Grading Out: LSU vs. Alabama

QB

Jake: D+/C-. Couldn't really decide where to go here. Harris was jittery and nervous at the start, then settled down and when the OL gave him time, was pretty effective. But that rarely happened. And his INT was a very bad decision. I don't feel any worse about Harris than I did coming in, but it was a bad game.

Paul: D. You knew it was bound to happen. On the road vs. arguably the nation's top D makes it not all that surprising. Harris looked rattled, then defeated, and flashed some poor decision making for really the first time all year. It happens. Time to get up off the mat.

RB

Jake: Incomplete. This isn't a grade obviously, but I'm not really sure how the heck I'm supposed to grade Fournette. There were literally never any holes to run through. None. Whenever he got the ball there were already one or two DL in the backfield. You just can't do anything when that's the case.

Paul: C. Fournette had nowhere to go and the other backs didn't so much as get a chance. Tough to grade Leonard, but he did try and pull some Barry Sanders antics a couple times, when it seemed like he could have possibly stuck his head down and picked up a yard or two (but nothing more).

WR

Jake: C. Again, not really sure how I'm supposed to grade this group. When the ball got to them, they made the catches. Probably not a great job getting separation all the time, but the ball just wasn't gotten to them that often.

Paul: C. Whatever. Good job, Dural, I guess.

OL

Jake: F. Yeah. This is why it's hard to grade every other facet of the offense. Because this unit was unspeakably bad. It doesn't matter what scheme you run, what plays you call, if you cannot block. And they didn't block. At all. This wasn't them getting outplayed. This was a shellacking. Alabama's DL kicked this unit's rear end six ways from Sunday. Just so bad. On every level.

Paul: F minus. Worst performance in a couple years, honestly. Just absolutely obliterated up front.

DL

Jake: C+. They weren't great. Henry went over 200 yards, though it took him nearly 40 carries to get it. But Ultimately they just wore down. Alabama had the ball so much, and LSU's offense had it so little that for a unit that's always been a bit thin...just not much you can do. Christian LaCouture played his butt off and did what he could, props to him.

Paul: D. LaCouture and Key both got sacks. That's about the lone bright spot. Bama ran for 250 yards and that's counting the sack yardage lost by Coker. They were getting push around early (Bama had more yards in the 1st half than the 2nd) and often by an offensive line that rated terribly prior to this game.

LB

Jake: C. Not as good as they usually are against the run. Pretty average, middling performance. Not horrible, but just very pedestrian and not what was needed. Not very good when Alabama went to the screen game either.

Paul: D. Beckwith and Jones combined for 20 tackles. Lamar Louis got a PBU. This unit didn't make any big plays and certainly didn't do anything to slow Bama down.

DB

Jake: C. A lot of Coker's passes were of the intermediate, shallow variety. Weren't many shots taken down the field. 3rd Down was an issue, as was limiting them after the catch. Jamal Adams made some good plays. It wasn't a good performance, but like most of the defense...just sort of average and they were on the field a lot.

Paul: D. Can't cover. Can't tackle. Not sure how this secondary got so much worse in a few games. Oh wait, yes, yes I am sure how.