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, I look at their win over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.
1st Down: Helaire Breaks Out
It’s safe to say that the running back corps is fine after Saturday night’s ballgame with over 200 yards on the ground, including 136 from sophomore Clyde Edwards-Helaire. You had some question marks about the position early on with no outright beast like a Derrius Guice or Leonard Fournette.
Fast forward to now and you have a two-headed monster in full effect with Nick Brossette being the bellcow and then Edwards-Helaire having the breakout game that Coach O had wanted to see for a good while. This running back corps is in great shape as they head into the meat and potatoes of their schedule.
2nd Down: No Killer Instinct
It felt like a case of déjà vu with LSU letting their foot off the gas after getting up 24-0 with 8:22 left until halftime. There’s no reason why Louisiana Tech should get within three and they allow 21 unanswered points for the second straight ballgame.
Orgeron mentioned after the game that he’s still looking for that killer instinct and it’s a clear issue that needs to be fixed before you take on teams like Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, and Alabama.
3rd Down: Phillips Has Big Game
We already knew that Jacob Phillips was bound to have a big season after he recorded a pick-six in the season opener against the Miami Hurricanes, but seeing him rack up a total of 13 tackles including 1.5 for a loss was a bit of surprise. You usually see the box score have Devin White towards the top in terms of tackles, but he only had 11 total tackles.
We expect that kind of performance from the junior, but with Phillips we didn’t quite have that in the cards and it’s nice to see there’s another key player on the defensive front to compliment White.
4th Down: Special Teams Continues to be Highlight
Greg McMahon is an absolute guru when it comes to special teams. It sounds like a broken record, but when you’re seeing kickoffs inside Tiger Stadium go into the endzone for touchbacks after the last few years where they’d bounce out of bounds it’s a great thing to see. Another huge moment for special teams has to be the ability to get punts inside the 20-yard line.
Of the five punts that the Tigers, had, only two didn’t pin the Bulldogs deep in their own territory and one of those was a touchback. It’s an unappreciated aspect of the game and now it has our full attention after years of seeing it bite the Tigers on their backside.
Extra Point: Play the Full 60
You look at LSU’s drive chart from Saturday and you’ll see a clear moment when LSU started to get a little complacent and that was after going up 24-0. Four of the first six drives for the Tigers resulted in points on the board while the next five drives saw three punts and a fumble.
Louisiana Tech was able to get back into the ballgame because of a lack of urgency and not playing the full sixty minutes. They have a strong first half like this against a team like Alabama and then the offense can’t stay on the field for more than five minutes in a quarter, that could be a fatal blow to this team’s hopes of getting a spot in Atlanta for the SEC title game.
-Clint Domingue