LSU football: Which players earned their stripes against FSU?

LSU football was defeated by Florida State on Sunday by a score of 24-23. It was a heartbreaking loss for the Tigers, who showed so much heart to come back in the fourth quarter with adversity staring them in the face. While there were many things to improve on in the game, there were also a lot of positives to take away from Brian Kelly’s first game in charge.

The offense put together a couple of masterfully-orchestrated drives in crunch time. The defense bent—but didn’t break—throughout most of the game. Even though things didn’t always click at the right time, there were a plethora of encouraging signs from each position group. This is highlighted by the fact that, even though everything that could’ve gone wrong on the evening did, LSU was still able to put itself in a position to win at the end. These positive performances must be appreciated amidst all of the negativity flying around social media post-game.

Which LSU football players earned their stripes against Florida State?

Following each one of the Tigers’ games this season, I will be handing out awards to the best individual performers from the previous contest. These players will “earn their stripes” for their positive play on the field, regardless of the overall result. I will select three of the team’s players who I believed played the best games and talk a bit more about why they were chosen.

Here are three LSU players who earned their stripes in the loss to the Seminoles:

Major Burns (S)

A lot of the talk about the secondary heading into the season focused on safety Jay Ward and the transfer cornerbacks. Very little was said about Major Burns in the build-up to the Florida State game, but his name became one for ESPN’s Joe Tessitore spoke often on Sunday.

Simply put, Burns was everywhere against the Seminoles. The Georgia transfer was the joint-leader (alongside Ward) for tackles on the Tigers’ defense with eight in total (six solo tackles). He also registered two tackles for loss, which led the team. Sunday night may have raised some questions in a couple of key position, but both of LSU’s safety positions are locked up with some solid defensive backs. Is that really a surprise though? After all, it’s DBU we’re talking about.