OFFENSE: C

To be blunt, the LSU offense was horrendous at times in a 34-29 loss to Mississippi State at home Saturday night. The Tigers rushed for just 89 yards as a team, did not have a single runner reach the 40-yard mark, and averaged only 2.5 yards per carry against the Bulldogs. Mississippi State has been stout against the run all year, but that kind of production in the run game is not going to get it done for LSU in the SEC West. Anthony Jennings looked pedestrian under center, but it wasn’t until Jennings was benched for freshman Brandon Harris that the offense really began to take off. Granted, Mississippi State began to rotate more players and gave much more vanilla looks on defense late in th game, but Harris may have begun a quarterback controversy in Baton Rouge by completing 6-of-9 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns in less than a quarter of action. LSU looked just average on offense, earning it a C on this week’s report card.

DEFENSE: C

Just like the offense, the LSU defense looked average at best against the Bulldogs. Mississippi State ran all over the Tigers, rushing for 302 yards as a team at an average of better than six yards per carry. Both tailback Josh Robinson and quarterback Dak Prescott ran for more than 100 yards, and Mississippi State picked up a whopping 14 first downs on run plays. The Tigers did do a good job in applying pressure on Prescott in the pocket, recording two sacks and two fumble recoveries, one of which was returned for a touchdown (the other set up a late touchdown to pull LSU to within one score of the Bulldogs). With the home crowd at its back and nearly 10 straight scoreless quarters under its belt entering Saturday night’s game, the LSU defense absolutely under-performed against Mississippi State, earning another C on the report card.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A

Special teams did not weigh largely in Saturday’s result, but when the Tigers’ special teams were on the field, they played very well. Kicker Colby Delahoussaye made his only field goal attempt from 30 yards out, and was a perfect 2-of-2 on extra points. Punter Jamie Keehn played great, booming eight punts at an average of more than 50 yards per punt, landing three inside the Mississippi State 20 yard line. Not much happened in the return game for either side, likely due to two good punters in Keehn and MSU’s Devon Bell. All in all, the special teams was the best of LSU’s three units, earning an A to round out this week’s report card.