Welcome everyone to another edition of #4Downs!
1st Down: Harris Under Pressure
One thing I mentioned all year is that it seemed that Harris was hitting his stride becoming more and more confident with his performance and the offensive line’s production (more on that later). But it looks like throwing the first interception of the year is messing with how he played tonight. Yes, he did go 21-34 for 271 yards, but on the other side of the coin, he was sacked at least six times. It messes with how you play the rest of the game.
2nd Down: DBU gets burnt
A defensive secondary that came into the season with so much hype has failed to live up to it on an almost weekly basis. And this week was no different. Brandon Allen may have only thrown 16 passes for 141 yards, but it’s the big plays that Arkansas had that I’m looking at. If these guys are as good as they’re built up to be, they would be able to limit the damage. But having three scores of over 50 yards is completely unacceptable.
3rd Down: Whose O-Line is it Anyway?
The LSU offensive line looked like someone sapped them of all of their energy during tonight’s matchup. Heading into this game, this line looked almost impenetrable. But they allowed almost as many sacks as they had all year in this game. This combined with some boneheaded penalties that killed drives really cost the Tigers. And it was almost as soon as the Tigers would do something good, a penalty would be committed to push them back. There’s no way that you can win games playing like that.
4th Down: Is the Writing on the Wall for Les?
After another loss in which the Tigers were dominated, could Les Miles’ days be numbered? According to many fans, it’s time to move on from Miles after 11 years. After the loss to Arkansas, who has beaten teams they weren’t supposed to beat, I’m on that side of the ship. There’s a lot of issues with this team right now, and perhaps it’s Les. LSU has kept their play calling fairly conservative in the last two matchups and only threw the ball Saturday night when they were down by three scores. Teams have scouted what LSU is doing and has been for some time. It’s time to draw up some new plays, and perhaps time to get a new head coach.