One other week, one other flop from the LSU Tigers offense. Solely this time, it value them.
On Saturday, No. 4 LSU (4-1, 1-1 in SEC) fell in its first highway SEC recreation of the season at No. 13 Ole Miss Rebels (5-0, 3-0 in SEC), 24-19. For the fourth time in as many video games towards FBS competitors this season, the offense did not do a lot, ending with 254 whole yards of offense, in comparison with 480 from Ole Miss.
Offensive ineptitude has been a season-long downside
Everybody has had a hand within the dismal begin to the season, which has seen LSU common 19.8 factors per recreation towards FBS opponents. Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, a preseason Heisman contender, has regressed after throwing for 4,052 yards in 2024. His accuracy continues to be a problem, and it value LSU a probable landing when he underthrew a cross to wideout Chris Hilton Jr. on a deep goal within the third quarter. LSU picked up a cross interference penalty on the play, however ended the drive settling for a discipline aim.
The offensive line was an enormous downside towards the Rebels, persistently conceding strain with three-man fronts, permitting Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding to drop eight in protection to remove passing lanes. The unit additionally didn’t open up operating avenues for the speeding assault, with LSU averaging 2.6 yards per carry, gaining 57 yards on 22 makes an attempt.
The shortage of offensive manufacturing has adopted LSU all season and will derail what till Saturday had been a wonderful season from the protection. Ole Miss’s 480 yards have been essentially the most allowed by the Tigers this 12 months. The protection struggled towards the Rebels’ tempo, and the offense did not assist by failing to increase drives. Ole Miss ran 28 extra performs than LSU, which completed 2-of-11 on third downs. Per Stat Broadcast, LSU averaged 8.1 yards to go on third down and was 0-of-4 on third downs of not less than 9 yards.
If the Tigers have been capable of play complementary soccer, they’d be capable to salvage the season. In spite of everything, one loss is certainly not a demise sentence in at present’s school soccer. However nothing about LSU’s offense suggests it is able to withstanding the pains of the upcoming SEC schedule, which incorporates video games towards No. 9 Texas A&M (4-0, 1-0 in SEC), No. 17 Alabama (2-1) and No. 7 Oklahoma (4-0, 1-0 in SEC). Even a Week 8 journey to No. 18 Vanderbilt (5-0, 1-0 in SEC) may very well be daunting contemplating how nicely it is appeared on offense in current weeks.
Until LSU figures out a option to generate offense, it could actually as soon as once more be anticipated to wilt by November, very like final season when it misplaced three consecutive video games through the second half of the 12 months. That might be a brutal end result for a crew able to a lot extra. However after a no-show at Ole Miss, it is honest to surprise if LSU’s offense will ever arrive.
