Spotlight #1: Mississippi State RB Vick Ballard

Spotlight #2: LSU G T-Bob Hebert 

1^st quarter

14:53: First play of the game, Vick Ballard gets stuff in the backfield. Nowhere to go for him because LSU’s defensive line just overpowered Mississippi State’s.

13:58: Hebert gets good push on his first snap. He’s at left guard by the way.

12:41: Hebert gets beaten pretty badly. It would be have a tackle for a loss had the running back not broken the tackle.

11:50: Hebert with a nice cut block in the 2^nd level.

7:17: Hebert beaten early, but able to use his agility to recover. This is a concern however. He’s getting beaten off the snap frequently and not using his hands well immediately.

6:51: Hebert with the pancake block on a short running play.

5:26: Ballard with the powerful 6 yard first down run.

4:07: Ballard solid on a pass block.

 

2^nd quarter

10:22: Ballard with a big run on a counter against a cornerback blitz. He ran well, but he had a huge hole.

9:03: Ballard gets open and catches a pass on 3^rd and 8 for a 13 yard catch and a first down.

8:45: Ballard almost breaks one, but tripped up at the last second.

8:14: Ballard runs an excellent route out of the backfield and catches it on the run for a first down. Ballard only caught 10 passes last year, but already has 7 in 2 plus games this year. If he keeps this up, he could be a 3 down back at the next level.

6:31: Anthony Johnson, LSU’s freakishly athletic freshman defensive tackle, with an excellent tackle for loss. He’s 315 pounds and runs in the 4.8 He may be only a freshman, but you can be assured he’ll make Al Davis shit his pants at The Combine in a few years. He is someone to watch into the future, but he’s not eligible until 2014.

5:54: Ballard was taken out for a few snaps late on that last drive before the punt so I focused more on Chris Relf. I was originally going to spotlight Relf tonight before Ballard’s strong night last week. He ended last season hot and I pegged him as a potential Cam Newton, someone who comes out of nowhere to win a Heisman. He didn’t prove himself to be that in his first few games and he’s had a shaky night tonight. He’s an excellent athlete (6-4, 245, 4.6), but he’ll probably have to play another position at the next level. He’s had some moments, but he doesn’t look like much of a quarterback tonight. He has poor pocket presence. He’s a run first quarterback. He hasn’t thrown far down field either. He’s a late round project and nothing more.

5:21: Hebert slips on a 2^nd level block and allows his man to get to the ball carrier.

0:42: Ballard dances around in the backfield, finds a hole in the defense and explodes forward for 10 yards on first down. Nice patience and vision.

0:00: Cameron Lawrence, outside linebacker for Misssissippi State, is continuing a strong season. He had a strong first half. He had 14 tackles, 3.5 for a loss, and a sack against Auburn last week after missing the opener against Memphis. He’s just a junior and probably won’t come out this year and he’s undersized at 6-2 230, but he’s someone to keep your eye on in the future.

3^rd quarter

11:31: Morris Claiborne with a phenomenal play for an interception. He looked like a wide receiver there. I’m not spotlight him, but he’s a consensus first round pick.

10:59: Pancake block by Hebert.

7:05: Ballard with an excellent blitz pickup. He’s shown great hands as a blocker and a receiver tonight, keys for a young running back.

4:34: Hebert whiffs on a cut block.

3:28: Hebert gets knocked over.

2:36: Hebert allows a tackle for a loss. He gets completely blown past by a pass rush, barely even able to get a hand on him and he does it way too late.

1:32: Relf only has 4 yards on 14 rushes. I don’t know why they keep running draw plays for him. Ballard is the much better runner and this isn’t allowing him to get into a rhythm. He only has 31 yards on 8 carries as a result, but he’s ran better than that, he just can’t get into a rhythm. He’s also facing a tough LSU run defense.

4^th quarter

12:30: Hebert on a nice 2^nd level block. If there’s one thing he does better than average, it’s blocking on the 2^nd level. He’s also got solid agility.

10:00: Chris Relf appears to have been benched. Maybe Mississippi State realized that their “QB draw, QB draw, incomplete pass” offense doesn’t work against LSU. Relf sucks. Let’s see if Ballard gets any more action now. Relf’s final line (presumably) 11 for 17 for 96 yards, a pick, and 10 rushing yards on 14 carries. He showed poor pocket presence and poor passing ability all night. He’s not a quarterback.

5:04: Morris Claiborne with his 2^nd pick of the night. Maybe Tyler Russell is worse than Chris Relf. Relf would just get stuffed for a loss over and over. Russell actually throws picks. He’s 0-3 with a pick.

0:00: Ballard rushed for 968 yards and 19 touchdowns on 186 carries in 2010 and 301 yards and 4 touchdowns on 31 carries in the first 2 games of 2011, but tonight his line wasn’t as impressive. He rushed for just 38 yards on 10 carries tonight.

However, he was better than that would suggest. Mississippi State’s offense was terrible tonight because of poor play by quarterback Chris Relf and a very confused gameplan that failed to adjust when it wasn’t working. Also, LSU’s defensive line completely dominated Mississippi State’s offensive line. Couple those two things together and Ballard didn’t get a lot of carries, couldn’t get into a rhythm, was running against 8 man fronts, and running against a front 7 that was dominating his offensive line.

Ballard showed himself to be a good blocker and also caught a team leading 3 passes (not kidding) for 32 yards. He now has 8 catches in 3 games this season after just 10 catches last year. He’s a good blocker and an improving pass catcher, two very good things. He’s not the fastest runner, but at 220 pounds, he’s a physical runner and he shows nice explosion. Provided he bounces back in his next game and has a strong rest of the season, he looks like be a solid mid round pick. Running back committees are getting more and more popular in the NFL every year. Ballard looks like he could be a productive part of a committee in the NFL.

As for Hebert, he proved himself to be a good 2^nd level blocker and an agile player at 304 pounds. However, he was extremely inconsistent, failed to get a consistent push, and he made several mistakes. He only allowed one tackle for a loss and no sacks, but it could have been a lot worse. Whiffs on blocks were way too common. Also was too common was Hebert falling down. He’s got off the field issues as well. I don’t think this borderline prospect is draftable.