Thoughts after 3 games

LSU_4_LIFE

I'm just sayin....
Maybe I’m too excited, maybe my expectations were too high after the Texas game, but I was angry in that first half last night and at other points in the game. I Poured my drink a little stronger at halftime. I know it sounds crazy after a 65-14 win, but since it’s championships we’re after we have to always talk about getting better. Our coaches and players agree.

Concerns
Reasons (excuses)
Freak Out Meter
Positive

Concern: Lack of a pass rush. Only 1 sack against NWST and it came in garbage time against their backup QB.
Reason/Excuse: we were missing 3 starters up front and didn’t really bring many creative blitz packages that I can remember seeing. We came out a little flat which was to be expected after last weeks monumental win and didn’t take our opponent seriously.
Freak Out Meter: Not super high right now because of the missing players up front and the fact we sacked Sam Ehlinger 5 times in a tough game against a good o-line while Texas was getting away with blatant holds (fun fact, Texas only had 1 penalty going into the 4th quarter of that game). Also keep in mind we pretty much lost our DL coach prior to the start of the season. It’s possible these players could be getting over-coached on pass rush technique with the multiple coaches/opinions on staff. But to me, just push off the ball alone looks to be a real problem.
Positive: Our Run Defense looks suffocating. Which could be an irrelevant stat line because teams will be passing more against us due to knowing they have to keep up with our offense, playing from behind and trying to stay in a shootout. But none the less, it appears to be very difficult to move the ball on the ground against this LSU defense.

Concern: Pass Defense. Our zone coverage has been eaten alive. To be expected against an elite QB and great playcaller at Texas. But against NWST, it was alarming. Zero interceptions throughout the 1st 3 games and our all American safety has been pretty quiet. Not to mention, Missed tackles....
Reason/Excuse: Again, impossible to match last weeks emotion and intensity so we looked flat. The missed tackles last week by Delpit were not fun to watch and makes you question if he is looking ahead. I think our pass defense concern is a 5 part reason. 1) I think Aranda came into this season trying to get cute or as he called it “creative” with his defense. Trying to confuse offenses has in turn just confused our athletes with some of his coverages, or so it appears. 2) We’ve changed our entire style. We are not a ground and pound eat up the clock football team any more. Which means teams are being less conservative and more aggressive attacking us through the air and it’s going to take some getting used to. 3) A lot like #2, our defense is playing more snaps and getting more balls thrown at them. Obviously more passes means more opportunities for the offense to hit big plays and more snaps means more fatigue. 4) I think we are lacking a true captain out there. With Devin White gone and his replacement suspended 2 of our 1st 3 games we have yet to get in sync with a true leader at MLB. I’m ok passing the keys to Clark as he progresses. He is showing some real potential. 5) Back to concern #1, poor pass rush. This is what makes Clemson and Bama so dangerous. Their ability to get after the QB. I don’t care if it’s Texas or NWST. You give these QB’s and WR’s enough time, and someone somewhere on the field will get open.
Freak Out Meter: Again, not yet that concerned because of the missing players and lack of time we’ve had our starters on the field together. I think we have too much talent and too good a DC to not get this corrected.
Positive: We have 2 of the best CB’s in the country and an all American safety. If anybody can switch to man coverage and risk the big play, it’s LSU. It looked like Aranda made the switch back to man last night and it looked like it worked. Will staying in man beat us from time to time, yes, but it’s pick your poison so far with this secondary and poor pass rush.

Concern: Running Game / Push from the o-line. We haven’t busted a big run yet, and at time a have looked bad at getting a push off the line. Yards per game is not great nor is yards per carry.
Reason/Excuse: Missing some guys up front certainly doesn’t help (Charles, Ingram, Thomas). Also breaking in some young RB’s who know they’re splitting carries and are all looking for the homerun every time they get their limited chance at a carry has led to some bad decisions by our RB’s. Think back to old LSU. Unless it was Guice or Fournette we didn’t start gashing teams until late in games after we had been leaning and smashing on their front seven all night. We are no longer doing that. A lot of draws and delayed handoffs makes for either big gainers or no gainers really. Also, if you have noticed, defenses are still playing 7 sometimes 8 guys up close to the line of scrimmage like they always have against us, which is one reason our passing attack is shredding them up. At some point they have to back up and thats when we can run down hill. I’ll admit though, that dancing around looking for a hole shit won’t work come SEC play. Maybe, there has just been so much emphasis on throwing the ball, we haven’t put in the effort to design better run plays? Last reason it could be, is our line is trying to adjust from either a standard pass or run block technique to an RPO block technique knowing they can’t go too far off the line of scrimmage (like they did twice on TD passes against GaSo.). That will take some time to adjust and get used to. I’m not real sure on this one. Maybe I’m just spoiled as an LSU fan and used to smashing the run. Don’t confuse this as me bitching about us now passing the ball all over the yard. I’m thoroughly enjoying that.
Freak Out Meter: More worried about this than I am the defense improving and getting fixed.
Positive: I like the CEH/TDP 1-2 punch. I think Davis-Price showed last night he deserves more touches. But I hope we get to a point where we run the ball better and start hitting the holes faster. Stop the dancing around shit. We have only played 1 true test with our entire o-line on the field and it was a shootout type game. Also, we have the #1 RB recruit in the country parked in the garage. Lastly, we have rushed for 9 touchdowns this year, so all is not all lost.

If you read this far, I’m sorry. And you’ve discovered I’m a clueless hopeful fanatic.

Geaux Tigers
 
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COTiger

Retired Old Fart
I share your concerns about the two lines. I think they are going to be major factors in how we fare when we reach the meat of the SEC schedule.
 

LSUTiga

Public Relations
We definitely have work to do but we had #18 out yesterday, among others. Not to mention it’s hard to get fired up to play such an inferior team on paper ESPECIALLY coming off of such a huge win. There were some big upsets yesterday and near misses somI’m glad we didnt screw our season up. GT lost to the Citadel, Florida dam near lost to Kentucky, South Carolina gave Bama some trouble.
 

Bengal B

Truth, Justice and the American Way
The O Line is what it is until they are at full strength with Ed Ingram back. Which they are don't an effective jod of giving Burrow time to make his throws their run blocking is a huge reason the running game hasn't been been what it should be.

Lack of a pass rush isn't too concerning considering that we had 5 sacks vs Texas, the defense was just going through the motions against a rent a win and the fact that Chaisson, Lawyer and Divinity sat out.

Does anybody know why JaMarr Chase didn't play? Graphic listing players to sit out said Coaches decision by his name.
 

LSU_4_LIFE

I'm just sayin....
Charles - Susp.
Chase - Susp.?
Moss - Injury?

Divinity - Susp.
Logan - Injury
Lawrence - Injury
Chaisson - Injury
 

dachsie

Redshirt
I may be confusing you, but was your alcohol making you call for Aranda's head last nite? A couple of you were really bashing him. I think the majority of the defense problems last nite were the number of people who were out. And where the heck was Delpit? I know he played but with a corn cob up his butt or something. He didn't do anything.
 

GREG

LSU Fan'alyst
I may be confusing you, but was your alcohol making you call for Aranda's head last nite? A couple of you were really bashing him. I think the majority of the defense problems last nite were the number of people who were out. And where the heck was Delpit? I know he played but with a corn cob up his butt or something. He didn't do anything.
Aranda has some stuff to figure out. Even with a few players out, the LSU roster is 4* and 5* laden... the star power of LSU far out-weighs the star power of Northwestern State.

I don't give two shits if LSU had all 2's in last night... going into the half up 24-14 was absolutely ridiculous. Northwestern should've never been able to move the ball the way the way did against this Defense, and then for "DBU" to give up 2 scores through the air? No excuses.

The good news is, this game was never in real jeopardy of being lost, so several key players were able to get a week off. But this Dline needs to find a way to pressure the QB and this secondary has got to learn to cover. Most importantly, this Defense needs to learn to stop shoulder bumping people and wrap them up. Their tackling fundamentals need some serious work.
 

COTiger

Retired Old Fart
How many D starters sat out last night? Four? I'm more concerned with what we do against Vandy on the road Saturday morning.
 

GREG

LSU Fan'alyst
How many D starters sat out last night? Four? I'm more concerned with what we do against Vandy on the road Saturday morning.
Vandy, Utah State, and Mississippi State don't have a snowballs chance in hell. My worry is Florida and Auburn to round out the first 2 month of football.
 

mctiger

Freshman
I may be confusing you, but was your alcohol making you call for Aranda's head last nite? A couple of you were really bashing him. I think the majority of the defense problems last nite were the number of people who were out. And where the heck was Delpit? I know he played but with a corn cob up his butt or something. He didn't do anything.
After the 2nd touchdown, NSU had 9 possessions. 6, 3 and outs, 3 first downs, 0 points allowed. The beginning was terrible, and criticism is deserved for them not coming out ready to play. But once they got focused, they did what was expected.
 

COTiger

Retired Old Fart
Vandy, Utah State, and Mississippi State don't have a snowballs chance in hell. My worry is Florida and Auburn to round out the first 2 month of football.
Then why were you and a lot of others so spun up about the ass whipping we put on Northwestern last night? Yea, we came out a little flat on D and gave up two TDs early. After that, it was no contest.
 

GREG

LSU Fan'alyst
Then why were you and a lot of others so spun up about the ass whipping we put on Northwestern last night? Yea, we came out a little flat on D and gave up two TDs early. After that, it was no contest.
This Defense played bi-polar if you compare the two halves.

It is on O's and the other staff members heads, Aranda especially to have this LSU Defense ready to go each week. They came out flat for the 1st half last night. Going into the half up 24-14 against NSU was an abomination. Yes they cleaned it up and did what they were supposed to do in the 2nd half, but if this Defense comes out flat for 2Qtrs against Florida, Auburn, Bama, and aTm... we'll be praying to only give up 14 points.

I'm of the opinion that Aranda will right the ship on D but only time will tell. We won't get a true gauge of how well he's addressed things until the Florida game.
 

COTiger

Retired Old Fart
This Defense played bi-polar if you compare the two halves.

It is on O's and the other staff members heads, Aranda especially to have this LSU Defense ready to go each week. They came out flat for the 1st half last night. Going into the half up 24-14 against NSU was an abomination. Yes they cleaned it up and did what they were supposed to do in the 2nd half, but if this Defense comes out flat for 2Qtrs against Florida, Auburn, Bama, and aTm... we'll be praying to only give up 14 points.

I'm of the opinion that Aranda will right the ship on D but only time will tell. We won't get a true gauge of how well he's addressed things until the Florida game.
If the D comes out "flat" against a SEC opponent then a ton of criticism is warranted.
 

GREG

LSU Fan'alyst
If the D comes out "flat" against a SEC opponent then a ton of criticism is warranted.
I totally agree with you.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not trying to be overly critical. I do realize we had some key guys out and it was "only" Northwestern State, but...

Even tho it was "only" Northwestern State, you still have to "get up" for these games. Look at several schools around the SEC, several have already lost these sort of rent-a-win games. Not saying LSU was ever in danger of losing, but they have to get their heads out of their collective assess. Remember the Troy game in 2017? You just can not let these kinds of teams hang around.
 

Winston1

Redshirt
So I see concerns about both lines. The O line is getting little push and making mistakes in pass protection. I saw pressure on both Joe an Brennan too often...even though N’western wasn’t blitzing.
Likewise while better against the run I saw little pressure on the QB. Both appear to still need better coaching and strength.
 
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