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Tigers and Cubs: Week 8 vs. Auburn
- Story by
- Tigers and Cubs: Week 8 vs. Auburn
With a 38-17 victory by LSU over Auburn, it's two weeks in a row that we have fantastic games for Tigers and Cubs. With a mostly flawless performance, the options for the Tiger list are endless and we have to get creative for the Cub list.
There wasn't a lot to be upset with on Saturday. Lane Kiffin's squad finally showed up on the road and took control from the very first series. The questions about whether his Tigers could carry over their good performances from Tiger Stadium to on the road were answered and they were answered emphatically.
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Tigers
Sam Leavitt
There's not a whole lot to explain here. Leavitt was phenomenal. It was easily the most complete game of the season for the Tiger QB. It's probably one of the better games he's ever played in his life.
He finished 32-45 for 387 yards with 3 touchdowns. Despite being severely hindered with his hamstring, he still found a way to add another 54 yards and a rushing touchdown on 8 carries. It was clear early that he was still hobbled on a scramble and run to his left, but he did not let it slow him down. He's gritty, competitive, and has heart beyond measure. His game is starting to come together at the perfect time.
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Leavitt finished with the 3rd highest Pro Football Focus grade on the team and, offensively, was only behind our next Tiger.
Jackson Harris
The highest graded PFF player for the entire game was LSU's definitive WR1, Jackson Harris.
After leaving the game against Mississippi St in the second half with a leg injury last week, it was a pleasant surprise to not see him on the injury report at all last Wednesday. Same went for Princewill Umanmielen, but they kind of got overshadowed by the omission of Trey'Dez Green.
Harris went out there on Saturday and looked as if he didn't even remember getting injured the week before. He was fantastic, stepping up time and time again when the Tigers need it.
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You know it's a great game for a receiver when you could take away his biggest catch of the day (a 70 yard TD) and he would have still surpassed 100 yards. He finished with 9 receptions for 178 yards and 2 touchdowns.
LSU needed someone to step up after Green went down in week 3 and that's exactly what Harris has done. Now that Green is back, the offense gets even scarier.
Jordan Ross
For the second consecutive week, Ross has shown up in a big way. After his red-hot start through the Clemson and Louisiana Tech games, he went completely silent for the next 4 games. Two of those were the losses to Ole Miss and Kentucky, when Blake Baker's defense failed to make plays down the stretch to help win the game.
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Well, that quiet stretch is over, because Ross has been all over the place the past two weeks. He followed up his 2.5 tackles for loss and 1 sack game against Mississippi St last week with 2 sacks and 2.5 TFLs. The defensive end also added a pass breakup.
His grade of 74.2 was the second highest graded player on defense.
Cubs
Winnie Watkins
I'm not sure if he's banged up, but ever since Winnie Watkins dropped the two walk in touchdowns against McNeese a few weeks ago, he has looked nothing like his old self.
He didn't do anything detrimental in this game, but he did have another drop and a very poor PFF grade. With a 54.8 overall, he finished lowest of any starter on both sides of the ball.
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While Harris has picked up the slack and Green is back, Lane Kiffin would still love to get Watkins back to looking like the player he was in the first month of the season.
Jordan Seaton
This one might seem a little harsh, because Seaton actually ended up as a top-5 graded player on offense. With a 67.3, he was 4th amongst starters. Unfortunately, though, he had two penalties. For what LSU needs Seaton to be, they need him to play cleaner football, especially in some of these bigger games that are coming up.
I'd still like to see his run blocking improve, as his grade of 57.7 is a little low.
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Weston Davis
Maybe we should just accept that Davis's play is what it is at this point, but he was, again, the lowest graded starter on the offensive line with a 57.3. His pass blocking was good at 66.4, but the run blocking grade of 51.4 is just bad.
Dilin Jones is doing a heck of a job of not allowing some of the run blocking performances on the line affect his success, but one could only imagine how much better he could be if the Tigers could get it together up front.
