The LSU football team started the season with a dud.
Despite holding a 17-14 lead at halftime, Brian Kelly’s team would fall 45-24 to Florida State in Sunday night’s highly-anticipated Top 10 matchup down in Orlando.
Here are three takeaways from the season-opening loss.
1) THE SECONDARY IS STILL SO-SO
LSU’s biggest question mark heading into the season was the team’s secondary. Would transfers from Syracuse (Deuce Chestnut), Southeastern Louisiana (Zy Alexander), and McNeese-Marshall (Andre Sam) be able to fill the holes in the back end? The results were so-so in Sunday night’s contest. The good was the play of Sam who didn’t surrender a single reception and Chestnut had a great interception. The bad? The rest of the group got burned by FSU’s wide receivers Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson who combined for 16 receptions, 226 yards, and three touchdowns. A program that prides itself on being DBU will need to improve in the weeks ahead.
2) O-LINE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS
The numbers would suggest that LSU’s offensive line had a pretty good game on Sunday night as the Tigers rushed for 113 yards averaged 4.2 yards per carry, and passed for an additional 347 yards. According to Pro Football Focus, LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels was pressured 16 times (four by Will Campbell alone) by the FSU’s vaunted front seven and was sacked four times. He also accounted for 56 percent of the Tigers’ rushing yards (64). The offensive line was supposed to be a strength this season but it is still a work in progress.
3) DANIELS NOT THE PROBLEM
In football, the starting quarterback always gets too much credit for a win and too much blame for a loss. Despite what some may say, LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels is not to blame for what happened on Sunday night. He may not have been his best outing but he still managed to put up 437 yards of total offense, led the team in rushing, and completed passes to six different wide receivers. He did this despite being constantly pressured and having receivers drop three passes.
LSU (0-1) returns to action this Saturday when it hosts Grambling State at Tiger Stadium. Pregame begins at 4:30 p.m. and kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and you can listen to it live on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles — Southwest Louisiana’s Sports Station.