Welcome everyone to the latest edition of #4Downs where I break down what went right and what went wrong for the LSU Tigers. This week, it’s LSU’s loss to Florida.
1st Down: Unoriginal Red Zone Offense
The LSU Tigers have been criticized for an unoriginal and poor offense in the final years of the Les Miles era. It reared its ugly head at the most inopportune times, especially when they got within 20 yards of the endzone only scoring one touchdown. It looked like a very conservative offense on the final drive where they got within the one yard line and got stopped twice on the same exact play. Add that with only two scores on five chances from the redzone is the biggest reason why they lost this game.
2nd Down: Thomas Picks Up Slack
While the offense was poor, the defense showed up and did their job, especially in the case of Dwayne Thomas. Thomas came in and helped fill the void that was left by Kendall Beckwith who left the game with an injury. He may not have had many tackles, but when he did they came at the right time with some nice tackles that turned the tide. It was more of what has been expected from the defense especially when you look at their losses throughout the season, allowing only three scores in their four losses. While it looks good for Dave Aranda and this defense, it shows that the Tigers offense isn’t able to capitalize on this great play on the other side of the ball.
3rd Down: Fournette Should Not Have Played
Before kickoff, the word on the internet was that Leonard Fournette wouldn’t be playing. But after a midfield scuffle between the two teams, Fournette came out. In most cases, a player being angry is the right amount of motivation for a player to have a fantastic game. Sadly, this game wasn’t one of those as he only had 43 yards on 12 carries. It really handcuffed this LSU offense into being more conservative and opting to run the ball a lot more than passing it. Sometimes it’s best to not allow a player to play despite what he’s done for the program.
4th Down: Coach O’s Chances Take Nosedive
After this game, the chances for Coach O becoming the head coach on a more permanent basis took quite the nosedive. However, it’s not entirely his fault if you look at the situation he was given. He was put in four weeks into the season after it seemed like Les Miles would have been fired last season if not for the fact that the front office put all their eggs in one basket. It really has handcuffed the offense because you can’t introduce brand new offensive schemes to a team and expect them to learn it in a few days. I’ve been on the fence about this team’s future when it comes to head coach, but I’m leaning towards Jimbo Fisher now. Orgeron is a case of a good coordinator but not head coach material for the future of LSU.
-Clint Domingue