3^rd quarter

14:56: Rainey gets the carry, bounce once, nothing happening, 1 yard.

13:10: Claiborne thrown on, incomplete.

13:06: Rainey up the middle for 3.

11:02: Jefferson deep to Randle again, just deflected at the last second, another nice ball by Jefferson, but a better play by the defensive back. Would like to see Randle get just a little bit more separation from a small school cornerback too.

10:58: Blackwell seals a hole for the back.

9:11: Randle just short of a touchdown. Extends, but just short.

8:47: Claiborne with a touchdown saving tackle on the kick return.

8:18: Rainey with his best run of the night. 1^st and goal on the 9, cuts to the outside, powerful 7 yard run, almost scores.

6:53: Rainey taken out in the goal line package again.

5:22: Jordan Jefferson takes a safety, first brain fart of the game.

5:11: Rainey up the middle for 4. They just haven’t been able to get him in any space.

4:31: Rainey for another 2. Same story.

3:42: Rainey targeted under pressure, double covered, deflected and picked. Not Rainey’s fault.

2:42: Rainey finally finds space, good vision and cut to run for 14 yards.

2:13: Rainey with poor vision this time to not bounce outside and run into a wall for little to no gain.

1:28: Rainey good in space for solid gain, could have been more than the 7 he picked up, but a great play by LSU to bring him down from behind. Still above average speed.

0:00: Jefferson does a great job of scrambling, extending the play, hitting receiver on the mark for a big gain on the run.

4^th quarter

14:59: Randle targeted in the end zone again, another good play by the defensive back to deflect it. Derrius Brooks is doing a solid job on him.

13:52: Blackwell on a good 2^nd level block on a rushing touchdown.

13:43: Rainey falls forward for a gain of 1 or so.

13:01: Rainey to the outside in little space for 2 yards.

11:48: Blackwell opens a big hole for the back.

10:16: Blackwell with a good cut block.

5:28: Rainey dances up the middle for a few.

4:50: Rainey finds a small hole, dives forward, almost converts 2^nd and 6. Just short.

4:12: Not a big hole for Rainey at all, finds enough room to dive forward for the 1^st on 3^rd and 1 up the middle.

3:37: Rainey good explosion on the outside for a gain of 7 or so, wiped out by an illegal motion penalty.

3:02: Rainey up the middle, one cut, finds a seam, good run, gets extra yards with a stiff arm for 12 or so on 1^st and 15. 15 extra yards on a late hit out of bounds.

1:55: Rainey tackled for a loss of 17 on a designed running back pass, still good effort breaking several tackles to try to extend the play before taking the “sack.”

0:00: Bobby Rainey is one of college football’s leading rushers with 1695 yards and 13 touchdowns on 369 carries in 2011 and 1649 yards and 15 touchdowns on 340 carries in 2010. In this one, he was facing one of the toughest run defenses in the league, LSU. Rainey’s final total was 85 yards on 28 carries, but he had one 7 yard carry brought back by penalty and lost another 17 yards on a play that was really a sack as it was a designed pass. Take those into account and he rushed for 109 yards on 28 carries (3.89 YPA).

Compare that to some of the totals of some of the other NFL prospects at future NFL prospects at running back that LSU has faced and Rainey stacks up pretty well. LaMichael James had 54 yards and a score on 18 carries (3.00 YPA). Vick Ballard had 38 yards on 10 carries (3.80 YPA). Tauren Poole had 70 yards and a score on 19 carries (3.68 YPA). Michael Dyer had 60 yards on 12 carries (5.00 YPA). Trent Richardson had 89 yards on 23 carries (3.87 YPA). Compare to their season total, 2.61 YPA (3^rd in Division 1) and 85.46 yards total (3^rd in division 1) and Rainey had a good game that will weaken the “he never played anyone” criticism that will be surrounding him come draft season.

Rainey did a good job of getting positive yardage on almost every carry. He did have two carries for more than a loss of a yard or so, but on one he was had by an unpicked up blitz as soon as he got the ball and on the other he actually broke several tackles trying to extend the play on a halfback pass. However, he lacked big play ability in this one and he rarely went over 5 yards or so. Some of this had to do with LSU’s stingy run defense. On several occasions, it looked as if he would break loose, but great individual efforts by LSU’s defensive players prevented that. However, he seemed to lack explosiveness and he didn’t show a ton of fight. He’s got good vision, but he goes down on first contact too much for my taste, at least in this game. He was also taken out on the goal line on several occasions.

Rainey also struggled with blitz pickup. He showed himself to be a willing and a capable blocker, but on blitzes, he really had trouble reading where the pressure was coming from and picking it up, leading to a sack and a quarterback hit, though not entirely his fault. Rainey comes from the Sun Belt where he doesn’t see a lot of exotic defensive schemes and plays so it makes sense he’d be inexperienced in blitz pickup. Nonetheless, it’s something he’ll need to work on.

Western Kentucky’s offense was run heavy throughout the game. That’s their style of play. They run the same run heavy West Coast offense that Stanford and the San Francisco 49ers run, but without the luxury of having someone like Andrew Luck, so obviously they run a lot. Their best offensive player also happens to be their back. They didn’t pass much in this game, even when they were down big. Their quarterback went 11 of 24 for 97 yards and a pick. He had another pick by Brandon Taylor wiped out by penalty. The pick that counted was on a forced ball to Rainey.

Morris Claiborne had yet another near flawless game in coverage. He was thrown away from all game and only allowed 1 completion when he slipped on a curl route covering Rainey split out wide. Slipping seems to be a trend for Claiborne, but other than that, he remains a near perfect cornerback prospect and should be a top 10 pick in April.

Rainey was Western Kentucky’s 2^nd leading receiver with 2 catches for 15 yards. He had the aforementioned play against Claiborne where he ran a very nice curl route and got a reception against one of the best cornerbacks in the league. He was frequently lined up split out wide or in the slot, where he had his 2^nd catch. His team has a lot of confidence in him as a pass catcher and a route runner doing that and he proved that to me in this one. On the season, Rainey is actually his team’s 2^nd leading receiver with 36 catches for 361 yards and 4 scores.

Overall, Rainey had a good game, but he’s far from a perfect prospect. Lack of tough competition does still hurt him coming out of the Sun Belt, even with a good game here. There will also be questions about why he couldn’t get a scholarship at a major college program coming out of high school. Also, his lack of experience against exotic defenses and blitzes will hurt him at the next level. He’s a good in between the tackles runner and has solid speed, but lacks initial explosiveness and needs to show more fight. He’s a great receiver and a willing blocker and extremely proven against lesser competition, but one does have to wonder how he’ll respond in the NFL after 709 carries in the last 2 seasons. He’s also 24, which hurts him some. He looks like a late rounder at the moment.

Offensively for LSU, it was a run heavy attack once again, especially with a big lead for most of the game. They rushed for 294 yards and 4 scores on the ground on 40 carries, with 4 different players getting 5 or more carries, including quarterback Jordan Jefferson. The offensive line played well, including left guard Will Blackwell.

Blackwell was named an AP All-American 2nd teamer, but is not projected much higher than the mid to late rounds because of his lack of size at 6-4 290 and his lack of athleticism to make up for it, but he showed himself to be a good run blocker in this one. He’s got great technique and is a proven college football player and had a great game here, albeit against weak competition. However, he’s been opening up holes for this team all year, even against Alabama and could be a mid to late round steal for a zone blocking team that doesn’t mind smaller offensive linemen. Run blocking is his forte, while pass protection was actually a bit of a mixed back for LSU who didn’t pass much in this game. He also did not look that athletic.

LSU’s passing game was effective as well, just not used all that much out of lack of necessity. Jordan Jefferson had a great game going 8 of 14 for 169 yards and a score and that doesn’t tell the whole story. He had one deep ball dropped and another deflected by a great play by the defensive back. In general, LSU receivers dropped about 2 or 3 or so of his 6 incompletions. He had at least a handful of impressive NFL caliber throws and showed a strong arm with great accuracy on the deep ball, including one where he looked like Big Ben, extending the play and throwing accurately deep on the run. I know it wasn’t the toughest of defenses and Western Kentucky had to sell out on the run, but those throws looked like they would have been big completions against any defense. He threw very well.

Consistency is the problem for him. He looked absolutely awful when I spotlighted him against Georgia, going 5 of 13 for 30 yards and looking very confused by Georgia’s talented 3-4 defense. He doesn’t have the best grasp of the mental parts and the technique parts of the game and accuracy generally is a problem for him. In this game, he had one brain fart moment when he took a safety, but generally he has like 2 or 3 at least. He’s also got the off the field stuff after being arrested to start the season. He’s a winner, but he’s got a great supporting cast.

His numbers in 3 years are decent, but not great. In 2009, he completed 61.5% of his passes for an average of 7.3 YPA with 17 touchdowns to 7 picks. In 2010, he regressed completing just 56.5% for 6.8 YPA and 7 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. This year, he is competing 60.2% of for an average of 8.2 YPA and 6 touchdowns to 1 pick for undefeated LSU. There’s definitely upside here. He’s got an NFL frame and an NFL arm and definitely flashes on tape, but he’s nothing more than a late round developmental prospect.

Jefferson’s favorite target was Reuben Randle. He had 3 catches for 76 yards and a touchdown and was a frequent red zone target of Jefferson. He had 2 touchdowns deflected and almost scored on another play that he was just short of the goal line on. Conceivably, he could have had 4 touchdowns in this game. On the season, the 6-4 junior has 50 catches for 904 yards and 8 touchdowns on a conservative offense and definitely flashes on top, but I still contend he would be best off returning to school for his senior year. Consistency is a problem for him and he’s far from a finished product.