Welcome everyone to the latest edition of #4Downs, where I break what went right and what went wrong for the LSU Tigers! This week, I look at LSU’s wet and wild win over Tennessee in Neyland Stadium.
1st Down: Making Most of Opportunities
The Tigers looked like they couldn’t get out of first gear offensively in the wild matchup against Tennessee. The saving grace for LSU was the Vols punt return game was incredibly poor with two muffed punts in the first half.
Those two turnovers were crucial for LSU as they really couldn’t get anything going at that point and ended up with incredible field position and got points off of those turnovers. Anytime a team can make mistakes like that, taking advantage of it is always going to be crucial.
2nd Down: Bringing the Heat
While the offense had a hard time getting going, the defense was performing at a respectable clip, especially when getting behind the line. The sack numbers were okay with the highlight being Kevin Toliver getting a solo sack for a seven yard loss, but it was the TFL numbers that pop off the final stats. The Tigers finished with seven tackles for loss, including 2.5 for Devin White.
With the coaching carousel about to go into full swing, it’ll be something for LSU fans to keep an eye on if Dave Aranda is courted to be the head coach for one of the many jobs that will be available.
3rd Down: Backyard Football
Saturday night in Knoxville was strange. You had one of the goalposts break, part of the scoreboard fly into the stands, and a bird fly into the middle of torrential downpour.
However, head coach Ed Orgeron embraced the chaos, mentioning that it was just like playing backyard football when he was a kid. I don’t know what kind of pickup games were going on in Larose, Louisiana when Coach O was a kid, but this was a wild ballgame. You have to give credit to LSU for being able to weather all the elements going on inside of Neyland Stadium and getting a decent victory over the Volunteers.
4th Down: Offense Did What It Had to Do
Going back to the offense, it’s hard to ask Danny Etling to do a lot with all the external factors going on, but the defense did what it needed to do get the win and that’s all you need to get if you’re a fan of the Tigers.
The run game performed very well with 200 rushing yards and four touchdowns, including a touchdown run from Etling. LSU is surely glad that they won’t have to make a trip back to the stadium anytime soon after everything that happened there.
-Clint Domingue