Spotlight #1: LSU CB Morris Claiborne
Spotlight #2: Florida DT Jaye Howard
1st quarter
7:10: Jaye Howard is able to get into the backfield on the goal line, but he’s not able to bring down the ball carrier on his first effort. On his second effort, he gets a combined tackle with another defender.
4:37: Claiborne explosive on a combined tackle for loss. He hasn’t been thrown on today yet.
3:51: Claiborne has a run go to his side, and he’s pushed out of the way for a big gain by the speedy Chris Rainey.
2:15: Claiborne is finally thrown on, quarterback goes deep against him and its way overthrown. Claiborne had good position on the receiver anyway. Nice job.
1:08: Howard gets completely outmuscled. He’s supposed to be the nose tackle for Florida, but he’s having major trouble tonight with LSU’s physical offensive line.
2nd quarter
10:45: Howard outmuscled again. He’s occasionally getting double teamed, but he’s been getting dominated all night.
0:00: Claiborne has only been targeted once this half and it was an overthrow and a good coverage. Maybe they’ll throw on him more in the 2nd half.
3rd quarter
9:55: Claiborne thrown on, leaves a guy wide open, but the throw is bad.
6:04: Howard with an off sides penalty. He’s been pulled from the game for the time being. He’s having an awful game.
0:40: Claiborne shoves a guy out of bounds while running a route, Claiborne stumbles doing so and the receiver, Andre DuBose, runs straight downfield for a touchdown, no penalty on DuBose because he was forced out. This is just a stupid play by Claiborne.
0:36: Claiborne with a mere 14 yard return on the kickoff.
0:31: Howard is back in.
4th quarter
12:23: Morris Claiborne could be the first cornerback off the board in the 2012 NFL Draft, but I’m not sure if he’s even the best cornerback on LSU’s defense. True sophomore Tyrann Mathieu with yet another impressive play, this time a pick. He’s undersized, 5-9 175, but there’s no question he’s one of the best defensive backs in the nation at the age of 19.
9:00: Another talented LSU defensive back, Brandon Taylor has a pass deflection here. He also has a pick and a few nice run plays. He’ll be spotlighted at a later date.
2:06: I haven’t said a lot about Jaye Howard because he’s sucked and gotten benched for a bit. However, Howard is in on a tackle here.
0:00: Jaye Howard is the nose tackle in Florida’s 3-4, but he just got completely overpowered by LSU’s physical offensive line. He sucked tonight and was even benched after a penalty for a few series. He made very few plays tonight and didn’t take on multiple blockers well like he was supposed to. His stock has to be falling after this game and as a guy who was already a day 3 prospect, he could fall into the 6th or 7th round or later if he keeps this up.
As for Morris Claiborne, he made one stupid play that allowed a touchdown, but he played well regardless. However, Florida has so many struggles at quarterback that I don’t know if this was a fair test for Claiborne. The top 3 cornerbacks in this class as Stephon Gilmore, Claiborne, and Dre Kirkpatrick, in no particular order and I’ve spotlighted all 3 but against weak tests. I’m going to make an effort to watch all 3 again, though not spotlighting them, against teams with good quarterbacks. LSU plays Tennessee next week and Tennessee’s quarterback Jim Bray is great. That will be a better test.
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