Five bright spots from LSU's season opening game vs. FSU
The past two days have been a whirlwind for LSU fans. With all eyes on LSU vs. Florida State Sunday night, the Tigers went from winning at halftime to losing by three touchdowns. What has followed is a mixture of confusion, frustration, disappointment, and outright disdain across Louisiana.
The pressure is on now. With an 0-1 start, LSU now needs to be ready to enter SEC play in two weeks with all systems firing. There’s a lot of issues that need to be addressed from the game, which we have and will continue to on the site, but here, I wanted ton look at a few of the positive players and units from Sunday. Here’s what I came up with and how it could help the Tigers get back on track for the rest of the season.
1. Interior D-Line
By far the best unit for LSU was its defensive tackle position. Mekhi Wingo was flat out incredible and every bit of an All-American. I’d even say the two best players in this game were Keon Coleman and Mekhi Wingo. Wingo’s quickness off the ball was incredible. He looked faster and even more powerful than he was last year. There are easily double-digit snaps where he won his rep and was in the backfield. There are even more reps where Florida State had to double team him.
Jordan Jefferson had impressive flashes. Jacobian Guillory was solid. Overall, it was a group that was the reason LSU’s defense stymied the run in the first half and was able to get Travius off platform at times throughout the game. Now, imagine a healthy Maason Smith added to the mix.
2. OLB Bradyn Swinson
At the JACK position, Swinson clearly had more juice than Ovie Oghoufo off the edge and had a few standout reps where he used his speed to get to Jordan Travis. The most notable was his pass rush on Travis in the end zone when Travis nearly threw an interception that would have really swung the game in LSU’s favor. Swinson showed enough to potentially take the starting JACK job moving forward. We knew he had more upside, but Oghoufo’s experience was thought to be valuable. Ultimately, LSU needs playmakers and Swinson made plays.
3. Tre Bradford
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the usage of Tre Bradford from the opening snap when he took a pass 55 yards. With Logan Diggs and John Emery sidelined, it was Bradford, Josh Williams, and Noah Cain who got the carries on Sunday night and Bradford ended the game with a huge play and a touchdown in his return to LSU.
Moving forward, we’ll see how much Bradford is used as Emery and Diggs return to the lineup, but at least the Tigers have shown trust in him to start the season.
4. Greg Brooks
There weren’t many bright spots outside of the defensive front for LSU, but I thought Brooks was still as active as he usually is with a few PBUs and quality coverage in different spots. He’s going to make more big plays throughout the year and help this defense get back on track.
5. Kicking game
Nathan Dibert was efficient on kickoffs, Damian Ramos made his field goal attempt and all extra points, and Jay Bramblett had a few really good punts, including one that rolled down to the one-yard line.
We can talk about the return game at length, but the Tigers are in a good position at the kicking spot, which sets them up to convert when in scoring range and continue to win the field position battle.
