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Tell the Truth Monday: Tennessee

On Mondays, we tell the truth.

By Paul Crewe
LSU v Tennessee Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
  • This is a tremendous photo.
  • Feels like I could take last week’s piece, find and replace all Arkansas references for Tennessee ones and just re-print it.
  • This game was severely bogged down by weather, which clearly dinged LSU’s offensive execution.
  • Once again, the offensive line got out to a slow start but rounded into form in the 2nd half.
  • Tennessee is a bad, bad team and LSU discarded of them with ease.
  • Even with a relatively close halftime score, it never felt like they had much of a chance. Their offensive success was built on a couple of chunk plays that felt fluky.
  • Donte Jackson got singled out a bit. The PI call was probably the right call but a sticky situation. He was falling down and probably trying to prevent the TD that happened anyway. Then he decided to let the Vols fans know he thought they were no. 1 in the EZ, which is just a careless decision, albeit a hilarious one.
  • If you are going to do something dumb, do it against a lifeless team.
  • Kevin Toliver continues to struggle. I think he’s got his eyes on the NFL and may leave regardless, but I do think returning for another year fully focused, with no suspensions and serving as the leader of the secondary may do his draft stock some good.
  • The end numbers of this game are almost irrelevant. The weather made it unwatchable for large chunks. It was entertaining but not really one for the annals.
  • I will continue to question the integrity of trotting out your mentally defeated kicker in gale force wins. Not a brilliant coaching decision, even if you think Gonsulin is the worse option.
  • Matt Canada “do what works” offense continues, as he completely stripped back the playbook to pretty straightforward rushing attack. Yes, we still had the pre-snap motions, but we largely ditched the jet sweeps and passing game for pure ball control dominance.
  • Speaking of, the way Canada handles 3rd and long is pretty indicative of his confidence in Etling. I’d be interested in charting every 3rd and 6+ throw this season and see how many are a swing pass or screen of some variety.
  • It’s a shame the offense puttered around, again, against a lifeless opponent, preventing Myles Brennan from seeing any snaps... again. You don’t get to use “our QB is inexperienced” as an excuse when you fail to get him experience.
  • That said, Etling’s biggest asset is that he protects the football and in horrid weather, the one way this game could have gone sideways for LSU was inopportune turnovers. Protect the ball and grind the clock to victory.
  • You could nitpick some things that LSU could do better, but in a road game in a torrential downpour against an awful team, it’s so needless to complain about a 20-point win.
  • 8 wins with the chance to add two more. LSU is so mediocre at routinely approaching the 10 win threshold. If only they were more like a dominant program. Like FSU. Or Florida.
  • They keep on making bourbon and I keep on drinkin’ it.