Tag: John Emery Jr.

Best of highlights: LSU downs Vanderbilt, 41-7

Looking at some of the best plays of LSU’s 41-7 road victory over Vanderbilt on Saturday.

The LSU Tigers bounced back from a disappointing 44-34 loss the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Week 1, toppling the Vanderbilt Commodores, 41-7 on the road in Vanderbilt Stadium on Saturday night.

One of the most important takeaways of the night was that quarterback Myles Brennan looked much-improved, appearing much more calm and decisive in the pocket than we saw him look against the Bulldogs.

The defense also stepped up and looked more competent than they did against Mississippi State, showing improved tackling and sacking Vanderbilt quarterback Ken Seals three times.

Here’s a look at some of the most exciting plays of the game as LSU evened out its record.

The Tigers will face the Missouri Tigers up next as they return to Tiger Stadium for an 8 p.m. CST kickoff Saturday.

Studs and duds in LSU’s 41-7 win over Vanderbilt

LSU earned an impressive win against Vanderbilt on Saturday while putting up solid numbers from a few key players.

LSU defeated Vanderbilt in a dominant fashion on Saturday to move to 1-1 on the season. The No. 20 Tigers took a big step on both sides of the ball in their first win of the season, showing reason for optimism within the fan base after a disappointing 44-34 loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the opener.

Redshirt junior quarterback Myles Brennan looked more poised in the pocket this week and took less time on his throws.

Here’s a look at who came up big, and who could have done better in the Tigers’ 41-7 victory on Saturday night in Nashville.

Stud: Myles Brennan

Brennan completed 23-of-37 passes for 337 yards with four touchdowns and an interception. But it isn’t the numbers that place him on the studs list. His composure and calmness in the pocket gave him the ability to make better throws than last week.

The junior quarterback was dishing the ball everywhere to any receiver that was open. Two of his touchdowns went to Jontre Kirklin and the other two went to Terrace Marshall Jr.

If Brennan can continue what he started on Saturday, he could finish between 1,500 and 2,500 passing yards for the season.

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Four takeaways from LSU’s 41-7 win over Vanderbilt

LSU bounced back with a dominant 41-7 win over Vanderbilt as the Tigers offense found its rhythm early and never slowed down.

The No. 20 LSU Tigers defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores 41-7 on Saturday night in Nashville after suffering a 44-34 loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the season-opener.

On offense, the Tigers racked up 498 yards of offense while converting four out of 12 times on third down and being perfect on fourth-down conversion attempts.

Here are four takeaways from the Tigers’ dominating victory as they’ve evened out their record.

1. LSU established the rushing attack.

Last week against Mississippi State, LSU totaled just 80 yards on the ground. Saturday against Vanderbilt, the offense doubled that total for 161 yards. Sophomore John Emery Jr. carried the ball 12 times for 103 yards and a touchdown and averaged 8.6 yards per rush.

Freshman Josh Williams saw the field in the fourth quarter and held the ball  eight times for 30 yards.  Tyrion Davis-Price also had eight touches for 29 yards.

One key going into this game was to get the running game more established, and LSU gave the Commodores defense a tough challenge on the ground.

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No. 20 LSU defeats Vanderbilt, 41-7 to move to 1-1 on the season

The LSU Tigers bounced back in a big way on Saturday night defeating the Vanderbilt Commodores, 41-7 to improve to 1-1 on the season.

The LSU Tigers bounced back in a big way on Saturday night defeating the Vanderbilt Commodores 41-7 to improve to 1-1 on the season.

LSU quarterback Myles Brennan completed 23-of-37 passes for 337 yards with four touchdowns and one interception in his second career start, looking much more confident and decisive this time around, marking an improvement the Tigers desperately needed to see from him after a debut that didn’t look the way it could have on film.

Junior receiver Terrace Marshall caught two passes for 67 yards — both touchdowns, while senior Jontre Kirklin had a breakout game of sorts with three receptions for 65 yards and two scores.

After the running game struggled in last week’s loss to Mississippi State, things improved this week as sophomore running John Emery Jr. had himself a career game, rushing 12 times for 103 yards and a touchdown. As a team, LSU rushed for 163 yards.

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In total offense, the Tigers posted 498 yards and looked balanced, much opposed to Week 1.

Bo Pelini’s defense was much better this week, too, after not being able to come up with an answer to Mike Leach’s air raid offense. The Tigers held Vanderbilt to just 266 total yards to go with the lone touchdown.

Vanderbilt seemed able to keep pace in the first half well enough to not let the game get away, but efforts from Brennan, kicker Cade York, Kirklin and Emery dashed any hopes of the Commodores putting together the makings of a potential upset.

LSU returns to Baton Rouge next week to host Missouri, which should mark another easy win as the team continues to get back on the right track.

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LSU-Vanderbilt: Two areas of concern for the Tigers

After a crushing loss last week, here’s a look at the two most major concerns heading into next week.

The time for the No. 20 LSU Tigers to face off against the Vanderbilt Commodores is drawing closer.

Both teams enter the game with an 0-1 record. LSU lost 44-34 to Mississippi State and Vanderbilt lost 17-12 at Texas A&M last week.

The Tigers have plenty of room for improvement on both sides of the ball. Star cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. is likely to make his 2020 season debut on Saturday after missing last week with an illness.

Vanderbilt looked like a new and improved team last week against the Aggies as they only allowed 17 points and 180 passing yards.

Here’s a look at the two most major areas of concern for the Tigers as they travel to Nashville for the second straight season.

Passing defense

The Tigers gave up an astonishing 623 passing yards last week to Mississippi State quarterback K.J. Costello. Heading into this week, the Commodores likely won’t achieve anywhere near those numbers, but the Tigers pass defense has to improve.

With Stingley out, Jay Ward and freshman Eli Ricks filled in along with Cordale Flott, and all three gave up big pass plays to the Bulldogs.

Commodores quarterback Ken Seals went 20-of-29 for 150 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in last week’s loss to Texas A&M.

While he may not be a big time quarterback, Seals still has the ability to offset the Tigers defenders and complete passes. The one area of concern within the pass defense will be in the flat and the deep threat.

Seals’ longest completion last week was 27 yards. Costello was connecting on much deeper passes against LSU. But, the threat remains for the Tigers if they get off to a slow start on defense.

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Four takeaways from LSU’s 44-34 loss to Mississippi State

LSU had issues on both sides of the ball during Saturday’s 44-34 loss to Mississippi State. But Myles Brennan rebounded after a slow start.

The LSU Tigers took a heartbreaking 44-34 loss at home to the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday after not losing a single game for 672 days straight.

The loss to Mike Leach’s team ends the Tigers’ 16-game winning streak and it is the first season-opening loss since the Tigers lost to Wisconsin in 2016.

It’s clear the Tigers have much to work on moving forward, but should be able to get their feet under them against an easier opponent in the Vanderbilt Commodores next week.

Here are four takeaways from Saturday’s game.

1. QB Myles Brennan started slow, but improved.

Brennan, the Tigers’ junior quarterback, replaced Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow. Though he started slow, he showed improvement in the second half. In his first start as a Tiger, Brennan finished with three passing touchdowns and two interceptions.

Sure, this isn’t the offense from last season. That was evident early on during the game. The Tigers’ first five possessions ended in a three-and-out. But Brennan continued to remain calm and slowly progressed as the game went along.

But remember back to the opener against Miami in 2018, Burrow’s first game as a Tiger. He only passed for 140 yards that game. The time for Brennan to excel will come, but there is developing to do.

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LSU’s offensive keys to the game vs. Mississippi State

Here’s a look at what the LSU Tigers must accomplish on offense to defeat the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the season opener.

The LSU Tigers finally open the 2020 college football season on Saturday as the Mississippi State Bulldogs come to Baton Rouge. As the Tigers look to defend their national championship, they do so with a host of new starters on offense.

The Bulldogs could prove to be a tough matchup for LSU’s opener for a couple of reasons: quarterback K.J. Costello and new head coach Mike Leach and his high-powered Air-Raid offense.

That means the pressure will be on LSU’s new-look offense and quarterback Myles Brennan.

LSU had the nation’s top offense in 2019, led by Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow at quarterback, All-American wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and first-round picks Justin Jefferson and Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

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All of those players are gone, and the Tigers are also replacing four starters on the offensive line.

Here are two things LSU can do to in order to start the 2020 season 1-0.

Establish a running game

It sounds cliche. Everyone wants to establish the running game and then be able to move the ball through the air.

For LSU, running back is a position where the team has plenty of depth and talent.

Chris Curry, Tyrion Davis-Price and John Emery should all see plenty of time on Saturday. If say Curry starts out hot, the Tigers and offensive coordinator Steve Ensinger should go with the hot hand.

It’s important for the Tigers to try and run the ball early to ease Brennan into the game.

Mississippi State allowed opponents to rush for over 152 yards per game one year ago and allowed 4.4 yards per attempt. The Bulldogs will have several new starters on defense, including a new defensive coordinator in Zach Arnett.

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