seen what this defense is capable of all year, and they’ll be just fine moving forward.


Special Teams: C

The Tigers really didn’t shine in any area of this game, and that’s including the area they normally dominate.

Special teams has been a crucial part of how dominant this team has been so far this year, but it just wasn’t there for the Tigers tonight.

Drew Alleman and Brad Wing were spot on as they always are, but Odell Beckham’s muffed punt really put the Tigers in a bad position.

That cannot happen against the cream-of-the-crop teams out there.

Intangibles: D

I’m giving the intangibles a D not because of the turnover, safety or any penalties. I’m giving this a low grade because of the way this team came out to play tonight.

I get it. I understand that they just played the “game of the century,” and that it's extremely difficult to get up for a football game after Armageddon in Alabama, but you have to live up to that No. 1 ranking.

This team is the No. 1 team in the nation, and it is their job to play like it each and every week.

These aren’t the Tigers I’ve grown accustomed to seeing this year. This was far from dominant football. In fact, it was very sloppy, but regardless of what you may think, a victory is a victory.

And I’ll take a win any day of the week.

Coaching: C

I have a few complaints, and I have a few things I want to get of my chest.

First of all, this coaching staff has done a fantastic job this season. It really has. When you look at the play-calling and the staff’s ability to get the team to overcome adversity, it truly is inspiring.

But, this was by far the worst-coached game of the year. It all falls on the man in charge.

You have to get your players ready to play, and they weren’t ready to play until the second half. Much to Les Miles’ credit, he did get his team to play hard in the second half and play dominant football.

My other gripe was that Jarrett Lee didn’t see the field until the fourth quarter. This makes zero sense to me for a couple of reasons.

The first is Miles said himself he needs both quarterbacks to win, and the second is why wouldn’t you want to get his confidence back up against a team like Western Kentucky?

That seemed like a gimme to me, but the coaching staff dropped the ball on that one.

Overall: C-

When you look at the box score, it was a blowout victory, but it was far from an impressive performance.

Offense, defense and special teams all had miscues in this game, and they all looked like they’re still thinking about last week’s victory over Alabama.

The coaching staff made some questionable decisions with the Lee decision being the one that stands out the most.

This isn’t the 2011 LSU team I’m used to watching. This was kind of like going to see AC-DC in concert and getting Lady GaGa instead.

You were ready to rock your head to a blowout and instead you were left scratching your head and wondering what you just saw.

Hopefully, those Tigers who like to dominate football games will show up against the Ole Miss Rebels next week.