Similar to the NHL's "Three Stars of the Week," David Billiot Jr. and I snake-draft to hand out Stripes of the Week for our podcast Geaux Deep Dive.
Here are Week 6's Stripes of the Week:
Three Stripes: Jackson Harris (David), TJ Dottery (Zach)
Week after week, Jackson Harris continues to step up his game. Harris tied Winston Watkins Jr. for the lead in targets and catches against Kentucky with eight targets and six catches. Watkins edged Harris in receiving yards, 62 to 58, but Harris threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Roman Mothershed in a pivotal moment to give LSU a 27-24 fourth-quarter lead. One of the early season complaints about the LSU offense was that Sam Leavitt and the receiving corps needed to develop more trust. Harris has taken the biggest step forward among the group alongside Watkins.
Excluding one play, the LSU defense only allowed 89 yards rushing against Kentucky. That is largely thanks to TJ Dottery's 12 total tackles, one for a loss. He also was highly graded in pass coverage with a 65 rating. He continues to be a phenomenal offseason transfer-portal addition, and with Whit Weeks still out, he will need to keep those numbers up to lead a defense that is thin at linebacker.
Two Stripes: Roman Mothershed (Zach), Winston Watkins Jr. (David)
Two weeks, two touchdowns for Roman Mothershed. He was the highest-graded Tiger by PFF on Saturday at 77.9 overall, with a blocking grade of 54.7, on par with his competition at tight end, Zach Grace. The trust level with Mothershed is slowly but surely rising. It needed to, with Trey'Dez Green going down with an injury. Although one is a tight end and the other is a wide receiver, Mothershed's play style and build are more similar to Green than anyone else on the roster, hence the uptick in usage over the past two weeks. Mothershed went from two catches for 12 yards against McNeese to two catches for 56 yards against Kentucky. It may not be as rapid an increase as fans would like, but he will need to keep ramping up the pace until Trey'Dez Green returns. Upon his return, Green and Mothershed could form a dangerous red-zone receiving tandem that the Tigers currently lack.
Before the season, it was easy to pinpoint Winston Watkins Jr. as a target this coaching staff would rely on. Watkins has continued to deliver: six catches for 62 yards against Kentucky. Even as trust with the rest of the receiving corps continues to grow, Watkins is still getting his chance to make plays, and leads the team this season with 29 catches for 416 yards and two touchdowns.
One Stripe: Stephiylan Green (David), PJ Woodland (Zach)
A name that does not jump off the page in the box score, Stephiylan Green had three tackles in his 47 snaps, but graded well with a 69.1 overall grade and a 72.2 tackling grade. Green was a big factor in the second-half adjustments that slowed down the Kentucky run game.
Typically, when you do not hear a cornerback's name called, it is a good thing, which makes it difficult to categorize and spotlight cornerbacks in a feature like this. PJ Woodland had a solid night in pass coverage and even made an impact with a corner blitz. Despite not getting home on that play, he did a great job of jumping up and disrupting the passing lane. Woodland also had a great hustle play to track down CJ Baxter on his 77-yard run on the Wildcats' first drive.
Honorable Mentions:Dilin Jones – 16 carries for 56 yards, seven catches for 84 yards
Harlem Berry – three carries for four yards, two catches for 22 yards
Sam Leavitt – 25 of 34 for 275 yards and two TDs passing, 15 carries for 39 yards and a TD
Malik Blocton – two tackles, one sack
DJ Pickett – three tackles, one pass broken up
Richard Anderson – No stats recorded but solid contribution
