The charging of Jeremy Hill, leaves the LSU Tigers with a mountain to climb in the SEC this season.
Jeremy Hill, the RB for the Louisiana State University has been charged with misdemeanor simple battery in connection with a late-night scuffle outside a night club in April. Head coach, Les Miles, has said the player is suspended pending the investigation coming to a conclusion. Hill is not helped by already being on probation following a January 2012 incident.
The loss of Jeremy Hill for legal issues, will be a big blow to the running back core although Kenny Hilliard (82-464-6 TDs) and Alfred Blue (40-270-2 TDs) showed flashes of talent, especially Blue who is now in his last season before graduation, and will want to end his college career in style following a season ending knee injury suffered in the third game of last season.
Les Miles will again have a tough defence to succeed in the ultra-competitive SEC yet he will require a bit more of his starting quarterback, Zach Mettenberger who threw for only 2609 yards and 12 touchdowns.
They do still have Odell Beckham at wide receiver who was nominated for the Paul Hornung award, for college football's most versatile player, along with Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M and South Carolina receiver, Bruce Ellington. Last season, Beckham had 713 receiving yards for 2 touchdowns and was the leading receiver for the Tigers last year, although junior Jarvis Landry had the most receiving touchdowns, with 5 for 573 yards, and senior Kadron Boone, 348 yards for 4 TDs.
The Tigers are traditionally stingy team to score against, they are also a tough team to predict how many points they will score. LSU finished with an average of 29.8 ppg placing them 59th in the national statistics, yet they conceded only 17.5 ppg for a position of 12th in the nation. The defence this year may have lost some personnel to the draft, including Barkevious Mingo who was drafted by the Cleveland Browns.
However, this team is used to reloading along the defensive line. Tackle Anthony Johnson has the meat and ability to be one of the best at his position, and excels as both a run-stopper and pass-rusher. He'll be helped by junior Ego Ferguson, who has all the talent to be successful but is still looking to reach his full potential. The staff is expecting big things from end Jermauria Rasco, who might be a better pure pass-rusher than Barkevious Mingo and Sam Montgomery before him. Danielle Hunter and Jordan Allen should do more at end, while incoming freshman Tashawn Bower could see immediate playing time.
Off the field conduct has been a thorn in the Tigers side for recent seasons, following on from the Tyrann Mathieu incident and another legal issue will not help LSU attempt to come out of the shadows of the Alabama Crimson Tide who are ruling the SEC West currently. Last season, the Tigers finished 10-3 overall, 6-2 in Conference play, yet their overall record was 1 game behind the improving Texas A&M Aggies who have Johnny Manziel leading the charge.
Their 2013 schedule does not look favourable, with road games against Georgia (Sept 28th), Miss State (Oct 5th) and Alabama (Nov 9th), at best you can see LSU finishing with a 9-4 record. This will be dependent upon the improvements required by senior players like Mettenberger and the returning Blue to make plays, and the ever reliant defence to nullify the exceptional quarterbacks in the SEC - Aaron Murray, Manziel and AJ McCarron.
Showing posts with label LSU Tigers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LSU Tigers. Show all posts
Tuesday, 9 July 2013
Monday, 3 September 2012
College Football Week 1 review
Week 1 in College football seems odd. You had a game taking place in Dublin for the Fighting Irish, you had games on Thursday night for South Carolina, with the superstitious Steve Spurrier (say that fast 5 times) enjoying a tough road trip to Vanderbilt, but winning nonetheless.
The other mystifying occurence is the use of pre-season rankings before anyone has played a down. So you had USC ranked #1 when they have not played yet, and having to back up all this potential. The ranking works in two ways, they stay atop of them until they lose or play an absolute stinker in victory. USC made short work of Hawaii, with Heisman trophy favourite and senior Matt Barkley throwing for 372 yards and four TDs; helped by wide receiver Marqise Lee who caught 10 passes for 197 yards and returned a punt 100 yards for a TD. USC had so much on offence but the defence will face sterner tests throughout the year, most notably from Oregon, #5, who scored heavily as always 57-34 at home to Arkansas State.
The most impressive performance however was Alabama, the National Champions, who having lost a lot of defensive starters did maintain the offensive line and have a good QB in AJ McCarron. In a tough opener at Cowboys Stadium against the respected Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten, led by senior Denard Robinson, the Crimson Tide were never threatened scoring three 1st quarter TDs in a 41-14 victory.
The team they beat in New Orleans in January, LSU also won 41-14 but against lesser opposition in North Texas; at the moment though for LSU following the Tyrann Mathieu suspension, they need to go about their business and yet the Tide and Trojans enjoy the spotlight.
What did come to the fore however, is the gulf between the SEC and other conferences. The depth of talent in the SEC is significant with victories for Georgia (#6, 45-23 v Buffalo), Arkansas (#10, 49-24 v Jacksonville St), Clemson (#14, 26-19 v Auburn; a real barn-burner to start the season) and Florida (#23, 27-14 v Bowling Green).
The best individual performance that put down a marker for the season was by Geno Smith, quarterback for the West Virginia Mountaineers, who in their first game in a new conference having moved from the Big East to the Big 12 defeated Marshall 69-34. Smith completed 32 of 36 attempted passes for 323 yards and four touchdowns, one rushing TD with no interceptions.
The Big 12 have some ground to make up on the dominant SEC but with the WVU high powered offence joining the powerhouses of Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State expect West Virginia and Smith to be making some notable headlines this season.
What to look forward to?
In Week 2, a lot of programs have picked winnable games for home openers (South Carolina play East Carolina); but you still have some interesting contests. The LSU Tigers host Washington, Missouri new to the SEC from the Big 12 host #6 Georgia. However, the game of the weekend could be Nebraska visiting UCLA; as below the Bruins have a high powered offence led by QB Brett Hundley and RB Johnathan Franklin, they can score heavily unlike some of the Big 10 teams did over the weekend.
Notable performances
UCLA's Johnathan Franklin rushed for 214yds on 15 carries and 3 TDs against Rice in their season opener with a long of 78 and a 74 yarder. Not to be out done his QB Brett Hundley ran for a 72yd TD. This was not a career night for Franklin, who ran for 216 in 2010 v Washington State.
Utah may be a sleeper in the Pac12 and opened with a 41-0 shutout over Northern Colorado; Jordan Wynn threw for 2 TDs (19-27, 200) and John White ran for 119yds in a one-sided contest.
The other mystifying occurence is the use of pre-season rankings before anyone has played a down. So you had USC ranked #1 when they have not played yet, and having to back up all this potential. The ranking works in two ways, they stay atop of them until they lose or play an absolute stinker in victory. USC made short work of Hawaii, with Heisman trophy favourite and senior Matt Barkley throwing for 372 yards and four TDs; helped by wide receiver Marqise Lee who caught 10 passes for 197 yards and returned a punt 100 yards for a TD. USC had so much on offence but the defence will face sterner tests throughout the year, most notably from Oregon, #5, who scored heavily as always 57-34 at home to Arkansas State.
The most impressive performance however was Alabama, the National Champions, who having lost a lot of defensive starters did maintain the offensive line and have a good QB in AJ McCarron. In a tough opener at Cowboys Stadium against the respected Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten, led by senior Denard Robinson, the Crimson Tide were never threatened scoring three 1st quarter TDs in a 41-14 victory.
The team they beat in New Orleans in January, LSU also won 41-14 but against lesser opposition in North Texas; at the moment though for LSU following the Tyrann Mathieu suspension, they need to go about their business and yet the Tide and Trojans enjoy the spotlight.
What did come to the fore however, is the gulf between the SEC and other conferences. The depth of talent in the SEC is significant with victories for Georgia (#6, 45-23 v Buffalo), Arkansas (#10, 49-24 v Jacksonville St), Clemson (#14, 26-19 v Auburn; a real barn-burner to start the season) and Florida (#23, 27-14 v Bowling Green).
The best individual performance that put down a marker for the season was by Geno Smith, quarterback for the West Virginia Mountaineers, who in their first game in a new conference having moved from the Big East to the Big 12 defeated Marshall 69-34. Smith completed 32 of 36 attempted passes for 323 yards and four touchdowns, one rushing TD with no interceptions.
The Big 12 have some ground to make up on the dominant SEC but with the WVU high powered offence joining the powerhouses of Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State expect West Virginia and Smith to be making some notable headlines this season.
What to look forward to?
In Week 2, a lot of programs have picked winnable games for home openers (South Carolina play East Carolina); but you still have some interesting contests. The LSU Tigers host Washington, Missouri new to the SEC from the Big 12 host #6 Georgia. However, the game of the weekend could be Nebraska visiting UCLA; as below the Bruins have a high powered offence led by QB Brett Hundley and RB Johnathan Franklin, they can score heavily unlike some of the Big 10 teams did over the weekend.
Notable performances
UCLA's Johnathan Franklin rushed for 214yds on 15 carries and 3 TDs against Rice in their season opener with a long of 78 and a 74 yarder. Not to be out done his QB Brett Hundley ran for a 72yd TD. This was not a career night for Franklin, who ran for 216 in 2010 v Washington State.
Utah may be a sleeper in the Pac12 and opened with a 41-0 shutout over Northern Colorado; Jordan Wynn threw for 2 TDs (19-27, 200) and John White ran for 119yds in a one-sided contest.
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