Who is LSU?

Statistically, LSU has the worst offense in the conference. You knew it was bad, but not this bad. The Tigers are only churning out 325 yards a game. EVEN VANDERBILT IS GAINING MORE YARDS PER GAME!!! Compare that with two years ago when LSU was averaging 439 yards a game. What’s the problem?

1. The offensive line is not very good. Cleary this is NOT a power running football team. The holes have not been there. The longest run this season was 21 yards by Charles Scott. We are one quarter of the way through the season and Scott has ZERO TD’s.

2. Jordan Jefferson has a LONG way to go to become an effective SEC QB. The call went out last week to see the deep passing game. It doesn’t exist. From a purely ascetic point of view, Jefferson throws and UGLY ball. That quail is wobbling all over the place. From an execution stand point, he doesn’t put enough air under the ball on deep passes to let the receivers run under it. His timing is off as well; he waits too long many times to throw deep passes. The game plan specifically called for a number of deep routes and he couldn’t deliver.

3. Jefferson’s shortcomings are not debilitating to the offense per se, but the offensive line has got to begin to gel. If LSU is to run a ball control offense focused on running and short to intermediate passes, the O-line must get better at run blocking.

4. Let me throw some numbers at you. LSU ranks 43rd in the country in yards per rushing attempt. The Tigers rank 80th in yards per passing attempt. Contrast that with Alabama which ranks 12th and 16th respectively.

5. Here are some more numbers. Auburn is averaging 79 offensive plays per game. LSU is averaging 63. LSU is 11th in the SEC in offensive plays per game. The Tigers’ slower tempo on offense plays a large part of this, but only a part.

6. The play calling and game planning thus far this season have been very interesting. In his post game comments, Doug Moreau mentioned that LSU does not have an identity yet on offense. I agree. He went on further to say that the LSU staff must have a method to their madness; he just didn’t know what it was.

7. Let me take a stab at it. I have a feeling that the coaching staff is running certain plays to see how Jefferson does. Obviously they want to move the ball, but I think the staff may be taking a “big picture” view of the season. Let’s see what we are good at; let’s see what works, but don’t tip our hand too much. Leave the other staffs guessing what we will do when we get to the heart of the season. The only way this was possible was because the schedule set up very nicely. Bring the offense along slowly and stay patient. Mississippi State will be a challenge, so I expect a more “well defined” game plan. But don’t look for the offense to really open up until Georgia.

Defensively, the Tigers are looking a little better, but there are issues.

1. The D-line does not generate a pass rush. LSU is ranked 67th in the country in sacks and 70th in tackles for loss. The defensive line has not been as good as I expected.

2. As I mentioned last week, much is expected of the LB’s in this defense. Not surprisingly, the top three tacklers on the team are Harry Coleman, Kelvin Sheppard and Perry Riley. There seems to be improvement each week with this group.

3. LSU is ranked 19th is pass efficiency defense. The Tigers have 4 INT’s already as compared to 8 all of last season. Opponents are only completing 50% of their passes against the Tigers.

4. The defense has forced only seven ‘3 and outs’ this season. Compare that with Alabama which forced North Texas into seven ‘3 and outs’ this weekend alone and 16 for the season.

5. The Tigers are +3 in turnover margin.

Special teams were solid but not spectacular.

1. LSU ranks dead last in KO returns in all of college football. But the Tigers’ average starting field position after KO’s is the 32 yard line. I don’t know how that stacks up against others in the conference, but it is not terrible by any means.

2. It is VERY good to know that Jasper can hit a 52 yard FG.

3. Helton seems to have found his groove punting. He kicked 4 times for an average of 44 yards per punt. Bravo! As an interesting side note, LSU is tied for first in the nation for fewest punts on the season.

4. Holliday ranks 44th nationally in punt returns.

So what does all this mean?

I don’t think we can read this team yet. LSU could finish anywhere between 12-0 (try not to laugh) and 8-4 (try not to cry). Clearly this team has plenty of potential, but they must continue to improve to achieve anything this season. A win this weekend would push the Tigers to 2-0 in the conference and 4-0 overall, exactly where they were last season. My gut says LSU probably finishes 9-3, grinding out victories all season.  The matchup with Georgia on October 3rd will be a measuring stick game.  Let’s hold judgment until then.