The LSU football team lost its week one game against the USC Trojans, which puts the LSU Tigers behind once again in terms of making the College Football Playoff. The Tigers now face the uphill battle of an SEC schedule with minimal mistakes. The loss is disappointing because it feels like Groundhog Day when the Tigers felt like the better team on Sunday.
Before the game, defense was the biggest concern as LSU went through a massive shakeup of the coaching staff. Before this game, everyone was predicting a high-scoring game despite both teams losing Heisman quarterbacks.
The defense has taken a lot of criticism in the loss, but the blame it receives is unjustified. If fans had been told before the game that the Tigers would hold USC to 13 points through three quarters and USC would only score 27 points, we would have believed it any day of the week. If we had been told that LSU would hold USC to 3-9 on third downs and 0-1 on fourth downs, we would have been thrilled. The Tigers even held USC to just 3 yards per carry in the running attack, as expected.
LSU had ten possessions in this football game and only managed to score two touchdowns on four of them. The Tigers continue to struggle rushing, which was a recurring theme under Brian Kelly, as the team only averaged 4.5 yards per carry. If you take John Emery Jr. out of the game, LSU only averaged and the Tigers’ average dropped to 3.5 yards per carry. If you had told you before the game that LSU’s best rusher was Emery Jr., you wouldn’t have believed it.
Garrett Nussmeier limited turnovers, which was the biggest concern, as he only intercepted the ball when the game was decided. In the passing attack, LSU picked up a ton of yards, but with meaningless results, as Nussmeier threw for 304 yards. The Tigers lacked explosive plays, as only Kyren Lacy and Aaron Anderson made big plays, while Lacy didn’t catch the ball in the second half.
This team clearly lacks an identity in the red zone, which is the biggest concern right now. We’ve heard all offseason about how dominant the tight ends are; we haven’t seen the group on the field together in the red zone yet. The team will get better in the red zone as the chemistry improves with Nussmeier as the starter and the team has four easier games to work things out.
Holding a Lincoln Riley defense under thirty points is a great play for any defensive coordinator. However, the defense was also put in some tough spots by high returns, penalties, and a lack of sustained offense in the second half. There is a clear development on the defensive side of the football and that is something to be excited about as the season progresses.
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