Searching the web, I was hard pressed to find anyone picking the Tigers to win this weekend. As usual, the bloggers, writers and talking heads all fall in love with flashy QB’s, speedy running backs and flavor of the month coaches. But once again, line play dictated the outcome of a matchup of heavy weights.
Oregon’s vaunted running game racked up only 95 yards on 28 carries. The Ducks averaged 286 yards a game last season. But with three new starters versus LSU’s extremely talented defensive front, Oregon could not run the ball with any consistency. On the other side, LSU’s offensive line gradually began exerting itself eventually leading to three rushing touchdowns and 175 yards. Again the Ducks only returned two of the defensive front seven.
Turnovers certainly played a role in the game with LSU finishing plus three in that category. But the Tigers were able to convert behind a solid and experienced offensive line.
Jarrett Lee didn’t play great, but he did what the coaches asked of him. He converted on some key plays and didn’t kill LSU. There were a number of drops and he had a really nice deep completion to Beckham called back by a penalty. The big thing was no interceptions. (Here is a great link on Lee if you are a stats geek like me.) Hopefully as he season progresses he will become more confident and grow under Kragthorpe’s tutelage. With Jefferson out of the picture, Lee will get the vast majority of reps and work.
Tyrann Mathieu is a flat out ‘Balla.’ He just makes plays.
What you saw Saturday in Dallas is Miles’ vision of LSU football, running out of the I-formation, play action passes, three wides sprinkled in and plenty of action for the tight-ends. LSU’s goal is probably to have 180 yards passing and 220 yards rushing per game. With a fantastic defense and good special teams, the Tigers can win a lot of games with that formula.
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