Welcome everyone to the latest game preview for the LSU Tigers! This week, we take a look at LSU’s matchup against the Troy Trojans.
Last Week: The last time both teams took the field, it resulted in narrow victories. In the case of the Trojans, they wound up getting a 22-17 victory in the final minute of the ballgame with a 23-yard pass to Deondre Douglas from Brandon Silvers. While the final result was never in doubt, the Syracuse Orange made it fairly competitive, getting it within two point with five minutes left in regulation. However, the Tigers fought back with a 20 yard touchdown run from DJ Chark to come away with a 35-26 victory.
Last Meeting: The last time these two faced off, LSU came away with a fairly convincing 40-31 win over Troy back in 2008. LSU has won both of the meetings against Troy.
Storylines to Watch:
Can Two-QB System Work? Throughout the preseason, it seemed like we’d see freshman Myles Brennan in some of these non-conference matchups sooner rather than later. Heading into the last of these games, LSU is now moving away from having only Danny Etling out there as the quarterback and wanting to see his future starter get more reps.
That raises a question of can this kind of system work. When you look at the last time this happened, the experiment failed largely due to the second quarterback not having much experience playing college football. The big difference is that Brennan has gotten a lot of experience in three of the four games LSU has played and that could help down the line if he’s needed in a more significant role.
Simplified: LSU’s offensive line has been just a little too flashy this season. Too many times we’ve seen some pre-snap motions and that isn’t affecting anybody through four games. In fact, it might be helping them get more pressure on the QB.
On Monday, head coach Ed Orgeron talked about beginning to simplify things and that might be the best thing the offense has heard all season. When you look at what works best at all levels of sports is keeping things relatively simple. Adding bells, whistles, and gimmicks to an offense that isn’t quite built to do the things that the coaching staff wants them to do is a process in futility. Basically, LSU following the K.I.S.S. method could help solve some of the issues that the offensive line has had and in turn improving the offensive results.
Don’t Sleep on Trojans: The Trojans seem poised to be doing big things this season with the amount of returning players they have on the roster. Combine that with what has happened in the two meetings with LSU, you could expect this team to keep it competitive throughout.
The Trojans would love to prove that they can do a lot more than dominate in the Sun Belt. Look at how competitive it wound up being with Syracuse. No such thing as a sure thing for LSU this weekend.
LSU Will Win If:
The Tigers will improve to 4-1 before the toughest stretch of the season if they can practice what they preach with a simpler approach to the offense. Being too flashy with pre-snap movement hasn’t worked, so why not go back to the basics?
Troy Will Win If;
The Trojans will pull off the upset on Saturday if the front seven can cause pressure all game long. Look at what Syracuse did on Saturday and try and duplicate what they did and you could see an upset happen.
-Clint Domingue