Welcome everyone to another edition of #4Downs!
1st Down: Forget the passing game
LSU’s win over Eastern Michigan wasn’t what any of the fans at Death Valley expected Saturday night. But if there was one thing to take away from this game, it’s that LSU should just keep doing what they’ve been doing and that’s dominate on the ground. I’ve said that LSU needs to be able to show that they can pass for several weeks. Last week’s game against Syracuse was a prime example of how the passing game could help when you don’t have a player like Fournette on the field. This week was the exact opposite. Harris had an awful performance against one of the worst teams in the FBS, going 4-of-15 for 80 yards and an interception late in the first half. Last week, I mentioned that a game like Harris had last week could be a big confidence builder, but with a performance like this against a bad team like Eastern Michigan, perhaps the Tigers should be changing their plans about having a balanced attack.
2nd Down: Eat, Sleep, Fournette, Repeat
Another week, another 200-yard performance. Fournette is making a strong case for the Heisman becoming the only player in SEC history to have back-to-back-to-back 200-yard games. He is the biggest reason for LSU’s success and has come close the last two weeks to breaking Alley Broussard’s single-game record. This is why perhaps the Tigers should not be throwing as much and give it to Number 7 as many times as possible.
3rd Down: Defense Played Well In Second Half
Through three games, it seemed that the Tigers defense played the first half and came out flat for the second half. Perhaps it was because of a sense of urgency to not get upset in Death Valley, but the Tigers defense played fairly well, getting three interceptions, one of which was taken to the house in the fourth quarter. This is what was expected of the Tigers heading into the season.
4th Down: Too Many Drops
One big issue the Tigers had and definitely had a factor as to how the passing game wasn’t there was that a good percentage of passes were dropped. This could’ve been a blowout if not for this. The Tigers wideouts will be spending a lot of time in practice this week to correct this.
-Clint Domingue