The 17-10 victory at preseason No. 4 Clemson vaulted the Tigers from No. 9 to No. 3 in the AP Poll.

Head coach Brian Kelly is looking forward to a whole bunch of other 1-0s.

“This is our mantra for the year,” Kelly said, adding that the victory at Clemson is no bigger or smaller than any of the other 11 potential 1-0s.

“I feel great about what we accomplished,” Kelly said of the opener. “We want to go 1-0 (each week), and we have to replicate all the things that we did to get to 1-0. That goal for us will be the same each and every week.”

The Tigers’ next opportunity to go 1-0 – in the home opener against Louisiana Tech on Saturday night – figures to be one of the least suspenseful.

Certainly Kelly isn’t the first coach to invoke the weekly 1-0 approach to try and get their team to focus exclusively on each week’s task.

But the approach is especially understandable for the 2025 LSU team – and especially understandable for Week 2.

The 2024 Tigers did go 1-0 in Week 2, but they didn’t demonstrate the single-minded focus that Kelly would have preferred. LSU faced an outmanned but emotionally charged in-state opponent (as Louisiana Tech will be Saturday) in Nicholls and was less than impressive in its 44-21 victory.

That game came a week after a marquee opener against USC, which the Tigers lost, and Kelly acknowledged that his team didn’t have the proper focus for the home opener.

“There’s a standard of playing football here at LSU, and that’s the standard that we’re going to have to play when we go on that field,” Kelly said. “Every Saturday there’s a standard, and our guys know what the standard is. We’re going to be demanding.

“Our expectations are that if we want to go 1-0, we have to do the same things each and every week, and we’re not moving off of that.”

Against Clemson, the Tigers played outstanding defense against the run and pass, had adequate balance on offense and played with poise throughout. They shouldn’t have much trouble replicating that at home against the Bulldogs, even though Tech had a well-rounded performance in a 24-0 victory against Southeastern Louisiana in its opener.

It’s one thing to talk publicly about going 1-0 when you’re about to face a 5-touchdown underdog in your home opener. But Kelly wasn’t shy about speaking publicly in the same way last week when his team was a 4½-point underdog.

“I knew the team that we had, a mature enough team that we could put that on them regardless of what the outcome would be,” Kelly said. “We knew 1-0 was going to be where we wanted to be. It’s just been a mindset that we’ve kept, and so the 1-0 wasn’t targeted, rubbing it in Clemson’s nose. We just want to focus one week at a time, avoid the noise, stay locked in, and do the things that we’ve been doing. Then we can get to 1-0 each week.”

Kelly plans to repeat the mantra throughout the season, and next week LSU opens SEC play when Florida comes to Baton Rouge.

He’ll no doubt point out to his team that last year’s team started 3-0 in conference play before losing 3 games in a row, then finishing with 3 straight wins. So consistency wasn’t there.

The week after the game against Florida comes a similar situation to the one arriving Saturday as another outmanned in-state opponent – Southeastern Louisiana, the team that Louisiana Tech just shut out – comes to Tiger Stadium.

Then comes a visit to No. 20 Ole Miss, and the rest of the conference schedule includes home games against South Carolina, Texas A&M and Arkansas and road games against Vanderbilt, Alabama and Oklahoma, along with a final non-conference home game against Western Kentucky.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

It’s 1-0 each step the rest of the way.

The post Starting 1-0 is a big deal for LSU, more so than most teams appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It’s been a while since the Tigers have had one of those.

But if the performance of Blake Baker’s defense represents a new standard in Baton Rouge, LSU could be a national championship contender.

In No. 9 LSU’s 17-10 victory over No. 4 Clemson on Saturday night, Baker coordinated a defense that smothered the home team’s running game and harassed and frustrated QB Cade Klubnik.

Clemson ran the ball 20 times and gained 31 yards for a 1.6-yard average. As for Klubnik, he completed just half his passes (19 of 38) for 230 yards and threw an interception and no touchdown passes. He was sacked just 2 times, but that doesn’t quantify the duress under which he operated as well as the 5 quarterback hurries do.

It was the type of performance that head coach Brian Kelly envisioned when he hired Baker, a former Tigers assistant, away from Mizzou before the 2024 season.

But Kelly never saw what he was hoping for and LSU finished 51st in the country in run defense, 59th in scoring defense, 61st in total defense and 76th in pass defense a year ago.

The Tigers didn’t have enough playmakers or depth, and things got worse when star linebacker Harold Perkins suffered a season-ending knee injury in the fourth game of the season.

Kelly still believed in Baker, but he knew his coordinator didn’t have enough tools to work with. So he rebuilt his defensive roster, leaning heavily on the transfer portal.

Of the 14 LSU defenders that made a tackle against Clemson, 7 didn’t play for the Tigers in 2024.

The infusion of talent had 2 major effects. In addition to obviously enhancing the overall talent on defense, it also made life easier for the returning leaders, such as Perkins, Whit and West Weeks, and PJ Woodland.

The impact of Perkins was most striking. He was 1 of the most decorated freshmen in the country in 2022, but fell off in 2023 and 2024 before being injured, largely because the coaching staff kept moving him around to try and mask deficiencies elsewhere on the defense.

On Saturday, Baker was secure that the players surrounding Perkins could handle their responsibilities and he allowed Perkins to be Perkins, and he resembled the player he was as a freshman.

On Clemson’s final possession of the game, Klubnik drove Clemson from its 43 to the LSU 15, but faced a 4th and 4. Baker turned Perkins loose and he chased down Klubnik, whose desperation toss fell harmlessly to the ground.

Clemson finished with 261 total yards and failed to score during the final 34-plus minutes, though it did drive into field-goal range on the first possession of the second half, but Nolan Hauser was wide right on a 48-yard field-goal attempt.

Later in the quarter Virginia Tech transfer Mansoor Delane intercepted Klubnik, the biggest highlight in a very active performance by Delane.

The point total that LSU allowed to the preseason pick to win the ACC matched the lowest total allowed last season (against South Alabama and Arkansas) and the yardage total was lower than that of each of the 13 opponents last season.

Of course there were other key contributors to the Tigers’ first victory in a season opener since their national championship season in 2019.

Garrett Nussmeier passed for 230 yards and a touchdown and did not throw an interception. Caden Durham ran for a touchdown and the rebuilt offensive line more than held its own against one of the most vaunted defensive fronts in the country.

But before Saturday night it was generally accepted that if LSU was going to return to the CFP for the first time since that last title season, it was going to require dramatic improvement by the defense.

The first performance undoubtedly showed dramatic improvement.

Kelly was quick to point out after the game that a very long season remains, and it will feature more ranked opponents.

But if that performance by the defense is indicative of what the norm will be the rest of the way, the Tigers’ ceiling has just been raised.

As good as Nussmeier was, he knew what the lead was when he opened his postgame interview.

“How about that defense?” Nussmeier said.

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But the Tigers finished the season in a way that suggests 2025 might be better, maybe even a lot better.

LSU was looking pretty good with a 6-1 record, then it lost to Texas A&M, then to Alabama, then to Florida.

Suddenly a disappointing season started to look like a disastrous season, and the Tigers’ money men started pondering whether the $60-million-plus necessary to buy out head coach Brian Kelly might be manageable.

But then Kelly’s team beat Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and a Baylor team that had won 6 consecutive games in the Texas Bowl. They finished 9-4 — a notable step back from the 10-win seasons Kelly produced in each of his first 2 seasons.

Along the way, some key players entered the transfer portal and declared for the NFL Draft. But at the same time, a bunch of players showed that LSU’s portal entrance was as well traveled as its exit.

Even though the portal produced a net loss of talent for the bowl game, the Tigers played one of their best games of the season.

Maybe most important, quarterback Garrett Nussmeier announced that he wasn’t going pro, or seeking greener pastures via the portal. Instead he was ready to seek greener pastures by sticking around. He wasn’t the only one, either. Harold Perkins announced he was returning in 2025 after injuries ended this season and led to questions about whether he had played his final snaps as a Tiger — or collegian.

So maybe the pastures in Baton Rouge are going to be greener in 2025 than they were in 2024 and maybe even greener than they were in Kelly’s first 2 seasons in 2022 and 2023.

No one knows, of course, but the last 5 weeks of 2024 provided a lot more hope for 2025 than the first 2 1/2 months did.

Though the berth in the Texas Bowl fell well short of the expectation when LSU began the season ranked No. 13 in the AP poll, the performance there was encouraging.

The high expectations for this team were based largely on the expectation that the Tigers would have one of the best offensive lines in the country. But the fact that the line wasn’t as good as billed was a major factor in the team not being as good as billed.

Tackles Will Campbell and Emery Jones Jr. skipped the bowl game, and guard Garrett Dellinger missed the last 5 games because of injury. In their absence, LSU did just fine against Baylor and head coach Dave Aranda, who was hired 5 years ago primarily because of the job he did as associate head coach and defensive coordinator for the Tigers when they won the 2019 national championship.

The makeshift line got the better of Aranda’s defense and Nussmeier thrived behind it, completing 24-of-34 for 313 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Nussmeier’s last day of 2024 was a lot like his opening day of 2024. He made his first college start 365 days earlier and completed 31-of-45 for 337 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception in a 35-31 victory against Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

Kelly rightfully praised the players who stuck around for the manner in which they prepared for the bowl game and performed in winning the 3rd consecutive bowl during his tenure and setting the tone for the offseason as a launching point for the 2025 regular season.

Some way-too-early projections have LSU making the 2025 College Football Playoff. Time will tell, but the clock is ticking.

The cupboard was pretty bare when Kelly took over from Ed Orgeron, Kelly’s success at restocking has been mixed, but 3 straight seasons of being mostly irrelevant nationally and the 3-game losing streak late in this season seemed to create a greater sense of urgency in recruiting – especially through the transfer portal.

LSU has the No. 1-ranked transfer class, which combined with the No. 8 high-school class to give the Tigers’ the No. 7 overall recruiting class.

It won’t be surprising if Kelly loses another player or 2 through the portal, nor will be it surprising if welcomes 1 or more players through it.

LSU is understandably feeling good as the calendar year 2025 begins.

But as good as Kelly’s teams have been at finishing seasons, they have been just as bad in starting seasons, losing each season opener.

The challenge now is to carry the good feelings entering the 2025 calendar year into the 2025 season.

The post If momentum truly matters, LSU has plenty of it heading into a critical 2025 season appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It has had back-to-back 10-win seasons, and a 3rd straight is realistic as the 6-2 Tigers enter the homestretch.

It beat Nick Saban in Kelly’s first crack at Alabama and it is 2-0 in bowl games under Kelly.

It landed at No. 15 in the first Playoff rankings on Tuesday night and can strengthen its resume by beating No. 11 Alabama on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.

But for all the good stuff that Kelly’s Tigers have done, they have stumbled when they have had an opportunity to do something special.

In each of Kelly’s 3 seasons, LSU has squandered much of its Playoff margin for error on Labor Day weekend, losing its opener to Florida State in 2022 and 2023 and to USC this season.

To Kelly and his teams’ credit, they have recovered well enough each season to regain national relevance, but they haven’t been able to maintain it.

In 2022, 3 weeks after beating the Crimson Tide and clinching the SEC West, No. 6 LSU lost at bowl-ineligible Texas A&M, 38-23 (remember that score) and saw its CFP hopes vanish.

Last season a 2nd September loss (to Ole Miss) put its Playoff hopes on life support and an early November loss to Alabama finished them.

This season a 6-game winning streak had the Tigers surging as they went to College Station 2 weeks ago to face Texas A&M in a matchup of the last 2 undefeated teams in SEC play.

But just like 2022, the Aggies knocked off LSU, and just like 2022, the final score was 38-23.

So the Tigers failed to take advantage of an opportunity to take sole possession of first place in the SEC and strengthen their CFP resume. But A&M missed a big opportunity itself, losing at South Carolina last week and dropping into a group of teams with 1 SEC loss, which also includes LSU, Georgia, Texas and Tennessee.

That improves the Tigers’ prospects for reaching the SEC Championship Game, provided they keep winning.

The opportunity is there. Again.

A victory over the Tide would certainly move LSU over Alabama in next week’s CFP rankings and with games remaining at Florida and at home against Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, 3 opponents against whom the Tigers will likely be favored, another opportunity to do something special will be within grasp.

Because Georgia and Tennessee face each other, and Texas and Texas A&M face each other, LSU can guarantee itself a spot among the top 3 (or fewer) teams in the SEC by winning out, and the SEC seems headed for at least 3 CFP berths.

The Tigers are familiar with controlling their fate and seeing a plausible path to the CFP. But they’re just as familiar with losing control of their fate and veering off that path.

When LSU lured Kelly away from Notre Dame, where he was the program’s winningest coach, the only thing missing from his resume was a national championship. He led the Fighting Irish to 10-plus wins in each of the final 5 seasons of his 12-year tenure.

He twice got the Fighting Irish into the Playoff and led them to the BCS Championship Game at the end of the 2012 season. Kelly’s teams lost by lopsided margins each time – 42-14 against Alabama in the BCS title game, 30-3 to Clemson in the 2018 CFP semifinals and 31-14 to Alabama in the 2020 CFP semifinals.

The lack of competitiveness in all 3 games generally was viewed in 1 of 2 ways: Kelly didn’t have the talent to win a championship at Notre Dame and Kelly did a fine job in getting those teams as close as he did, or Kelly’s ceiling as a coach was lower than a national-championship level.

LSU, which has had sufficient talent for each of Kelly’s most immediate predecessors – Ed Orgeron, Les Miles and Nick Saban – to win a national championship, prefaced its announcement of Kelly’s hiring by saying, “the search for LSU Football’s next championship head coach is over.”

Another loss in another season-turning game Saturday night might renew scrutiny of just where Kelly’s ceiling is.

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No one saw that coming before this season started.

Eight SEC teams were ranked in the AP preseason Top 25, and the Tigers (No. 13) and the Aggies (No. 20) were 2 of the lowest ranked teams. But LSU (6-1, 3-0) and A&M (6-1, 4-0) have both won 6 consecutive games after non-conference losses in their season-openers.

They clearly belong where they are.

Georgia, Texas, Missouri and Tennessee all have 1 loss, and Alabama and Ole Miss both have 2 losses. And come next week, everyone in the conference will be chasing the winner of the showdown in College Station.

The Tigers and the Aggies seem very evenly matched and oddsmakers have made homestanding A&M a 2.5-point favorite, via FanDuel Sportsbook.

This game on the final weekend in October will have a November feel to it, and it figures to be close and undecided until the final moments.

Here are 3 keys and a prediction for LSU-Texas A&M:

1. Offensive balance

Of course this is a key in a lot of games, but it stands out in this matchup because both teams are better in 1 aspect of their offense than the other, making their ability to rise to the occasion in the other aspect a better difference-maker.

LSU passes the ball really well (No. 5 in the SEC) and A&M runs it really well (No. 2 in the SEC). The Tigers are just 14th in rushing and the Aggies are just 11th in passing.

So whoever is more effective between LSU’s running game and A&M’s passing game will have the better chance of being balanced and more productive on offense.

The Tigers’ Garrett Nussmeier (18 TD passes, most in the SEC) has been one of the most productive passers in the country and the Aggies’ Conner Weigman (3 TD passes, 4 INTs) has much less impressive statistics, but his cumulative stats are misleading because he missed 3-plus games due to a sprained shoulder. Two weeks ago, in his first full game of the season, he was outstanding and his team had its best performance of the season in a 41-10 victory against Missouri.

The Aggies’ Le’Veon Moss has been the 2nd-most productive rusher in the SEC and the Tigers don’t have anyone who can match his statistics, but freshman Caden Durham has emerged during the past month to give LSU’s offense a more viable running game.

Durham’s breakout performance was the catalyst for LSU overcoming a 17-0 deficit and beating South Carolina on the road (36-33) in Week 3.

This game doesn’t exactly come down to Weigman vs. Durham, but if 1 has a significantly better game than the other, his team will have a great opportunity.

2. Will LSU’s defense continue its recent improvement?

Mike Elko’s Aggies have had the better defense for the whole season, ranking No. 6 in scoring defense in the SEC and No. 8 in total defense while the Tigers ranked No. 9 in scoring defense and No. 14 in total defense.

But LSU has been improving for a few weeks now, having beaten Arkansas 34-10 on the road last week after defeating visiting Ole Miss 29-26 in overtime a week earlier.

The 24 points that A&M allowed in a 10-point victory against host Mississippi State last Saturday marked the first time that the Aggies have allowed more than 20 points since a 23-13 home loss to Notre Dame to start the season.

Keeping in mind key No. 1, LSU is most susceptible to the weaker part of A&M’s attack (passing), ranking No. 15, and the Aggies are most susceptible to the weaker part of the Tigers offense (rushing), ranking No. 11. That might prevent this from becoming a shoot-out.

Both defenses have been pretty good at taking the ball away as LSU ranks No. 5 and A&M ranks No. 8. If either defense has an advantage in taking it away in this game, that could make the difference.

3. The team that makes the most big plays

Aside from turnovers, other big plays could easily make the difference. A blocked or missed kick or a big punt or kickoff return could produce points or at least flip field position sufficiently to help produce big points.

Similarly, any long runs or pass completions, whether they actually produce points or lead to them, could make a difference.

That’s certainly not unique to this game, but it does stand out in a matchup that is this even.

One reason is that neither team excels at creating explosive plays. Despite Nussmeier’s reputation as a gun-slinger, LSU has just 13 plays that have gone for 30 or more yards (11 passing, 2 rushing). Texas A&M has just 12 (7 passing, 5 rushing). Similarly, LSU has allowed 1 more such play than Texas A&M.

In a game with such small margins, 1 big play could make the difference.

Prediction …

It will be close. There will be multiple lead changes. No one will be able to relax until the final seconds of the 4th quarter – or perhaps beyond. In the end, Nussmeier’s playmaking will exceed Weigman’s and LSU will escape with a tough victory.

LSU 30, Texas A&M 27.

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And the No. 13 Tigers showed just how good they have become at catching up in a wild, potentially season-turning 29-26 overtime victory against No. 9 Ole Miss on Saturday in Tiger Stadium.

LSU stumbled to a 27-20 loss to USC in its season-opener on Sept. 1 in Las Vegas, then managed victories against Nicholls, South Carolina, UCLA and South Alabama to barely remain nationally relevant.

But it was going to need its best performance of the season against the Rebels in order to become a viable Playoff contender during the second half of the season.

The performance Saturday night was flawed, but the outcome and the manner in which it occurred – with the Tigers (5-1) taking their only lead of the night on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Garrett Nussmeier to Kyren Lacy on the second possession of overtime – left them in control of their SEC title and CFP fates.

There’s a long way to go, but LSU already has come a long way from its trip to Vegas as well as the 10-0 deficit it faced against Ole Miss.

The Tigers are just 2-0 in the SEC, but only 2 other teams – No. 1 Texas (2-0) and No. 15 Texas A&M (3-0) – haven’t lost a conference game. LSU can make sure the Aggies wind up with at least 1 league loss when they visit College Station in 2 weeks.

First they have a trip to Arkansas next week and later they have games against Alabama, Florida, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, though the game against the Gators will be the only 1 of the final 4 that won’t be played in Tiger Stadium.

That’s a long to do list for Brian Kelly’s team before any of the Tigers’ loftier goals can be achieved, but the gutsy, character-building victory made that list doable – and put the Rebels’ in the rear-view mirror with their 2nd SEC loss.

It’s not just the standings, schedule and math that have things looking up for LSU, it’s the leadership of Garrett Nussmeier, the improving defense and the ability to come out on top in a game in which the opponent had an overall edge in the play-in and play-out competition that has the Tigers’ stock rising.

Nussmeier, making just his 2nd SEC start, barely completed 40% of his passes, but he threw for 3 touchdowns, 1 that came on 4th down to force overtime with 27 seconds left in the 4th quarter at the end of an absolute must-have touchdown drive that began with another 4th-down conversion. His next throw was another touchdown that ended the game.

Blake Baker’s defense let Ulysses Bentley IV break free for a 50-yard touchdown on 4th-and-1 to produce a 10-0 2nd-quarter lead for Ole Miss, but the defense made a series of big plays to give Nussmeier a chance against a team that produced 55 points and more than 700 yards in beating LSU last season.

The Tigers’ defense forced the Rebels to try 5 field goals and they made 4, but those 3s instead of 7s made a huge difference, especially when Ole Miss could have taken a 2-score lead late in the 4th quarter or put more pressure on Nussmeier by beginning overtime with a touchdown – if the defense hadn’t stiffened when the stakes were the highest.

A 4th-down stop near the goal line in the 1st quarter, 2 takeaways and 6 sacks of the slippery Jaxson Dart among 9 tackles for loss showed that this defense is approaching the level of play necessary to remain CFP relevant into December after a shaky September.

Lacy, Aaron Anderson and freshman Trey’Dez Green each had a touchdown catch as the Tigers cobbled together a good-enough passing game with a depleted receiver corps and an erratic Nussmeier.

Ole Miss had more yards, ran the ball better, passed it more efficiently, ran more plays and possessed the ball longer, but LSU made more winning plays than the visitors did.

Nussmeier is still a work in progress, as is the defense, but progress is being consistently made and if that continues LSU will have the ability to navigate the 2nd half of the season as expertly as it did the post-USC portion of the 1st half, as well as the uphill marathon Saturday night.

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The Tigers were ranked No. 13 in the AP preseason poll, but they didn’t look the part in a 27-20 loss to preseason No. 23 USC in the opener.

They haven’t lost since, but …

Their 44-21 victory over FCS opponent Nicholls didn’t come as easily as expected.

They fell behind South Carolina 17-0 in their SEC opener, though they did fight back to claim a nice 36-33 victory.

They were tied at 17 at halftime against an offensively challenged UCLA team before outscoring the Bruins 17-0 in the second half.

And they were finally dominant in their most recent game, but a 42-10 victory against South Alabama doesn’t vindicate the preseason expectations though LSU has clawed its way back to No. 13.

But the disappointment of the Tigers’ start to the season seems overblown – or at least premature.

LSU had its best weekend of the season last week as it enjoyed the first of its 2 open dates. Alabama, Tennessee and Missouri all suffered their first SEC losses, joining Georgia, Ole Miss and Oklahoma as presumed contenders for the conference title that suffered league losses during the first half of the season.

When the smoke cleared, the Tigers were 1 of just 3 SEC teams still undefeated in conference play, joining 1-0 Texas and 3-0 Texas A&M.

Of course the fact that other teams lost and LSU has a back-loaded conference schedule doesn’t mean this team has everything figured out. The Tigers could easily disappoint again, perhaps as soon as their game against No. 9 Ole Miss on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.

A loss wouldn’t necessarily end LSU’s SEC title hopes, but a second loss would put their Playoff hopes on life support just like the 55-49 road loss to the Rebels did last season when the Tigers dropped to 3-2.

But Saturday’s game is an opportunity for LSU to turn the tables on Ole Miss and all but end the SEC title hopes for the Rebels, who lost at home to Kentucky 2 weeks go.

Putting the standings and records aside, the primary reason for thinking the Tigers might not be a disappointing team after all is that that they have been showing signs of ascending.

They have played much better defense in the past 6 quarters, allowing just 1 touchdown, and they picked a really good time for a turnaround because the Rebels gained more than 700 yards last season in 1 of the worst defensive performances in LSU history.

Even soon-to-be Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and the most productive offense in the country couldn’t keep up with Jaxson Dart and the Ole Miss offense.

Tigers coach Brian Kelly acknowledged Monday that he didn’t want to get into a shoot-out with Lane Kiffin’s offense last season, but he didn’t have any choice because that LSU team was “clearly tilted to one side of the ball.”

“That’s not the right way (to play),” Kelly added, “but it was the only way to play.”

Kelly has no intention of trying to play this week’s game the same way.

“I think there’s much more balance in our football team,” Kelly said. “We’re much further along. This isn’t the same defense.”

Another reason to think the Tigers might be ascending is the emergence of freshman running back Caden Durham. LSU began the season with a running-back-by-committee approach and Durham, 4th on the depth chart, didn’t touch the ball in the opener.

But when John Emery suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice the week after the opener, Durham got an opportunity to compete with Kaleb Jackson and Josh Williams. Durham got his feet wet with 5 carries against Nicholls, then broke out with 11 carries for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns to spur the comeback at South Carolina.

Durham had just 14 rushing yards against UCLA, but caught 2 passes for 40 yards and a touchdown. Against South Alabama he had 258 yards of total offense and scored 2 touchdowns despite missing the 2nd half with a foot injury that Kelly said is now “100 percent.”

The balance that Durham has brought to the offense should make Garrett Nussmeier (5th in the country in passing yards per game and passing touchdowns) even more effective. Nussmeier leads the SEC with 15 TD passes — 2 more than Dart.

In addition to Durham, Nussmeier and the improving defense, there is 1 other reason to think LSU is headed in the right direction – Kelly.

His first Tigers team 2 years ago was 4-2 before winning 6 of its last 8, and 1 of those late losses came against eventual national champion Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. Last year’s team went 7-1 after the loss to Ole Miss.

The jury is still out on this team’s ceiling, but it seems somewhat obvious that most of the country overreacted to the opening act.

A win Saturday night would erase those thoughts and replace them with realistic hopes of making the Playoff.

The post Did we overreact to LSU’s opening loss? Tigers have a chance to change narrative vs. Ole Miss appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It remains to be seen whether his LSU career is over.

But the news that he suffered a torn ACL in his right knee against UCLA last Saturday in Tiger Stadium was the latest and most disappointing development in a career that has been sliding downhill for 2 seasons.

Perkins arrived in Baton Rouge with the expectation that he would become not only the Tigers’ latest great linebacker, but also their latest great defender regardless of position.

His dynamic speed and explosiveness were bound to make him a disruptive force in the backfield, at the line of scrimmage and in pass coverage. The native of New Orleans, who still calls the Crescent City his hometown even though his family relocated to the Houston area after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, became one of the most highly-regarded linebacker prospects in the country.

Things started out just fine for the 5-star recruit who was ranked as the nation’s No. 8 overall prospect in the 247Sports composite rankings as the freshman All-American was named first-team All-SEC in 2022.

LSU’s media guide called Perkins “arguably the top true freshman defender in school history.”

Perkins’ sophomore season landed somewhere between the lofty/perhaps unrealistic expectations and the disappointing/still good results.

He led the team in tackles for loss for a second consecutive year with 13.0, which created 54 yards in losses. He finished with 75 tackles and 5.5 sacks and slipped to second-team All-SEC honors from the league coaches.

Perkins, who played running back and basketball in addition to being a linebacker in high school, demonstrated his athleticism when he scored on a 1-yard touchdown run in his first appearance on offense in the Tigers’ win over Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

But the performance of the defense as a whole was poor as head coach Brian Kelly and defensive coordinator Matt House had a difficult time figuring out precisely the optimum ways in which to utilize Perkins’ rare skills on a defense featuring few other playmakers who earned the attention of opposing offenses.

In the offseason, Kelly replaced House with Missouri defensive coordinator and former LSU assistant Blake Baker, Perkins added a few pounds and the Tigers were hopeful that Perkins would thrive as the centerpiece of a rejuvenated defense.

But what is hopeful in July doesn’t always become reality in September and beyond.

The defense has been susceptible to big plays just as it was for the entire 2023 season. Perkins was tied for 4th on the team with 17 tackles and had just 1.5 tackles for loss and no sacks before being injured.

The irony of Perkins’ injury is that it occurred as the defense was playing its best this season – and perhaps its best since Perkins’ freshman season – during a scoreless second half in a 34-17 victory against the Bruins in Tiger Stadium.

“Harold was gifted enough to play a receiver both as a linebacker and a nickel,” Kelly said. “We don’t have many of those guys hanging around.”

When Kelly was asked Monday if Perkins had played his last game at LSU, the coach rightfully said it was too early to speculate on that.

If Perkins has a successful rehabilitation from the injury his prospects for being a high-round pick in the NFL Draft next spring could be too tempting for him to pass up.

But if NFL teams are more cautious in treating him as a top-flight prospect in the wake of the injury, perhaps Perkins would be tempted to resume his career with the Tigers. Returning next season would be an opportunity to demonstrate that he once again is the player that opened the eyes of college recruiters and NFL scouts alike.

And that opportunity would also provide a chance to reshape the narrative on his LSU career, to author an ending that is more positive than the current latest chapter, focusing on what might yet be rather than what might have been.

The post Harold Perkins’ injury a painful reminder of what might have been appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Nor did it figure to be the biggest must-win of head coach Brian Kelly’s first 3 seasons to date.

But here we are.

It must be a marquee game because ESPN’s College GameDay show is parking itself at Williams-Brice Stadium.

That’s due in large part to this game being a potential program-defining moment for Gamecocks 4th-year head coach Shane Beamer. But this game is also a potential program-defining (and season-defining) moment for Kelly and his No. 16 Tigers.

The start of LSU seasons under Kelly have become a lot like the movie “Groundhog Day,” featuring a lot of déjà vu.

The first team opened with a disappointing performance in a loss to Florida State, then easily took care of business in its home opener against an in-state FCS opponent (a 65-17 victory against Southern) before opening SEC play at home against Mississippi State and winning 31-16.

The 2023 team opened with a disappointing performance in a loss to Florida State, then easily took care of business in its home opener against an in-state FCS opponent (a 72-10 victory against Grambling) before opening SEC play with a 41-14 win at Mississippi State. But was a mere 3-2 when it headed to Missouri amid an atmosphere reminiscent of this one.

That team was teetering as it prepared to enter an electric atmosphere against a team that was not a traditional SEC power but did appear to be an ascending team. Who knows what might have happened to that team had it lost at Missouri, but it took care of business in a 49-39 victory and went on to finish with 10 wins behind Heisman winner Jayden Daniels.

Who knows where this team might be headed? It opened with a disappointing performance in a loss to USC, the took care of business (not quite as easily as the previous 2 Week 2s) in its home opener against an in-state FCS opponent (a 44-21 victory against Nicholls, the most challenging of the 3 recent FCS opponents).

But the Tigers led just 23-21 in the 3rd quarter before finishing strongly.

And now it’s the SEC opener at South Carolina (2-0), which is not a traditional SEC power but might be an ascending team after an eye-opening 31-6 victory at Kentucky in its conference opener last Saturday.

This game doesn’t figure to turn into a shootout like the game against Missouri was, but it does represent a crossroads for this team and Kelly’s program.

If the Tigers defeat the Gamecocks for a 7th consecutive time, the sigh of relief throughout Louisiana will be audible.

But if they come up short to fall to 1-2 and 0-1 in the SEC, they will watch their Playoff hopes all but vanish in September for a 2nd consecutive season – even with the expanded 12-team field.

And the doubts will surround Kelly and his program — and not just this particular team.

Kelly rebuilt his defensive coaching staff after last season, but so far it’s unclear whether those changes are going to produce significantly better ball. The results so far have been mixed, but a good or dominant performance Saturday would significantly improve the mood moving forward.

The offense has issues, too. The Tigers did not run the ball as effectively as Nicholls did, though they did run it marginally better than USC did in Week 1.

Kentucky didn’t run the ball well against South Carolina and if LSU doesn’t do much better, then real doubt will arise as to whether the Tigers’ highly touted offensive line is as good as advertised.

The most encouraging element through 2 games has been the play of quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who leads the country with 8 touchdown passes, including a nation-best 4 scoring catches by Kyren Lacy.

A solid, complete and victorious performance Saturday will calm the waters significantly, but a loss – or even a relatively unimpressive victory – will lead to even greater concerns.

That’s why this game is the closest thing to a must-win as Kelly has had at LSU.

The post Crazy but true: Brian Kelly facing biggest must-win to date at South Carolina appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The 6th-year graduate student led the team in rushing in the opener before tearing an ACL in practice Tuesday.

Those events in a span of less than 48 hours are consistent with Emery’s star-crossed career – great promise shadowed by great disappointment.

The Tigers leaned on Emery more than any other running back in the 27-20 loss to USC last Sunday night in Las Vegas and he responded with team-highs of 10 carries and 61 yards, though 1 run of 39 yards skewed an otherwise unimpressive performance by Emery individually and the run game as a whole (25 rushes for 113 yards).

Emery’s absence leaves LSU with a thinner stable of running backs than coach Brian Kelly would prefer. The group now will be led by Josh Williams, a former walk-on who joined Emery as the only remaining players from the Tigers’ 2019 national-championship team, sophomore Kaleb Jackson and highly touted freshman Caden Durham — the No. 6-ranked running back in the 2024 class.

Even though Emery had been in the program for 5 seasons before the start of this one, his career stats were suggestive of merely 1 good, not even great, season. Prior to Sunday he had played in 37 games with just 5 starts. He had 1,062 rushing yards, 14 rushing touchdowns, 36 receptions, 318 receiving yards and 2 touchdown catches.

Williams’ career stats are similar to Emery’s – 48 games, 11 starts, 206 rushes, 1,045 rushing yards, 11 rushing touchdowns, 40 catches, 337 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown. Last season Jackson rushed 31 times for 165 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Redshirt freshman Trey Holly, the all-time rushing leader in Louisiana high-school history, could join the mix, but he’s suspended while awaiting a September court date after pleading not guilty to one felony charge of illegal use of a weapon.

LSU planned to increase its reliance on the running backs this season. That’s unlikely to change because of Emery’s injury, but doing so successfully becomes more challenging in his absence.

The Tigers’ leading rusher each of the past 2 seasons was quarterback Jayden Daniels, and Garrett Nussmeier isn’t nearly the running threat that Daniels was, so the running backs will have to take on a bigger workload.

Kelly hopes to take advantage of a veteran, talented offensive line to enable the running backs to thrive, though the first sample didn’t look exactly as he had envisioned.

The running game can still be successful, but the line must perform better and the remaining backs must be able to absorb the workload that Emery would have had.

Emery had the only explosive running play in the opener and at his Tuesday news conference Kelly identified 3rd-and-short situations as an area where the offense must improve in terms of creative play-calling by the coaches and execution by the players.

And that’s an area where the absence of Emery might be most significant because of his versatility. The former 5-star recruit from Destrehan (La.) High School could do everything that is asked of a running back — including blocking in pass protection.

His presence on the field in any given situation wouldn’t tip off the defense to what LSU was most likely to run. But just as other seasons were disrupted by health or academic issues, this one ended early, too.

Presumably Emery, who received his degree in interdisciplinary studies in May, could apply to the NCAA for yet another season of eligibility. But that’s a down-the-road consideration and his coaches and teammates have to move forward for the rest of this season without a player they were counting to be a key contributor.

There’s good news and bad news in this development for the Tigers. The bad news is obvious, and the good news, relatively and ironically speaking, is that the program has a lot of experience at adjusting to getting less than they had hoped for out of him.

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It was optimistic that its defense would be better than its poor performance last season.

And the Tigers were hopeful that they would be able to earn 1 of the 12 spots in the expanded CFP this season.

Anything is still possible after one game, but coach Brian Kelly and his staff hope that a few things that happened in Vegas stay in Vegas after LSU’s 27-20 loss to USC in its season-opener last Sunday.

As the Tigers prepare to face Nicholls in their home opener Saturday night, here are 3 alarming things that LSU must fix now:

1. The offense didn’t produce enough points

Sure the Tigers did some good stuff. Garrett Nussmeier was fine as the successor to Jayden Daniels – 29-of-38 for 304 yards with 2 touchdowns and a lone interception that came in a desperate moment in the final seconds. But it wasn’t good enough.

Sure the Tigers were reasonably well balanced (supplementing Nussmeier’s passing with 117 rushing yards). But outside of a 39-yard run by John Emery Jr., LSU averaged 3.1 yards on 25 rushes.

The offensive line is expected to be the strongest unit on the team, but even though it didn’t allow Nussmeier to be sacked, the group mostly was outperformed by the Trojans’ defensive front.

The Tigers hope to be balanced on offense, but when the running game is struggling as much as it was for most of the opener, first-year coordinator Joe Sloan might need to be less reluctant to become more 1 dimensional and ride what’s working best in a given game.

2. Harold Perkins didn’t have a big enough impact

Perkins led the team with 8 total tackles (including 1 half of a tackle for loss), but LSU seemed reluctant to turn loose its most dynamic playmaker on defense, especially when USC zipped through the Tigers for 75 yards in 8 plays to score the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds.

Last season LSU oftentimes seemed unsure of how to best deploy Perkins – inside or outside, rushing forward or dropping back. Better utilization of the presumed future NFL first-round draft choice seemed by be an off-season priority.

But after 1 game, the plan still merits questioning.

Overall Blake Baker’s defense performed better than the one Matt House coordinated last season, but much like the offense’s performance, in the end it wasn’t good enough.

Sure the Tigers limited USC to 13 points until more than halfway through the 4th quarter, but the winning drive was preceded by a lickety-split 3-play, 64-yard touchdown drive and the Trojans gained 139 of their 447 yards when the game was on the line.

The play-in and play-out improvement that was demonstrated for much of the opener won’t mean a whole lot going forward if the defense can’t keep it up when it matters most.

And that isn’t likely to change if Perkins doesn’t have a bigger impact.

3. The Tigers were far too undisciplined

LSU committed 10 penalties that cost them 99 yards. Three of the penalties were for personal fouls. One was committed by Kyren Lacy and contributed to field position that produced a USC field goal. Another was a targeting call on Jardin Gilbert that was followed immediately by the game-winning touchdown.

The Tigers performed like a team that wasn’t as well-coached or disciplined as its opponent.

One of LSU’s priorities going into the game was to contain Zachariah Branch, the Trojans’ most dynamic offensive player/return specialist. The coverage on Branch was adequate – 4 catches for 46 yards – but Lacy’s silly touchdown celebration that rightly drew a flag created an opportunity on the ensuing kickoff that Branch seized with a 46-yard return.

Then with USC trying to march to a game-winning score Gilbert gave the opponent an assist. Though the damage mostly had been done when Miller Moss’ 20-yard completion gave the Trojans a 1st down at the LSU 27 in the final seconds, the Tigers still had hope that Michael Lantz, who had missed a 29-yard field goal on the last play of the first half, might miss again from a longer distance.

But Gilbert’s penalty pushed the ball to the LSU 13, and the pressure was off of Lantz after Woody Marks ran 13 yards for a touchdown.

USC is one of many good-to-great teams on the Tigers’ schedule. Gifting those kinds of teams important yardage can’t continue.

And there’s 1 other thing LSU needs to fix: The loss to USC was the Tigers’ 5th straight in a season-opener, 3rd straight under Kelly.

That’s something LSU needs to work on before it opens the 2025 season at Clemson on Labor Day weekend.

But that can wait.

The Tigers have plenty enough that needs fixing right away.

The post 3 alarming things LSU must fix now appeared first on Saturday Down South.

He doesn’t have the same set of skills that Daniels has.

And he’s probably not going to win the Heisman Trophy as Daniels did last season.

But all of that could be just fine with LSU if its new starting quarterback proves to be just the best version of himself in 2024, beginning against USC on Sunday night in Las Vegas.

It’ll be fine if Nussmeier takes his 3 years of experience as a backup – the past 2 behind Daniels, the first behind Max Johnson – and performs as a mature, even-keeled leader of a team ranked No. 13 in the AP preseason poll.

It’ll be fine if he uses his unusually strong arm to enable a talented group of receivers to guide an offense that probably won’t be No. 1 in the country, as the Tigers were last season, but still be really good.

It’ll be fine if he focuses on what he has control over and trusts that a very good offensive line and a deep stable of running backs can pick up part of the slack caused by Daniels’ departure that Nussmeier is not capable of picking up.

Nussmeier isn’t going to be LSU’s leading rusher, which Daniels was for each of his 2 seasons, and he won’t have Logan Diggs, the top rusher among running backs last season, who transferred to Ole Miss.

But he does have experienced rushers in Josh Williams, Kaleb Jackson and John Emery Jr. as well as highly regarded freshman Caden Durham — the No. 6 rated RB in the 2024 class.

And there’s that offensive line that has 4 returning starters with a combined 111 starts, including one of the top tackle tandems in the country in Will Campbell and Emery Jones Jr.

Campbell made it clear this week that he expects the Tigers’ running game to be just fine, allowing Nussmeier to focus on what he does best.

“We’re going to run the ball,” Campbell said. “That’s not something we’re hiding or trying to keep quiet.”

It will be easier for Nussmeier to be comfortable if a new defensive coordinator (Blake Baker) and a new defensive line coach (Bo Davis) help produce a defense that reduces the number of points that the offense has to score to produce a victory compared to last season.

While Nussmeier should be secure that he has a lot of help around him, he still needs to take care of his business. Primarily that means shedding the persona of being a gunslinger and making better decisions. His career numbers reflect the mindset: 129-for-219 for 1,720 yards and 11 TDs with 7 interceptions. He threw for 395 yards and 3 TDs (with a pick) in a bowl win over Wisconsin to close last season, and put up 295 yards and 2 TDs (with a pick) in a loss against Georgia in 2022.

Nussmeier’ father, Doug, who’s entering his first season as quarterbacks coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, played quarterback in the NFL and the CFL and has a lengthy resume in coaching quarterbacks and coordinating offenses in college football and the NFL.

Garrett arrived between the most productive quarterback in LSU history (Joe Burrow) and the second-most productive one (Daniels) at a time when DBU was flirting with becoming QBU.

But Nussmeier’s mission shouldn’t be to enhance the program’s sudden reputation as a producer of Heisman Trophy quarterbacks because he’s not Daniels or Burrow. Even though he has the 9th-best odds to win the Heisman in 2024.

LSU has won national championships with quarterbacks such as Warren Rabb (1958), Matt Mauck (2003), Matt Flynn (2007) and, of course, Burrow (2019). Each quarterback, in different ways, was the right quarterback for his team and his time.

The LSU quarterbacks who never won a national championship include Y.A. Tittle, Bert Jones, Tommy Hodson, JaMarcus Russell and Daniels.

Nussmeier’s mission is to facilitate LSU earning a berth in the first 12-team Playoff and directing a lengthy stay. He can do that with statistics that don’t rival those of Burrow or Daniels.

Reaching the championship tournament is every team’s goal at the start of every season. Every quarterback’s job is to lead his team – on the field and off – in a manner that allows it to reach its maximum potential.

We don’t know exactly what the 2024 LSU team is capable of in Nussmeier’s first season a starter.

Nussmeier appears to be a savvy, strong-armed leader that has an appreciation of the opportunity he has inherited and earned.

If he can show the judgment and patience that he demonstrated in resisting the temptation to leap into the transfer portal in search of greener pastures and bide his time at LSU, he should do just fine.

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The post What is a fair expectation for Garrett Nussmeier and LSU in 2024? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The stakes won’t be nearly as high when they meet in another 3-game series Friday-Sunday in Baton Rouge, but the outcome will provide a useful gauge of where the 2 heavyweights stand after the 2nd weekend of SEC play.

Both teams are still a work in progress, which is normal for mid-March, but both also are ranked in the top 10 of major polls, which is also normal for them.

No. 8 Florida (12-7) opened conference play by winning 2 of 3 games at home against Texas A&M last weekend, then lost a nonconference game at home to Jacksonville on Tuesday.

No. 5 LSU (18-4) lost 2 out of 3 at Mississippi State, but bounced back to beat visiting Louisiana Tech 11-1 in a game shortened to 8 innings because of the mercy rule Tuesday night.

The fact that the Tigers lost the series against the Bulldogs wasn’t as eye-opening as the manner in which they lost. They dropped the opener 10-4, won the 2nd game 9-8, then lost the finale 15-5 in a game shortened to 8 innings because of the mercy rule.

“Scoring 18 runs over the course of a weekend or averaging 6 runs is not enough win all 3 games in this league,” coach Jay Johnson said, “but it’s enough to win 2 out of 3 if the other elements are in order.”

But the other elements weren’t in order. The Tigers committed 2 errors in each game and allowed a total of 4 unearned runs. But it was the 29 earned runs and the 41 hits that were most concerning.

“Winning and losing starts and ends on the mound,” Johnson said.

But Johnson added that the pitching problems featured “a lot of things that are correctable.”

Johnson already has used 19 pitchers this season. “I don’t ever remember doing that before,” he said.

The pitching was expected to be a bigger strength this season that it was last season.

The rotation against the Bulldogs featured right-hander Luke Holman (4 2/3 innings), left-hander Gage Jump (3 2/3 innings) and right-hander Thatcher Hurd (5.0 innings).

“The pitching roster for the weekend is very fluid right now,” Johnson said. “I have good optimism that we’ll pitch better this weekend.”

Johnson is used to concern about the pitching being exaggerated by outsiders. The pitching struggled late in the SEC season last year as LSU dropped 2 of its last 3 conference series, then went 1-2 in the SEC tournament.

But the pitching was mostly dominant in the post-season. Even after Florida evened the championship series with a 24-4 throttling of the Tigers, LSU grabbed the title with an 18-4 rout.

Of course this team doesn’t have Paul Skenes to rely on as a stopper.

The Tigers can take solace in the fact that their overall ERA (3.74) is much better than the Gators’ SEC-worst ERA (5.78). Florida does have the reigning SEC pitcher of the week in right-handed closer Brandon Neely and outstanding Sunday starter Jac Caglianone, but the front end of the weekend rotation has struggled mightily.

There was some external chatter about whether the Gators would shuffle their weekend rotation, but coach Kevin O’Sullivan is sticking with Friday starter Cade Fisher (2-1, 7.94 ERA) and Saturday starter Liam Peterson, a hard-throwing freshman who is 1-2 with a 7.50 ERA. Peterson, whose fastball can touch the mid-to-upper 90s, already has allowed 7 home runs in just 18 innings this season.

Neely had a save and a win in the Gators’ victories against the Aggies. Caglianone got a no-decision despite allowing just 4 hits and 2 runs (1 earned) and with 5 walks and 7 strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. In his past 3 starts, Caglianone has allowed 1 earned run on 7 hits with 11 walks and 27 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings.

O’Sullivan said Caglianone’s fastball got better as Sunday’s game went along, reaching the upper 90s “when he needed to.”

“You could see the development on where he’s at,” O’Sullivan said, “and we get performances like that from him every Sunday, it puts us in a good situation.”

Caglianone, of course, does more than pitch. He’s arguably the best 2-way player in college baseball. He’s batting .414 with 9 home runs.

Just as Johnson tried to find positives in the series loss to State, O’Sullivan tried to find positives in the mid-week loss.

“There were certainly some bright moments in the game,” O’Sullivan said, singling out freshman Luke McNeillie’s 2 1/3 hitless innings of relief. “What you try to do is keep everyone’s pitch count down to keep them fresh for the weekend. When you have games like this everybody just has got to do their part. Certainly, Luke obviously did that.”

But the set-up for the weekend didn’t go completely according to plan.

Ryan Slater, who needed just 11 pitches to throw a scoreless 2/3 of an inning in relief of Caglianone on Sunday, was scheduled to throw 2 innings as the starter against Jacksonville, but only lasted 1 inning after giving up 2 earned runs and throwing 27 pitches. He was scheduled for 30.

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The coming days present an opportunity not only to appreciate her historic career, but also a chance to recall – or perhaps grasp for the first time – just how remarkable Maravich was.

Clark scored 24 points Sunday, increasing her career total to 3,617. She’s now 50 away from matching Maravich’s magic number of 3,667 points scored at LSU from 1968-70. Her career high is 49 — vs. Belmont.

Clark has 2 regular-season games remaining: at Minnesota on Wednesday, and then likely her final home game on Senior Day on Sunday against Ohio State. Given that she averages 32 points per game, it’s likely she will surpass Maravich on Senior Day.

If Clark falls short this week, she still has the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament in which to pass Maravich and even put a modest distance between herself and him.

Theoretically she could add substantially to her total by choosing to return to Iowa for a 5th season in 2024-25, but it seems far more logical that she would enter the WNBA Draft after this season.

Nonetheless, among Clark’s many accomplishments is bringing back to the forefront, the career of one of the most distinctive basketball players in history.

Let’s examine 10 things that made Pete Maravich one of the game’s greatest players:

1. The points, of course

Let’s start with the numbers because they’re what this story is all about.

Maravich’s unmatched (to this point) scoring total only tells a small part of the story. Freshman still weren’t eligible to play varsity sports (that rule changed in 1972-73), and there was no 3-point line, which is where a significant number of the Pistol’s field goals came from.

It has been estimated that Maravich, whose record career 44.2 point per game average (in a mere 83 games) has never been approached, would have averaged more like 57 points per game with the presence of a 3-point line.

Using that estimate, throwing in a 4th season and adjusting for expanded schedules, it’s reasonable to think Maravich, playing 4 seasons in the 21st Century, would have approached 8,000 career points.

2. Scoring wasn’t his best skill

As hard to grasp as Maravich’s scoring numbers – both real and speculative – are, what’s even more remarkable is that his skill as a dribbler and a passer was what separated him from his contemporaries even more than his scoring prowess did.

Maravich wasn’t just the most prolific scorer in the history of college basketball, he also was the most dynamic and creative offensive player overall.

3. He made LSU basketball interesting

Football has always been king at LSU. Baseball has become the No. 2 sport thanks to 7 College World Series championships over the past few decades.

But prior to Maravich’s arrival in the late 1960s, basketball was mostly irrelevant in Baton Rouge. The Tigers had a nice run in the early 1950s, thanks to Bob Pettit, reaching the Final Four in ’53.

But the basketball team generally was ignored until Maravich came along. In fact, during the Pistol’s freshman season in 1966-67, students would line up to watch Maravich and his fellow freshmen, then leave before the varsity game. LSU’s varsity won 3 games that season, which was father Press Maravich’s debut season as head coach.

4. He elevated the team around him

Maravich didn’t just attract crowds because of his flamboyant play, he also significantly elevated the Tigers’ level of play.

In the Pistol’s senior season, LSU finished 20-8 and reached the NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden, back when the NCAA Tournament included just 25 teams and playing in the NIT was a pretty big deal.

5. He laid the foundation for the Tigers’ best era

The Pistol was coached by his father, Press, who coached for 2 more seasons after his son moved on to the NBA.

Press Maravich had been the head coach at Clemson and then NC State in Raleigh, where Pistol Pete dominated high school basketball. He led the Wolfpack to the 1965 ACC Tournament title and automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Press’ LSU teams went 76-86.

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Coach Maravich was succeeded by unknown Washington State assistant Dale Brown, who took the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament 12 times, including trips to the Final Four in 1981 and 1986.

6. He boosted basketball in the SEC

The SEC – and college basketball to some degree – was dominated by Adolph Rupp’s Kentucky’s teams for decades.

But the SEC, including Rupp and the Wildcats, had never seen anything like Maravich. LSU games suddenly became featured attractions in other SEC towns because of the Pistol’s showmanship.

7. The scoring record’s endurance

Clark is the 2nd player to threaten Maravich’s scoring record in the last year. Antoine Davis of Detroit Mercy finished with 3,664 points — 3 points short of the Pistol’s record total. Davis played 144 games in 5 seasons. Clark has played in 128 games thus far.

8. The House that Maravich built

Pistol and his teammates played their home games in something called the John M. Parker Agricultural Center – better known as “The Cow Palace.”

But Maravich’s lasting impact included the construction of the LSU Assembly Center, which opened in 1972 and was renamed the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (PMAC) in 1988 after the Pistol’s death from a heart ailment.

9. He was an NBA great as well

This story is about the college basketball scoring record, but it’s worth noting that Maravich was an NBA legend as well. He was the No. 3 overall pick in the 1970 draft. Maravich’s career with the Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans and Utah Jazz as well as the Boston Celtics helped land him in the Naismith Hall of Fame and he is on multiple lists of the greatest NBA players of all time. He averaged 24.2 points over the course of an 11-year career, was a 5-time All-Star and scored a career-high 68 points — still without use of a 3-point line — for the New Orleans Jazz in a 1977 game against the Knicks. That remains the Jazz’s single-game record.

10. He would have been a marketing dream

And finally, in putting Maravich in a 2024 context, the marketing possibilities would have been endless. His signature floppy socks could have attracted NIL opportunities and his distinctive hair style would have looked great on a bobblehead.

In the Pistol’s time, marketing opportunities were pretty rare.

But his basketball performance alone was great enough to keep him legendary more than a half-century after he left LSU.

Cover photo courtesy of LSU Athletics.

The post Caitlin Clark’s pursuit of NCAA scoring record reminds us how special Pistol Pete was appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The Tigers endured a few bumps along the way before winding up where they were expected to wind up – in the infield at TD Ameritrade Park dog-piling after winning their 7th national championship.

Then Paul Skenes was the No. 1 overall pick overall in the MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates and Dylan Crews was the No. 2 overall pick by the Washington Nationals. Tre Morgan and Ty Floyd also headed to the pros.

LSU, which opens the season with a home game against VMI on Friday, Feb. 16, is not a consensus preseason No. 1 in 2024, but with several key players from last year’s champions and highly-rated transfer and recruiting classes forming another extremely talented roster, it’s pretty much a consensus Top 5 pick.

Good morning. The Tigers play baseball this week.

That is all. pic.twitter.com/96sEVWmct4

— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) February 12, 2024

In other words, the Tigers are capable of winning another national championship, but this season won’t be played out in the context of “national championship or bust” as last season was. Louisiana sports betting sites have the Tigers’ preseason odds at +750 to win the College World Series.

Though LSU will be routinely referred to as defending national champion, third-year head coach Jay Johnson has a different theme for this season.

“There’s no thought of defending anything,” Johnson said. “It’s about attacking a new opportunity.”

That opportunity, of course, is for a different collection of players to write their own story and try to win their own championship. But it’s also an opportunity for Johnson to further validate his selection as custodian of one of the elite programs in college baseball.

He wasn’t hired by Scott Woodward to win 1 national championship, though that was the first item on an ambitious checklist.

Johnson wasn’t brought in with the expectation that he would win a national championship every season, though some of the more whimsical followers of the program might have that in mind.

Realistically, Johnson was hired to periodically win national championships, make regular trips to Omaha and rebuild the program to a level where a trip to the CWS is a realistic goal each season.

His ultimate task is to establish a program in which everyone takes care of business on a daily basis in a manner reminiscent of Skip Bertman’s Tigers program from 1984-2001.

This Tigers team appears to have the talent to return to Omaha and perhaps dog-pile there again. The next step is for Johnson is to get this team to approach each day the same way that last year’s team approached every day.

Ultimately it wasn’t just the extremely talented roster, which also included Tommy White (who’s back), that enabled LSU to win the championship last season. It also was the ability to overcome adversity.

“They weren’t normal people,” Johnson said.

The path to the title wasn’t as smooth as the lofty preseason expectations might have suggested.

The Tigers went 8-9 down the stretch of the regular season and 1-2 in the SEC tournament as concerns about the quality of pitching depth behind Skenes started to look like it might be a fatal flaw.

But things changed during the NCAA Tournament. LSU swept through the Baton Rouge regional and the Baton Rouge Super Regional to return to its home away from home in Omaha.

Skenes shut down Tennessee in the CWS opener, but that was followed by a 1-run loss to Wake Forest that dropped the Tigers into the losers’ bracket.

That meant LSU had to beat the Volunteers a second time and win 2 games in a row against Wake Forest to set up its title series matchup against Florida. The Tigers won Game 1 in 11 innings, but concerns about the pitching depth resurfaced in a 24-4 loss in Game 2 on Sunday.

Johnson recently reminded a group of supporters of the mood outside the team after that embarrassing score.

“You all were losing your minds,” he said with a grin. “You remember that and I remember that.”

But the “not normal people” shook off the beating and turned the tables on the Gators in the winner-take-all Game 3, rolling to an 18-4 victory.

Johnson was matter of fact about the dramatic turnaround from Game 2 to Game 3, or more to the point, from Game 70 to Game 71.

“In Game 71 there was no way the stakes were ever going to change,” Johnson said, “because every game that team played, it mattered as much to them as it possibly could.”

And that’s the mission for the 2024 Tigers: to maintain “the focus and competitive nature” that the 2023 team had from Game 1 to the last game – no matter what number it winds up being or where it winds up being played.

That mindset requires the recognition, Johnson said, that “it’s not an automatic right that you’re in the NCAA Tournament because you play at LSU.”

But a trip the NCAA Tournament – and a deep run into it – seems like a foregone conclusion for this year’s team, which returns White (whom Johnson called “the best hitter in the country”) and No. 1 starter Thatcher Hurd, among others.

The Tigers added most notably No. 2 starter Gage Jump (UCLA transfer), No. 3 starter Luke Holman (Alabama transfer), outfielder Mac Bingham (Arizona transfer), shortstop Michael Braswell (South Carolina) as well as highly touted freshmen in left-hander Cameron Johnson and outfielder Jake Brown.

This year’s team appears to be shaped differently than last year’s with the starting pitching and overall pitching depth supplanting the hitting as the top strength, though it should be another well-rounded team.

The goal is “to do common things in an uncommon way,” which basically means being fundamentally sound and doing so in a spectacular way when necessary.

Johnson has a very long way to go to match Bertman’s 5 national championships, but he can join Bertman as the only Tigers coaches to win consecutive national championships (1996-97).

Whether Johnson can establish himself as the only LSU coach other than Bertman to win multiple championships (Paul Mainieri won his only title in 2009) in 2024 is secondary.

The main thing is for the Tigers to daily compete to the standard that last year’s team did. The rest will take care of itself.

The post College baseball preview: Can new-look LSU repeat as CWS champ? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

But it didn’t have a great season.

In fact it’s fair to say the Tigers fell short of expectations even though Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy, even though they had the most prolific offense in the country and even though they put themselves in position for a 2nd consecutive 10-win season.

After all they were No. 5 in the AP preseason poll, but started the season with a loss, fell behind in the SEC race after losing their 3rd conference game and became irrelevant to any conference or national title conversations with 3 games left in the regular season.

A good season, but not great.

Brian Kelly was brought to Baton Rouge to restore greatness to the program. He’s not there after 2 seasons, but at 19-7, he’s not that far off either.

If greatness is going to return to the LSU program in 2024 here are 10 New Year’s resolutions the Tigers need to keep.

1. Set the tone in the ReliaQuest Bowl

The 1st day of 2024 brings an opportunity to set a positive tone for the year.

With Daniels focused on the NFL Draft and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock having left to take a similar position at Notre Dame, it’s questionable whether the bowl Tigers will look much like the regular-season Tigers that were ranked No. 13.

But Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. stuck around and Mekhi Wingo plans to come back from midseason abdominal surgery to play against Wisconsin on Monday in Tampa.

After the Tigers lost to Alabama on Nov. 4 and got eliminated from the SEC West race, Kelly emphasized the value in completing a 2nd consecutive 10-win season. The players responded with 3 consecutive wins in which they averaged 50 points.

Another stellar performance to produce that 10-win season could strengthen the foundation going forward.

2. Find another Mike Denbrock

OK, that won’t be easy. And whoever succeeds Denbrock will need to be himself and not try to be Denbrock 2.0.

But Kelly made an outstanding hire when he lured Denbrock from Cincinnati, and it’s important that he replace Denbrock with a coordinator of similar quality.

3. Remain ‘Passing Game U’

The new coordinator needs to maintain or even build on the recent success of the passing game.

LSU again led the SEC with 41 TD passes — 16 more than runner-up Georgia, which already has played 1 more game.

Daniels passed for 3,812 yards and 40 TDs — and added another 1,134 yards rushing with 10 more TDs. He became the 2nd LSU quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy in the past 5 years (joining Joe Burrow), and Nabers and Thomas continued the success of recent receivers such as Ja’Marr Chase.

Suddenly LSU is one of the best destinations for passers and catchers in a game largely defined by passers and catchers these days.

Kyren Lacy is returning for next season because he wants to follow in the footsteps on Chase and Nabers and Thomas. Other talented receivers are waiting in the wings and coming on board.

4. Get back to playing LSU defense

This relatively newfound passing success is important, but the Tigers won’t be great again until they complement it by playing defense the way the best LSU teams generally have.

Finishing 12th the SEC in points allowed (27.8) won’t cut it.

Kelly has said he’ll evaluate his staff going forward, but whether Matt House stays at coordinator or the head coach shakes things up, the 2024 coordinator and the defensive staff have to have more talent to work with.

5. Fix the secondary

The secondary reflects the defense’s shortcomings more than the other 2 levels of the defense, though the entire unit can use an upgrade.

The Tigers brought in a bunch of new DBs from a variety of sources for 2023, but it didn’t work out.

LSU allowed 20 TD passes and only intercepted 10 passes.

Much work needs to be done there for 2024.

6. Rebuild the depth

Ed Orgeron left Kelly a pretty thin roster to begin with.

The new regime has done a good job of replenishing the roster, but the depth remains a work in progress as demonstrated by the fall-off when key players have been injured. (The bowl game might expose some of those issues as Daniels and other key starters have opted out.)

The portal and the high schools will both have to contribute to the continued development of quality depth.

7. Less portal, more high school

Kelly and his staff have had highly regarded high-school classes and have supplemented them with college veterans through the transfer portal.

The results have been mixed — even though the Tigers still ranked No. 7 in 247Sports’ talent composite ranking.

The Tigers will still need to plug some holes by taking advantage of the portal, but sustained success will require a foundation built primarily with high-school recruits. Kelly’s incoming class ranked No. 11 in the country and didn’t include a 5-star.

8. Improve in player development

The Tigers have had too many examples of highly-regarded prospects failing to play up to expectations and others starting well and then hitting a plateau prematurely.

Kelly and has staff need to do a better job of getting continual improvement out of players over the course of their careers at LSU – no matter how long or short their stay might be.

9. Open the season better

The Tigers have played uphill each of the past 2 seasons after losing their season openers against Florida State.

They won’t ease their way into next season either as they open against USC in Las Vegas. (Even though Lincoln Riley’s Trojans likely will be starting over at QB if Caleb Williams leaves for the NFL.) But if Kelly’s third team is going to finish better than his first 2, it will need to start better than those 2 – especially with UCLA, Ole Miss, Alabama and Oklahoma, among others, waiting down the road.

10. Exceed 10 wins

If LSU beats Wisconsin on Monday, it will have the back-to-back 10-win seasons that Kelly touted.

That would be nice – as would a 3rd straight 10-win season.

But if Kelly is going to restore greatness to the program, 2024 would be a good time to win 11 – or more – games.

The post 10 New Year’s resolutions for LSU football in 2024 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

But much of their familiarity has come in the past decade.

The Tigers and the Badgers have met just 4 times, and LSU has won 3 of those matchups. A 5th meeting will take place on New Year’s Day in the ReliaQuest Bowl (formerly known as the Outback Bowl) in Tampa, Fla.

The Tigers defeated Wisconsin in 1971 in Madison, Wis.; in 1972 in Baton Rouge; and in 2014 in Houston. The Badgers’ only victory in the brief series was a 16-14 triumph to start the 2016 season in Green Bay, Wis.

No. 13 LSU is 9-3 (6-2 SEC) and will be seeking its 2nd consecutive 10-win season. Wisconsin is 7-5 (5-4 Big Ten).

Here are 5 things to know about the Tigers’ bowl opponent:

1. Coaching ties

Badgers 1st-year coach Luke Fickell, like LSU 2nd-year coach Brian Kelly, is a former University of Cincinnati head coach. Fickell left the Bearcats after last season to succeed the fired Paul Chryst.

Kelly coached at Cincinnati from 2006-09 before leaving the Bearcats to become head coach at Notre Dame.

Additionally, Kelly’s offensive coordinator, Mike Denbrock, left Fickell’s Cincinnati staff to join Kelly in Baton Rouge. Denbrock is a finalist for the Broyles Award, which goes to the nation’s top assistant coach.

2. Bouncing back

The Badgers hit a 3-game skid during the 2nd half of the season, beginning with a tough 24-10 home loss to Ohio State. The Badgers hung with the Buckeyes for much of the game but came away with a disappointing result.

The disappointment continued for 2 more weeks as Wisconsin lost at Indiana, 20-14, and at home to Northwestern, 24-10.

But the Badgers regrouped and played better to close out the regular season.

They won their home finale against Nebraska, 24-17, and the regular-season finale at Minnesota, 28-14, to produce a 2-game winning streak heading into the bowl game.

3. Middle of the pack

LSU enters the bowl game with a clear identity.

The Tigers have the most dynamic player (quarterback Jayden Daniels) on the most dynamic offense in college football. It also has a defense that has struggled for much of the season.

But the Badgers aren’t exceptionally good — or exceptionally bad — on either side of the ball. This characteristic is demonstrated by their rankings in the Big Ten team statistics.

Wisconsin is tied for 7th in the 14-team league in scoring (22.8 points per game) and 6th in scoring defense (18.9). It is 7th in total offense (370.1 yards per game) — 6th in rushing offense (1,985 yards) and 7th in passing offense (2,483).

The Badgers are 8th in total defense (331.4 yards per game) — 7th in run defense (1,660) and 8th in pass defense (2,317).

In other words, the Tigers are facing an average offense (in both rushing and passing) and an average defense (against both the run and the pass) — at least relative to Big Ten standards.

4. Changing offense

Those statistics show that the Badgers under Fickell are not defined by an elite power running game, as they generally have been recently.

But they have been an effective rushing offense when they have had Braelon Allen available and healthy. The team averaged 186.3 rushing yards when he was healthy, but he missed the Indiana game and was limited in the losses to Ohio State and Northwestern because of an ankle injury.

He was back in form for the regular-season finale, rushing for 165 yards and 2 touchdowns. But unfortunately for Wisconsin, that was the last game of his college career because he announced he was moving on to prepare for the NFL Draft.

So if the Badgers are going to take advantage of an LSU defense that has been susceptible to big plays and points, someone other than Allen will have to lead the rushing attack.

Wisconsin might need to lean more on quarterback Tanner Mordecai, who also has missed time due to injury but appears to be healthy.

He’s a 6th-year senior who played previously at Oklahoma and SMU and has plenty of experience in big games.

The Badgers had a 6-3 record in games that Mordecai started this season.

5. Big-time bowlers

Wisconsin is used to having success in bowl games.

The Badgers have won their past 3 bowl games and 8 of their past 9.

They defeated Oklahoma State last season, Arizona State 2 years ago and Wake Forest 3 years ago.

Their only bowl loss in the past 9 was a 28-27 defeat against Oregon in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 2020.

The last time they played an SEC team in a bowl game was also the last time they played in the bowl game they’re headed to this season. They beat Auburn, 34-31, in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1, 2015.

The post LSU vs. Wisconsin: 5 things to know about the ReliaQuest Bowl matchup appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Maybe Daniels will win the Hesiman Trophy, maybe he won’t.

Maybe he’ll play in the Tigers bowl game, maybe he won’t.

But regardless of what happens in December, the regular season that ended with a 42-30 victory against Texas A&M on the last Saturday in November in Tiger Stadium was defined exclusively by Daniels’ exploits.

On Saturday he appeared headed for his lowest passing-yardage total of the season even after he had secured his fourth 100-yard rushing game through 3 quarters.

But after passing for just 72 yards entering the 4th quarter, Daniels passed for 163 yards and 3 of his 4 touchdowns as the Tigers (9-3, 6-2 SEC) pulled away in the final period.

He finished with 235 passing yards, 16 more than his season-low in the loss at Alabama, which he left early to enter concussion protocol.

Player of the Year: QB Jayden Daniels

This was easy.

Daniels leads the country in total offense and almost certainly will be heading to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist.

He has been one of the most productive and efficient passers in the country as well as one of the most dynamic runners regardless of position.

Additionally he has been a clutch performer. He led LSU to victory despite falling behind Arkansas (6-0 and 13-3), driving the Tigers to a winning field goal with 5 seconds left. He led LSU rallies from a 22-7 deficit to beat Missouri and from a 28-24 deficit to defeat Florida as well as a comeback from a 10-point third-quarter deficit Saturday.

Most improved player: Brian Thomas Jr.

This could have been Daniels too because he did improve significantly from last season, but he was already very good during the second half of 2022.

The improvement that Thomas showed from the end of 2022 until now was more dramatic. He nearly doubled his receptions total (from 31 to 60), tripled his receiving yards (361-1,079) and touchdowns (5-15) and increased his average per catch significantly (11.6-17.9) — becoming a premiere deep threat.

Freshman of the Year: LB Whit Weeks

Overall the Tigers’ freshman class didn’t have much of an impact as veteran players and transfers generally claimed job openings.

Running back Kaleb Jackson had a few moments and was the primary kickoff returner, and defensive end Da’Shawn Womack and his moments during the second half of the season.

But Weeks had a bigger impact and responded well when unexpectedly thrust into the starting lineup against Mississippi State, Arkansas and Missouri.

He finished with 41 total tackles, 3 for loss, and a half a sack, despite missing 2 games because of a foot injury of his own before returning Saturday.

Best win: LSU 49, Missouri 39 (Oct. 7)

The dominant win against Auburn was a candidate too, but that was against a weaker opponent. It could have been the memorable victory against Florida, but that game was defined more by Daniels’ individual brilliance.

The win against Missouri came against a higher-ranked team (No. 21 vs. LSU’s No. 23 ranking) on the road. Additionally, it came a week after the defensive disaster in a 55-49 loss at Ole Miss and featured a defensive turnaround in the second half – making it a team effort.

Worst loss: Ole Miss 55, LSU 49 (Sept. 30)

All 3 losses came against ranked teams, Florida State and Alabama being the others, but this 1 was defined by 1 of the worst defensive performances in LSU history.

Daniels had 513 yards of total offense and had a hand in 5 touchdowns. Daniels and Logan Diggs combined for 200 rushing yards and Thomas and Malik Nabers both had 100-yard receiving games.

The Tigers had 637 yards of total offense, but that was negated by 706 yards by the Rebels.

Ole Miss led by 2 touchdowns on 3 different occasions, but Daniels rallied LSU to 8- and 9-point leads. But the defense never could get the 1 decisive stop it needed to produce a victory.

Play of the Year: Daniels’ 85-yard TD run vs. Florida

Daniels had dozens of candidates for this distinction. He entered Saturday’s game leading the nation with 81 plays of 20-plus yards – 64 passing plays (25 of which went for touchdowns) and 17 runs.

But the 85-yarder against the Gators was the most explosive of the explosive.

Biggest surprise: Harold Perkins and the defense

The defense was expected to perform at a level consistent with the Tigers’ lofty preseason ranking (No. 5). Perkins was supposed to lead the way as one of the most dynamic defensive players in the country.

Neither happened.

The defense prevented a team with the most prolific offense in the country from ever being a national factor. As for Perkins, the Tigers experimented by moving him around. He never found a groove, though he did periodically make impact plays and finished strong Saturday.

Developing trend: LSU is an offensive program

LSU has periodically had explosive offenses, but generally through the generations it has been most closely identified with very good defenses.

Sure the 2019 national champions were historically good offensively and nothing special defensively, but that seemed an aberration. Now, though, with Daniels and the 2023 offense having a season 2nd only to Joe Burrow and that 2019 offense, LSU can better be described as QBU or WRU than DBU.

The goal, of course, is to be good enough on offense and defense (as well as special teams) in order to compete annually for national championships.

Right now the Tigers are much farther along in that regard on offense than they are on defense.

Key stat: 6,573 yards of total offense

Daniels had numerous individual performances that included eye-opening individual statistics.

But as spectacular he has been, this season can best be quantified by the explosiveness of the offense as a whole with Nabers, Thomas, Diggs, Kyren Lacy and the offensive line all being important supporting players.

The post LSU football: Stock report after a mostly successful 2023 regular season appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl wouldn’t have been interested because they’re tied up as sites for the CFP semifinals and any potential for the Tigers being candidates for a CFP berth fizzled weeks ago.

And things get a little complicated with conference tie-ins and selection order, but any bowl that could be in line to extend an invitation to LSU should be planning that invitation.

It’s not that a victory against Sun Belt Conference foe Georgia State – even one as decisive as the 56-14 blowout in Tiger Stadium – would open eyes particularly wide.

But the Tigers reinforced the notion that they have virtually everything that a bowl game could want in one of its participants.

It’s Tell the Truth Monday, penultimate regular-season edition, and the truth is that LSU’s postseason prospects are less attractive than the Tigers had hoped going into the season.

But it’s also true that they are going to have a lot of folks lined up to try and land them for their bowl.

LSU’s record isn’t all that great – 8-3 overall and 5-2 in the SEC going into the finale against Jimbo Fisher-less Texas A&M next Saturday in Tiger Stadium.

The Tigers’ CFP ranking is kind of nice at No. 15, which probably isn’t going to change much unless No. 16 Iowa leapfrogs LSU now that the Hawkeyes are headed to the Big Ten title game.

But the truth is that for teams that don’t make it into the CFP, their final regular-season ranking doesn’t mean a whole heck of a lot, especially for teams like the Tigers, whose end-of-season ranking is far below its preseason ranking (No. 5).

And the bowls that are scrambling to find the best match-up they can get are looking less at rankings and more at teams that will bring a lot of visitors to their city, attract a lot of viewers and provide an entertaining game.

Traditionally LSU travels very well to very big bowl games, though the disappointment of this season might lead some regular travelers to stay home if the Tigers don’t wind up in an attractive, relatively unfamiliar location not too far from Louisiana.

But there’s no question that LSU has the attracting-viewers and providing-an-entertaining-game elements well in hand.

The Tigers have the most dynamic player in college football in Jayden Daniels. He reinforced that truth against the Panthers by accounting for 8 touchdowns (6 passing and 2 rushing) to tie Joe Burrow’s school record. He passed for more than 400 yards and rushed for just 4 shy of 100 while going over 1,000 for the season.

But it’s not just Daniels who makes LSU so much fun to watch.

His dynamic group of receivers – Malik Nabers (80 catches, 1,424 yards, 17.8 yards per catch, 12 touchdowns), Brian Thomas Jr. (55-1,021-18.5-14) and the emerging Kyren Lacy (23-448-19.5-6) – are all integral players in Daniels’ band.

So the Tigers’ offense is a dream come true for the brass of any bowl game, and to be perfectly honest on Tell the Truth Monday, the Tigers’ defense has a hand in making this team attractive.

Bowls aren’t looking for a beat-down like the one LSU gave to Georgia State (or the 63-7 beat-down it gave to a depleted Purdue team in the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 2). They’re looking more for shootouts – such as the Tigers had in wins against Arkansas (34-31), Missouri (49-39) and Florida (52-35) as well as in losses against Ole Miss (55-49) and Alabama (42-28).

Any bowl opponent is going to have a hard time keeping up with Daniels and the LSU offense, but the LSU defense can be counted on to lend a hand and contribute to a very entertaining bowl game.

The big-picture truth is that all this bowl attractiveness is in the eye of the beholder – and isn’t what Daniels or his teammates or head coach Brian Kelly and his staff or Tiger fans wanted this season.

This season is going to be a disappointment overall because all those folks around LSU were hoping the Tigers would be attracting attention from the folks selecting the 4 teams worthy of competing for the national championship – not attracting attention from those seeking to liven up some generic bowl diversion.

And speaking of disappointment, whoever winds up with the Tigers could be in for a big 1 themselves.

That’s because Daniels – as well as Nabers and Thomas – will be a prime candidate to join the growing trend of opting out of bowl games to stay healthy and focus on the NFL Draft.

And that’s the truth.

The post Tell the Truth Monday: LSU could be an incredibly intriguing and fun bowl team, but there’s a catch appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Daniels led LSU to touchdowns on all 5 of its first-half possessions as the Tigers built a 35-14 lead against the Panthers on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.

LSU was comfortably ahead, but not fully assured of victory.

Earlier in the season, head coach Brian Kelly pulled Daniels at halftime of lopsided victories against Grambling and Army.

But Georgia State hung just close enough and exploited the Tigers’ defense just enough by gaining 245 yards in the first half to convince Kelly that this victory wasn’t secured at the halfway point the way those against Grambling and Army were.

In the 72-10 victory against Grambling, LSU had taken command with a 28-0 second quarter that produced a 42-10 halftime lead, so Daniels didn’t get an opportunity to add to his halftime stats – 269 passing yards, 5 touchdown passes and 32 rushing yards.

In the 62-0 victory against Army, LSU had taken command with a 38-0 halftime lead, so Daniels didn’t get an opportunity to add to his halftime stats – 279 passing yards, 3 touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown.

Though Georgia State wasn’t likely to come back and win, it had moved the ball well enough – and the Tigers defense has been shaky enough – that Kelly understandably wanted to make sure before he pulled Daniels.

So Daniels went back out for the third quarter and added a 5th touchdown pass – a 3-yarder to Mac Markway – to the 4 that he threw in the first half and wound up with 413 passing yards, 96 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns.

Kelly should have been comfortable of victory after the 1st drive of the 3rd quarter, but he kept sending Daniels onto the field.

On the Tigers’ 2nd possession of the 3rd quarter, Daniels went over 1,000 rushing yards for the season before sneaking 1 yard for a touchdown and a 49-14 lead early in the 4th quarter.

Still, Kelly wasn’t satisfied – and Daniels wasn’t finished.

Daniels threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Malik Nabers to complete the scoring midway through the final period.

Finally, Kelly sent in Garrett Nussmeier after Daniels had tied Joe Burrow’s school record of 8 touchdowns in 1 game. Those 8 touchdowns came on 8 possessions.

It’s unlikely that many Heisman voters were glued to the TV to see exactly what else Daniels could do against an outmanned opponent in a game whose outcome wasn’t in doubt.

But the experience Saturday night was less about swaying undecided voters than it was about allowing Daniels to add to his legacy, to his college experience and to the enjoyment of the Tigers fans watching in the stands and on TV.

Ultimately Daniels’ season stats – second only to Burrow’s historic numbers in 2019 – will comprise a big part of his legacy. Those numbers continued to grow throughout the second half Saturday night, until Nussmeier finally came out of the bullpen.

Daniels was able to continue feeding his elite receiving corps.

Nabers finished with 140 yards and 2 touchdowns on 8 catches, Brian Thomas Jr. finished with 103 yards and a touchdown on 4 catches and Kyren Lacy finished with 101 yards and 2 touchdowns on 5 catches.

The final score of the Tigers’ 8th victory in 11 games will soon be forgotten. Any discussion of whether Kelly was disrespectful to the Panthers by leaving Daniels in as long as he did will dissipate by the time Texas A&M arrive in Tigers Stadium next Saturday morning for the regular-season finale.

Whether Daniels receives a piece of hardware or merely congratulates the player that does on his visit to New York City on the 2nd Saturday in December will have little to do with the details of what happened Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.

But the experience and memories of what transpired – along with what preceded Saturday night and that which remains – will be long-lasting.

Daniels’ 2nd and final season at his 2nd school is the 2nd best in LSU history, behind only the historic 1 that Burrow had in his 2nd and final season at his 2nd school.

The final numbers Saturday were merely another brick in the wall for Daniels, but they were significant as he builds toward the climax of 1 of the best seasons ever for a quarterback at LSU – or anywhere else for that matter.

The post Brian Kelly allows Jayden Daniels to create more memories, extend Heisman race appeared first on Saturday Down South.

I gave the last rites to Jayden Daniels’ Heisman candidacy after LSU lost to Alabama 2 games ago.

That premature reaction had nothing to do with Daniels’ worthiness as a candidate. He has been the best player in the country.

It was based on the truth that Daniels’ team had lost for the 3rd time in 9 games to that point. The Tigers had fallen out of the SEC West race, and the team — more so than Daniels himself — had come up short against the 3 best teams on the schedule.

The Heisman Trophy usually goes to someone on a national championship contender, but LSU ceased to be that as a practical matter on the last day of September — and officially on the first Saturday in November.

But another truth is that Heisman voting is based on season-long performance, and Daniels still had 3 opportunities to add to his resume at that point.

Then Daniels went out and had the single-best performance of anyone anywhere in the country this season in a 52-35 victory against Florida on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.

If his candidacy was on life support after Bama, it was out of the ICU and ready for discharge after Florida.

Daniels passed for 372 yards and 3 touchdowns and rushed for 234 yards and 2 touchdowns for an SEC-record 606 yards of total offense.

But just as a Heisman candidacy isn’t necessarily ended by 1 game, nor is the trophy necessarily won in 1 game – even one as historic as the one Saturday night.

Daniels’ record performance eclipsed other Heisman-caliber performances of his that came against SEC opposition: 513 yards, 5 touchdowns; 425 yards, 4 touchdowns; 418 yards, 3 touchdowns; 389 yards, 4 touchdowns; 382 yards, 3 touchdowns; 298 yards, 5 touchdowns.

Besides the 2 possessions he missed against Alabama after sustaining a concussion in the 4th quarter, Daniels has missed the equivalent of a full game because he was pulled at halftime of dominant victories against outmanned opponents in Grambling and Army.
He had 583 yards and 8 touchdowns in the 4 quarters he did play.

So his cumulative stats could have been even gaudier than they already are. And he still has home games against Georgia State and Texas A&M to make them gaudier yet.

Right now, he’s averaging 316.4 passing yards per game, with an FBS-best 30 TDs and only 4 picks. He’s No. 7 in the country in completion percentage (71.4) and No. 1 in QB rating (202.12, ahead of Michigan’s JJ McCarthy at 187.25 and Oregon’s Bo Nix at 184.66). On the ground, he’s averaging 91.8 yards per game on 8.05 per carry (No. 3 in FBS), with 8 TDs. A rare 3,000-1,000 season is just 82 rushing yards away.

But picking a Heisman Trophy winner is a tricky thing. Individual statistics are a good starting point, which is why candidates are almost exclusively individuals who play positions where performance is easily quantifiable – quarterback, running back and occasionally wide receiver.

Team success is also a valuable gauge, but that can unfairly punish candidates for teammates’ shortcomings, or unfairly boost candidacies because of teammates’ excellence.

Additionally, performance against the best competition when the stakes are highest can help reveal the most worthy candidate.

Daniels has directed the most productive offense in the country through 10 games. He was even better than his norm against the Gators. In fact he was better than pretty much any norm anyone cares to consider.

So it’s virtually impossible to believe that Daniels won’t be invited to New York as a Heisman finalist.

There are 2 more weeks in the regular season, and some candidates might get an extra audition in a conference championship game.

After the game, LSU coach Brian Kelly said Daniels’ performance – the first in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history in which 1 player had 350 passing yards and 200 rushing yards in the same game – “solidified” these truths: “He’s the best quarterback in the country. He’s the best playmaker in the country. He’s the best player.”

Kelly said that if Daniels didn’t win the Heisman on Saturday, “he’s got to be the leading candidate.” If not, Kelly continued, “then maybe the Heisman is not really for the best player. Maybe it’s for the most popular player.”

And that’s the point.

As of this Tell the Truth Monday, Daniels is the best player in the country. Perhaps that will change when these final precincts report.

But ultimately Daniels won’t need any particular award to validate what he continues to do on the field.

The post Tell the Truth Monday: Jayden Daniels is the best player in the country, and Heisman worthy appeared first on Saturday Down South.

So was his rushing performance.

The combination of the two was historic.

Daniels passed for 372 yards and 3 touchdowns in the Tigers’ 52-35 victory over Florida in Tiger Stadium.

He rushed for 234 yards and 2 touchdowns on a mere 12 carries.

That adds up to 606 yards of total offense. That’s the most in SEC history, surpassing the 585 yards that Mississippi State quarterback KJ Costello had in the 2020 season opener against LSU in the same stadium where Daniels performed Saturday night.

It’s fitting that Daniels should erase Costello’s entry from the top of the list, because State’s 44-34 victory came in the Tigers’ 1st game after the historic 2019 CFP championship season.

That loss drove home the point that 2019 was over and it probably was going to be a while before LSU – or anyone else – could duplicate what the Tigers had done in their championship run.

But Daniels’ performance on Saturday night was something that even Joe Burrow didn’t do as he was winning the Heisman Trophy by a record margin. (There’s more to be said that involves Daniels and the Heisman Trophy, and that will be addressed on “Tell the Truth Monday.”)

The 2023 Tigers, who entered Saturday’s game as the No. 19 team in the CFP rankings, improved to 7-3 and 5-2 in the SEC with the victory against Florida (5-5, 3-4).

This team was eliminated from the SEC West race in a 42-28 loss a week ago against No. 8 Alabama, which clinched the West on Saturday.

So this season, which will run its course with home games against Georgia State and Texas A&M as well as a bowl game, won’t stand out in the history of LSU football.

But Daniels’ season – and especially his performance Saturday night, 1 week after he was forced from the game against Alabama because of a concussion – will be.

He has directed the most dynamic offense in college football this season, and against the Gators he became the first player in the history of the NCAA Bowl Subdivision to pass for 350 yards and run for 200 yards in the same game.

In the Tigers’ 3 losses, Daniels’ biggest shortcoming was his inability to elevate a good but flawed team to greatness.

He didn’t have his best game in the opening loss to Florida State, throwing 1 of his 4 interceptions this season, but he still accumulated 410 yards.

In the loss to Ole Miss he totaled 513 yards and had a hand in 5 touchdowns, but the 49 points that he generated weren’t enough against a team that exploited the Tigers’ defense for 55.

Against Bama, 1 of his passes was tipped for an interception, but he still gained 382 yards and had a hand in 3 touchdowns before being injured.

But against Florida, nothing – especially the Gators defense, was going to hold Daniels back.

The Tigers gave up 488 yards and they lost a fumble on a kickoff return, which enabled Florida to take a 28-24 lead midway through the third quarter.

This game could have turned out the same way as the ones against Florida State, Ole Miss and Alabama did – but it didn’t. Daniels wouldn’t allow it.

Every time the Gators tried to take control of the game, Daniels had a response. Think of Burrow against Texas or Auburn or Alabama or Ole Miss or Clemson in the CFP Championship Game.

This time Daniels wasn’t dragged down by flaws in other areas of the team. In fact it was easy to see that his brilliance inspired his teammates and elevated their play.

After Florida took the lead, the Tigers defense did allow 1 more touchdown but also had 3 stops – forcing a punt and making 2 stops on 4th down.

Meanwhile LSU responded to the deficit with touchdowns on 4 consecutive possessions, following a touchdown on the last possession before the fumble on the kickoff return.

The Gators’ only lead of the game lasted 67 seconds before Daniels, who had an 85-yard touchdown run in the 2nd quarter, crossed the goal line on a 51-yard jaunt. Then he threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Noah Cain and threw 2 more – from 37 and 7 yards – to Brian Thomas Jr.

As the game wound down, observing which team was going to have the higher point total was less compelling than observing whether Daniels’ passing yardage or rushing yardage would be higher.

The post LSU football: Jayden Daniels’ historic performance boggles Florida and everyone watching appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Jayden Daniels and company are putting together the 2nd-best offensive season in LSU history.

But the soon-to-be lower than-No. 14 team has just a 6-3 overall record and 4-2 SEC record to show for all of the exploits of Daniels and Malik Nabers and Brian Harris Jr. and Logan Diggs and the rest of the offense.

The Tigers lost to Florida State 45-24 in the season opener, and only Boston College (29) has scored more points against the No. 4 Seminoles than LSU did.

The 49 points that the Tigers scored against Ole Miss were by far the most allowed by the No. 10 Rebels, but LSU gave up 55.

And on Saturday night, the Tigers lost to No. 8 Alabama 42-28 despite scoring more points on the Crimson Tide than anyone other than Texas (34), which handed Bama its only loss.

It’s Tell the Truth Monday … ugly truth edition.

And the ugly truth is that the LSU defense is a complete failure.

The offense is a whole lot of fun, but the defense is far, far below the standard of not only SEC contenders but also what the Tigers historically have been.

The 2019 championship season was an aberration with Joe Burrow having an historic season while leading one of the most prolific offenses in NCAA history.

The “Chinese Bandits” defense was a hallmark of Paul Dietzel’s tenure that included the 1958 championship season.

Charles McClendon became the winningest coach in LSU history primarily because of outstanding defenses.

Nick Saban restored the Tigers program and ended a 45-year championship drought in large part by developing the elite defensive play that has become the hallmark of his historic career.

And Les Miles maintained what Saban built by winning a national championship in 2007, not with an elite defense but with a very good one, certainly better than what Kelly has produced in 2 seasons.

The high-powered offense that Daniels has directed for 2 seasons is nice and probably necessary to compete for championships in college football today.

But it will never produce a championship unless it is complemented by an adequate defense, one that’s at least as adequate as the unspectacular one that rode Burrow’s coattails to a 15-0 record.

The truth is that Kelly’s No. 1 priority between now and the start of the 2024 season has to be a thorough examination of the defense’s failure and the steps that must be taken to avoid a repeat of the embarrassments of this season.

That starts with an evaluation of coordinator Matt House and the defensive staff – not just in terms of schemes, game-planning and play-calling – but also in terms of player development.

It doesn’t appear that the LSU defenders – most notably 5-star recruits such as tackle Maason Smith and defensive back Sage Ryan – are developing at a satisfactory rate.

And speaking of recruiting, Kelly needs to evaluate whether he has been too dependent on the transfer portal. In order to develop perennially SEC-quality defenses, the Tigers will need a foundation built on high-school recruits – talented recruits that develop at a faster rate than has been the case thus far – with transfers sprinkled in.

The front of the LSU defense was dominated by an Alabama offensive line that had been inconsistent this season.

The Tigers have had persistent bouts of poor tackling throughout the defense and have been prone to allowing big plays.

They never had an answer for Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe, who had 4 of Bama’s 6 rushing touchdowns.

Even after Milroe ran for 3 first-half touchdowns, which enabled the Tide to keep pace with Daniels and the LSU offense and forge a 21-all halftime tie, the Tigers never improved in their attempts to slow him down.

The Tigers took a 28-21 lead on the first possession of the third quarter, but the offense didn’t score again and Bama scored 3 more touchdowns on the beaten LSU defense.

There are 3 more games in this season – visits to Tiger Stadium by Florida, Georgia State and Texas A&M – followed by some sort of bowl game.

That’s still a lot of time for Kelly, House, etc., to try and salvage some respectability for the 2023 defense.

But then comes the most important challenge – fixing the fundamental defensive problems in a program that traditionally has been able to pride itself on its performance on that side of the ball.

The post Tell the Truth Monday: LSU gets an F in D appeared first on Saturday Down South.

He might be invited to New York as a finalist for the prestigious award, but he won’t be returning to Baton Rouge with the hardware in hand.

His strong Heisman candidacy is now limited to place or show status in the wake of No. 14 LSU’s 42-28 loss to No. 8 Alabama on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa.

The end of Daniels’ candidacy has little if anything to do with the fact that he missed nearly all of the fourth quarter after entering concussion protocol. His Heisman hopes – like the game – were pretty much already done at that point.

In fact, the end of his candidacy had less to do with Daniels – who remains 1 of the very best players in the country – than it had to do with the Tigers’ shortcomings as a team, just as LSU’s pedestrian 6-3 record (4-2 in the SEC) is a result of those shortcomings.

Heisman Trophy winners generally don’t come from teams that have 3 losses 1 week into November, or teams that are middle of the pack in their division/conference.

Daniels’ numbers against Alabama were really good, as they almost always are. He completed 15 of 24 passes for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns. He did throw an interception (his 4th in 9 games) on a ball that an Alabama defender batted into his own helmet, turning the throw into a lazy pop-up.

Last Monday, Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban acknowledged that Daniels “killed us” in LSU’s 32-31 overtime win in Tiger Stadium last season. Undoubtedly Saban emphasized to his defense the importance of preventing a repeat performance by Daniels, especially in terms of his running.

And yet Daniels had 163 rushing yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Bama knew how important Daniels is to the Tigers’ success, and it surely designed its game plan to slow him down. And yet he was extremely effective.

But it certainly wasn’t helpful to Daniels that his counterpart – Jalen Milroe – matched his productivity and ultimately surpassed it.

The biggest potential advantage that LSU had going into the game was a decided advantage in quarterback play. Milroe is a talented but erratic young player who figured to have a challenge in trying to keep up with Daniels.

But to Milroe’s credit, quarterback play wound up being an advantage for the home team as Milroe had 4 of the Tide’s 6 rushing touchdowns.

He finished with 155 of Bama’s 288 rushing yards and added 219 passing yards to his team’s 507 total yards.

The Heisman Trophy isn’t won when a candidate’s counterpart matches or exceeds his performance in a game with championship implications – even if the candidate plays extremely well.

Daniels’ performance this season has warranted comparisons to Joe Burrow’s Heisman-winning season during the Tigers’ 2019 championship run. The Tigers’ top-rated offense going into Saturday’s game also warranted comparisons to that championship offense.

But the loss at Alabama on Saturday confirmed what already was apparent, that Daniels isn’t the equal of Burrow and Daniels’ offense isn’t the equal of Burrow’s.

The 2023 quarterback and offense might be the next-best thing to the 2019 quarterback and offense, but this team isn’t close to being a national-championship contender or an SEC champion — and is now a non-factor in the West race.

Daniels is still having a fine season and presumably he will have additional opportunities, perhaps as soon as next Saturday against Florida in Tiger Stadium, to further enhance his resume – depending on how quickly he emerges from the concussion protocol.

From here on out, what Daniels accomplishes will enhance his standing in the LSU record book as well as contribute to his NFL resume.

And neither is insignificant.

But when it comes to the Heisman, someone else will be accepting the award while Daniels either applauds from the stage in New York or observes from afar.

He won’t be a factor in the final selection, just as the Tigers won’t be a factor when the biggest games of the college season are played in December and January.

Ultimately those 2 realities are intertwined.

Daniels didn’t lose his Heisman candidacy as much as his teammates lost it for him.

The post LSU football: Jayden Daniels’ Heisman candidacy ends in loss to Alabama appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The Tigers were left out of the AP’s preseason Top 25 in 2022, but went on to win the SEC West and finish No. 16 in the final poll.

LSU was No. 5 in the preseason poll this year, but hasn’t performed up to expectations. It was beaten thoroughly by Florida State 45-24 in the season opener.

It won its 1st 2 SEC games, then had one of the worst defensive performances in program history in a 55-49 loss at Ole Miss.

Two losses in the 1st 5 games.

But the Tigers haven’t lost since.

Now it’s Tell the Truth Monday, Alabama week edition – and the truth is this week’s outcome will determine whether Kelly’s 2nd team can still vindicate those lofty preseason expectations.

The No. 13 Tigers have a ways to go in order to return to the neighborhood they occupied in the preseason poll. And they might never make it back there.

But this week can make a big difference.

The first CFP rankings will be unveiled Tuesday night, and they will provide more clarity to just where LSU stands entering the final 3rd of the regular season.

A victory over the No. 8 Crimson Tide would certainly move the Tigers up next week and place them in position to repeat as West champs if they win their last 2 SEC games (vs. Florida and Texas A&M) and if Ole Miss loses 1 of its last 3 SEC games (vs. Texas A&M, at Georgia and at Mississippi State).

LSU has been playing catch-up to its preseason expectations since that Labor Day weekend loss to Florida State. And it’ll never catch up if it suffers a 3rd loss this week.

But a victory over the Tide – much like the 32-31 overtime win a year ago in Tiger Stadium – would greatly enhance the prospects for the rest of this season.

Just like last season, the SEC West schedule isn’t quite the gauntlet that it generally has been in recent seasons. And even more so than last season, Bama isn’t quite the powerhouse that it generally has been during the Nick Saban era.

Bama is beatable. The SEC West is winnable.

Whether LSU can beat the Tide and win the West will go a long way toward defining this season.

In the end, will Kelly’s 2nd team maintain – or perhaps even raise – the standard that his 1st team set?

Or will it be a middle-of-the-pack SEC team that needed the 2nd-best season ever by an LSU quarterback in order to avoid a significant drop-off?

A win in Tuscaloosa would be consistent with the 1st option. A loss in Tuscaloosa would be consistent with the 2nd option.

Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr., Logan Diggs and company have led one of the most productive offenses in the country.

The defense has played progressively better for the last 2½ games, but will face a much stronger test Saturday than it has faced during this period of improvement.

The victory over Bama last season validated what Kelly’s team had done in winning 6 of its previous 8 games.

The challenge for this year’s team is to produce another victory over the Tide, not to validate the 1st 8 games, but rather to validate the preseason projections – to show this team at the beginning of November is a better team than it was in September and a better team than it was in October.

In order to do that, it will have to show that it is in fact a complete team – one with perhaps the most explosive offense in the country as well as a Top 25-caliber defense. It has to demonstrate that against Alabama, not Army, not Auburn, not even Missouri.

Kelly was brought to LSU to bring the program to a point where it would compete perennially for the SEC title and a CFP berth.

Reaching both goals was going to require consistent success against Bama.

The win against the Tide and the West title were an excellent start.

Another win against Bama – with or without an SEC West title – would be satisfactory in Year 2.

But a loss to the Tide – and becoming an also-ran in the West – would represent a step backward – even with 3 games remaining.

The post Tell the Truth Monday: Bama game will define LSU’s season appeared first on Saturday Down South.

LSU doesn’t circle the first Saturday in November on its calendar, because it doesn’t need to be reminded that that is when it faces the Crimson Tide every season.

This season the game is in Tuscaloosa, but that’s not a big deal because the road team often wins in this series. The Tigers did prevail in Baton Rouge last season, 32-31 in overtime, but before that 13 of their last 17 victories had come in Alabama.

This game is in prime time, which is a big deal because it’s a sign that the stakes are once again very high.

If No. 9 Bama wins it will strengthen its grip on the SEC West race. If No. 15 LSU wins it will be 1 Ole Miss loss away from taking control of its fate in the West.

It’s LSU and Alabama, and it’s going to be a heavyweight battle.

Here are 5 keys to taming the Tide:

1. Minimize big pass plays by Bama

LSU has the better offense. Bama’s offense has been inconsistent.

But Jalen Milroe is settling in as the Tide’s starting quarterback and is capable of big plays, especially when throwing to Jermaine Burton, who’s averaging more than 22 yards per reception and has 6 touchdown catches.

The Tigers figure to be the more effective offense at moving the ball consistently, but their defense has been susceptible to big plays. A few chunk plays by the Bama offense – most likely on Milroe-to-Burton completions – could be an equalizer.

2. Turn Harold Perkins loose

One of the keys to limiting those chunk plays will be for Harold Perkins to be disruptive, as a pass-rusher and otherwise.

He had a relatively slow start to the season, but the coaches have figured out how to put him in positions to perform in a manner befitting his preseason All-America status.

Perkins has been playing like an elite defender for the last month.

3. Take the ball away

Perkins has made several big plays on the defensive side of the line of scrimmage, but he’s also capable of making big plays in the offensive backfield. In fact, that’s how he made a name for himself last season.

If Perkins is able to sack Milroe or at least pressure him, and get to other ball carriers in the backfield, the Tigers can slow down the Tide offense and perhaps create turnovers.

LSU is tied for the SEC lead with 9 interceptions, and only 3 quarterbacks in the SEC have thrown more interceptions than Milroe’s 5.

The Tigers cornerbacks have played better of late, but the group is banged up.

4. Pound Logan Diggs

As dynamic as Jayden Daniels has been throwing the ball and running it, his job gets easier when LSU is able to run consistently with its backs. And Diggs has been their most effective one.

Diggs is a strong runner, and establishing his viability early in the game will enable Daniels to be more effective and keep the defense fresh.

The Tigers ran the ball well enough to be reasonably balanced in last season’s meeting, but Daniels had to out-rush all of the running backs combined. Diggs can give Bama more to worry about from the running back position.

5. Let Daniels win the game

He’s the best player in this game – if not the best player in the country.

Put the game in his hands as much as possible.

Running Diggs will help, and the defense and special teams will have to do their part.

But the biggest advantage LSU has is at the quarterback position.

The Tigers will have to deal with a Tide defense that is tied for the SEC lead with 29 sacks.

Daniels’ running can complement Diggs’ in a significant way – both by design and by ad-libbing. And Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr., Kyren Lacy and Mason Taylor are all capable of making big plays when Daniels puts the ball in their hands.

The Tide’s pass defense has been much stingier since allowing 349 yards to Texas, but Tennessee did throw for 271 in Bama’s last game and finished with 2 touchdown passes, just as Arkansas did a week earlier.

Daniels’ running and passing was a primary factor in LSU’s win last season, and he’ll have to have another very productive game if the Tigers are going to win again.

The post LSU football: It’s Bama Week. Here are 5 keys to taming the Tide appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It had one of the worst defensive performances in school history when it lost to Ole Miss, 55-49, and fell to 3-2 at the end of September.

But the 19th-ranked Tigers are looking much better after finishing an undefeated October.

They routed Army 62-0 on Saturday night at Tiger Stadium to enter their open date with a 6-2 record, 3-1 in the SEC.

They don’t play again until the first Saturday in November, the traditional day of their annual showdown with Alabama, which is the only team in the SEC West without a conference loss. The game in Tuscaloosa will be LSU’s final road game.

The Tigers don’t control their fate in the West, but they are very much capable of repeating as division champions.

They feature one of the strongest Heisman Trophy candidates in quarterback Jayden Daniels, who directs one of the elite offenses in the country.

The defense has shown gradual improvement since the debacle at Ole Miss, and it provides enough balance for the team to continue to ascend in the AP poll.

But this team is still a work in progress.

The defense’s improvement for 1 half against Missouri, a whole game against a struggling Auburn offense and another full game against a significantly outmanned Army offense doesn’t mean it won’t have lapses against Alabama, Florida and Texas A&M (or even Georgia State).

And if it has poor stretches approaching those that it had against Florida State, Ole Miss and parts of the games against Arkansas and Missouri in any of the remaining games, that will leave Daniels and the offense with a small margin for error.

LSU is good enough to return to the SEC Championship Game.

But it will be an underdog against Alabama, and it’s shaky enough to lose multiple times down the stretch if it doesn’t continue to improve each week.

After a 6-2 start, here’s where LSU will finish the 2023 season.

Week 9: at Alabama

The Skinny: LSU took control of the SEC West race last season when it beat the Tide, 32-31, in overtime at Tiger Stadium. The lead changed hands 6 times in the 2nd half, and Daniels’ 25-yard touchdown run and 2-point conversion pass to Mason Taylor overcame the Tide’s touchdown on the 1st overtime possession.

A similar opportunity is available this season, though the Tigers can’t win the West unless someone knocks off Ole Miss for them. (We’re looking at you, Georgia.)

But that won’t matter unless LSU beats Bama in consecutive seasons for the 1st time since 2010-11.

The Tide defense looks like a Tide defense, but the offense is very much a work in progress.

Prediction: LSU 34, Alabama 26.

Week 10: vs. Florida

The Skinny: LSU won a shootout, 45-35, at The Swamp last season.

The winner of this matchup will take the lead in a series that currently is 33-33-3.

LSU has won each of the past 4 years and will be favored to make it 5 straight.

Anthony Richardson set the scoring pace for the Gators last season, but eventually, Daniels and the Tigers caught and passed them.

Florida has been one of the worst offenses in the SEC in turning yards into points, and it won’t be able to match LSU’s scoring pace.

Prediction: LSU 41, Florida 30

Week 11: vs. Georgia State

The Skinny: The Panthers will be making their 2nd trip to Louisiana in 4 weeks after visiting UL-Lafayette on Saturday night. They improved to 6-1 and 3-1 in the Sun Belt Conference after holding off the Ragin’ Cajuns, 20-17.

GSU is one of the better Sun Belt teams, and it will be more a formidable nonconference opponent than Army, or Grambling was back in Week 2.

But this is still a welcome break from the SEC grind that will conclude a week later.

This will be the 1st time LSU and Georgia State have played each other in football.

Prediction: LSU 40, Georgia State 17

Week 12: vs. Texas A&M

The Skinny: Last season, LSU was one of the bigger surprises in college football in a positive way, and A&M was the biggest surprises in a negative way.

When they met in the regular-season finale at College Station, the Tigers were No. 5 and preparing to play for the SEC championship. The Aggies and their preseason CFP hype had long since vanished, along with their hopes of even becoming bowl eligible.

But in this game, both teams looked more like they were projected to be before their seasons started.

A&M ended a 6-game SEC losing streak by beating LSU and ending its CFP hopes.

These teams have alternated wins for the past 6 seasons, including the Aggies’ epic 74-72, 7-overtime win in 2018 that led the NCAA to change the overtime rules to try to avoid games lasting that many extra periods.

Prediction: LSU 38, Texas A&M 27

The post LSU football: Predicting the Tigers’ final record for 2023 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The Tigers began the second half of the season with a complete and resounding 48-18 victory over Auburn on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.

It was as well-rounded a performance as No. 19 LSU (5-2, 4-1 SEC) has had this season. The Tigers dominated Mississippi State and edged Arkansas in the other games that are candidates for the best-rounded distinction.

But this one was different in the sense that the coaching staff is zeroing in on how to use its offensive skill players to maximum effect and the defensive coaches and players are getting in sync as the season-defining part of the schedule looms after this week’s non-conference home game against Army and the open date after that.

It’s Tell the Truth Monday, and the truth this week is the performance against Auburn demonstrated that LSU is trending toward being the team that it was expected to be when it landed at No. 5 in the AP preseason poll.

It’s not there yet, and it might not get there, but Saturday was a notable step in the right direction.

It’s true that Auburn is rebuilding under first-year head coach Hugh Freeze and is limited on offense, so even a 30-point margin of victory against this outmanned opponent can be misleading.

But it’s not the raw numbers that tell the truth about this performance. It’s the manner in which LSU accumulated those numbers – as both the offense and defense were synced together as units rather than a collection of individuals.

Other victories had been gained primarily because of the brilliance of Jayden Daniels and a couple occurred in spite of the performance of the defense.

Although Daniels was outstanding once again Saturday, the supporting cast came closer to matching his level of play.

And the defense wasn’t a hurdle that had to be overcome on the way to victory but rather was a partner to Daniels and company in crafting this wire-to-wire victory.

Let’s start with the offense.

Early in the season LSU was leaning on the passing game while the running game was finding itself, but the recent trend has been to be balanced. What was most encouraging Saturday was the effectiveness of multiple running backs.

LSU began the season with an extremely deep group of capable running backs, but struggled to find a tight, effective rotation. Recently Logan Diggs has clearly established himself as the primary ball carrier, and on Saturday John Emery Jr. looked the best he has since becoming academically eligible last month. And Josh Williams scored twice.

Diggs – and Daniels, who’s the No. 2 rusher – are going to need help as the wear and tear gets greater during the heart of the SEC schedule, and head coach Brian Kelly and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock now seem to have a clearer vision of how to use their depth at running back.

Depth is also showing up at wide receiver. Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. have been very productive, and Kyren Lacy emerged as the big-play receiver Saturday. Add in tight end Mason Taylor getting healthier, and Daniels has the arsenal that was envisioned during the summer.

As for the defense, it played much better Saturday, though it would be premature to assume it’s an SEC West-champion caliber defense. But the last 6 quarters have been encouraging.

Kelly gave a game ball to Harold Perkins on Saturday, and the defense’s best playmaker is playing loose and free after a slow start to the season.

The return to health of linebacker Omar Speights provided a boost Saturday. Zy Alexander and Andre Sam have brought a measure of stability at cornerback, and Sage Ryan moved from safety to bolster the group’s numbers Saturday.

One of the most notable elements to the victory was the 17-0 first-quarter blitz that put LSU in control. In Kelly’s 2 seasons, his team has been hampered by periodic poor starts, some of which were overcome and some of which were not.

The wins against Arkansas and Missouri and the loss to Ole Miss were 3 such games. Saturday was not.

Though Auburn twice got within 10 points, that wasn’t so much a case of LSU hitting a lull as it was Auburn starting to find some footing. But LSU responded each time and finished strong.

There’s a long way to go, but LSU is starting to look like a team that’s capable of finishing the season strong – if it can continue to build on the identity it showed against Auburn.

We can’t forget that it’s Tell the Truth Monday, and that requires acknowledging negatives in victory as well as positives in defeat.

The 12 penalties for 100 yards against Auburn will be problematic if repeated against a stronger opponent down the road.

But when it comes to telling the truth about short-comings, that’s not too bad.

The post Tell the Truth Monday: LSU is finding its identity appeared first on Saturday Down South.

LSU (5-2, 4-1 SEC) scored on its first 4 possessions and the struggling defense built on a solid second half in a 49-39 win at Missouri a week earlier to hold Auburn (3-3, 0-3) to 293 yards.

The offense was balanced as Jayden Daniels passed for 325 yards and 3 touchdowns, and the passing attack was complemented by 238 rushing yards.

LSU rolled to a 17-0 lead at the end of the 1st quarter and the closest Auburn could get was 10 points on 2 occasions, the last being 20-10 on the 1st possession of the 3rd quarter.

But LSU’s next 2 possessions ended with Daniels touchdown passes of 25 yards to Kyren Lacy, who had 111 receiving yards, and 13 yards to Josh Williams.

Player of the Week: RB Logan Diggs

It would be easy to give it to Daniels (418 total yards and 3 touchdown passes) once again, but it’s time to acknowledge someone else, and Diggs was extremely important.

On the 2nd play of the game he broke free for a 35-yard run that led to Daniels’ 29-yard touchdown pass to Malik Nabers. On the 2nd possession, Diggs rushed for a total of 21 yards on a field-goal drive, and he added a 5-yard touchdown run that provided a 3-score margin midway through the 4th quarter.

Diggs set the tone right away that the running game was going to be as important as the passing game. He made things easier for Daniels as a runner and in the play-action game, and his touchdown provided a dagger.

Freshman of the Week: KR Kaleb Jackson

Jackson only touched the ball once, but he made it count in a game otherwise devoid of significant impacts from 1st-year players.

Auburn was in its best position since falling behind 17-0 when it drove to a field goal on the 1st possession of the 3rd quarter to pull within 20-10, but Jackson returned the ensuing kickoff 60 yards to the Auburn 39. LSU rode the momentum of Jackson’s return to Daniels’ 25-yard touchdown pass to Lacy that put the home team in control with a 27-10 lead.

Biggest surprise: The complete defensive effort

The 14-point second half against Missouri was encouraging after 8 consecutive poor quarters against Arkansas, Ole Miss and Missouri. But it wasn’t suggestive of a performance as strong as the one LSU had for 60 minutes against Auburn.

The 293 total yards allowed were the 2nd-fewest this season, as were the 154 passing yards. The run defense was solid as well, limiting Auburn to 139 yards. Auburn converted just 3 of 12 3rd downs and 1 of 3 4th downs and possessed the ball for less than 26 minutes.

It was easily the best defensive performance in a month, since the win at Mississippi State to begin SEC play.

Biggest concern: The penalties

There were minimal blemishes on the performance, but the penalties stood out. LSU was penalized 12 times for 100 yards. The offense and the defense were equal culprits, each being penalized 6 times.

The offense lost 40 yards on 3 false starts, an illegal motion, an illegal block and a holding penalty. The defense donated 60 yards to Auburn with a smorgasbord of infractions – holding, pass interference, delay of game, offsides, facemask and roughing the passer.

Developing trend: Harold Perkins’ dominance

LSU took an if-it-ain’t-broke-try-and-fix-it-anyway approach to its preseason All-America linebacker early in the season by moving him from the edge to the middle of the defense. It has been a week-to-week adjustment to try and fine-tune his role, and he has started to dominate as he did last season.

Perkins was notable by his lack of impact in the season-opening loss to Florida State, but he has mostly been an impact player since SEC play began. He was especially disruptive Saturday night, finishing with 5 tackles (4 solo), 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry.

If the defense is going to continue to improve, it will require Perkins being continually disruptive.

Key stat: 563 yards of offense

It wasn’t just the impressive number of total yards, but the balance that produced that number – 325 passing yards and 238 rushing yards. Nabers and Lacy combined for 200 receiving yards and each had a touchdown, Diggs and Daniels both flirted with 100 yards on the ground, John Emery Jr. had 91 total yards and Josh Williams had a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown.

The 563 yards weren’t as many as LSU had against Ole Miss (637) or Grambling (622), and its 48 points made this just the 4th-highest scoring game. The rushing yards weren’t as many as LSU had against Missouri (274) or Grambling (302) and the 325 passing yards were just the 4th most. But the running game and the passing game both were productive and consistent for 60 minutes.

First impression about Week 8: vs. Army

The defense’s improvement should continue for at least another week.

Army (2-4) has lost 3 games in a row, scoring a total of 40 points after a 19-0 home loss to Troy on Saturday. The Black Knights had just 255 yards, including a mere 78 passing. Army converted 2 of 13 3rd downs, 1 of 5 4th downs, lost 3 fumbles and gave up 6 sacks.

The LSU defense should have a dominant performance before heading into its open date and preparation for its Nov. 4 showdown at Alabama.

The post LSU football: Stock report after Week 7 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

He was exceptional even in defeat a week earlier at Ole Miss.

He was nearly perfect in a victory against Mississippi State and has been exceptional in virtually every quarter during the 1st half of the season.

In fact, if it weren’t for Daniels, the Tigers’ mediocre 4-2 start (3-1 in the SEC) would look less impressive than it does.

It’s Tell The Truth Monday at mid-season, and the truth is that Daniels looks like a much stronger candidate to be invited to New York City on the second Saturday in December than his team does to earn a trip to Atlanta on the Saturday before that.

If somehow LSU does make it to the Sec Championship Game it would be on the back of Daniels, who would almost certainly be a finalist for the Heisman Trophy ceremony a week later.

He has ceded the role of leading rusher that he had last season to Logan Diggs (but barely), put Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas in position for post-season honors of their own and managed to keep an erratic team in the Top 25 and competitive (at least for now) in its quest to repeat as SEC West champions.

Daniels, who is completing 72.9% of his passes this season, has established a new career-best for passing touchdowns in a season before this season is halfway over. His 42-yard touchdown pass to Thomas in the 3rd quarter Saturday was his 17th of the season, surpassing his previous best – set during his freshman season (2019) and matched last season.

He added another to Nabers in the fourth quarter and figures to soar up the rankings for most touchdown passes in a season by a Tigers quarterback. He’s not going to reach Joe Burrow’s record-shattering total of 60 in 2019, but he’s on pace to easily surpass the second-best total of 28 by Matt Mauck (2003) and JaMarcus Russell (2006).

Daniels is on pace to surpass his career-high of 2,943 passing yards by roughly 1,000 yards and finish on the cusp of 4,000, which would be 2nd to only Burrow’s 5,671.

Throw in his 422 net rushing yards, which puts him on pace to approach his team-leading total of 885 last season, and it’s easy to see why LSU has managed to average 46.5 points and put up 49 in each of the past 2 weeks – against ranked SEC opponents on the road.

The truth is that Daniels is guiding a team that only split those last 2 games because it allowed 55 points in the loss at Ole Miss 2 weeks ago. It got past Missouri by allowing “only” 39.

If Daniels had been anything less than exceptional – 27-of-36, 414 yards, 4 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 99 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown – the Tigers would have lost by a significant margin to the Rebels.

If he had been anything less than exceptional – 15-of-21, 259 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 130 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown – LSU almost certainly would have lost to Missouri, dropped out of the Top 25, slipped to 3-3 and seen its position in the West become even more precarious than it already is.

Although the LSU defense finally gave Daniels some much-needed help by allowing just 14 second-half points against Missouri, the defensive trend is not encouraging. In the Tigers’ last 29 defensive series over the last 10 quarters – dating to a 34-31 victory against Arkansas on Sept. 23 – they have allowed 14 touchdowns and 4 field goals for a total of 111 points.

In that same time frame, Daniels has led 27 possessions that weren’t cut short by the clock and produced 15 touchdowns and 3 field goals for 115 points.

No matter how many yards and points the LSU defense has been giving up, Daniels has either been able to overcome it – as he did against Arkansas and Missouri – or go blow for blow as he did against Ole Miss, which had 1 more score than Daniels’ offense had.

Even a rib injury that briefly sidelined Daniels against Missouri couldn’t slow him down.

If he’s able to stay healthy, the Tigers are always going to have a puncher’s chance, even if the defense doesn’t get its act together.

Tell The Truth Monday requires an honest assessment of wins and losses.

This latest win was a fitting end to the 1st half of LSU’s season because it demonstrates the state of the team heading into the 2nd half.

Daniels is having as productive and Heisman-worthy a season as any offensive player in the country.

And yet each week it’s a struggle for him and his high-scoring offense to keep pace with the opponent.

The post Tell the Truth Monday: Jayden Daniels has to be exceptional every game or Tigers are doomed appeared first on Saturday Down South.

And the beleaguered LSU defense was much improved in the second half.

In the end, the 23rd-ranked Tigers escaped with a wild 49-39 victory over Missouri in Columbia on Saturday afternoon.

Daniels left the game briefly with a rib injury, but returned and finished with 3 touchdown passes, 130 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.

Safety Major Burns chipped in a game-clinching pick-6 to climax a 2nd half in which LSU allowed just 14 points after allowing 25 on 5 1st-half possessions.

Logan Diggs added 134 rushing yards and a touchdown, and Harold Perkins had an interception that produced the only 1st-half stop by the defense and led to a touchdown, in addition to blocking a field goal.

LSU (4-2, 3-1 SEC) allowed 527 yards, but that was 179 fewer than it allowed in a 55-49 loss at Ole Miss a week earlier.

The persistent Tigers overcame 3 deficits, including a 22-7 second-quarter hole.

Player of the Week: QB Jayden Daniels

Diggs was important. So was Perkins. So was Malik Nabers (6 catches, 146 yards, 1 touchdown). And touchdown catches by Brian Thomas Jr. and Mason Taylor were helpful.

But Daniels was indispensable.

He left the game briefly in the 3rd quarter with the rib injury, but when he returned he was just as effective as he had been before the injury even though he was obviously feeling discomfort.

Freshman of the Week: LB Whit Weeks

Weeks has been 1 of the most significant playmakers on the defense – in good times and bad – since moving into the starting lineup 3 weeks ago.

On Saturday he was 4th on the team with 5 tackles including a tackle for loss.

Biggest surprise: The defense in the 2nd half

It’s not that LSU was smothering in the 2nd half; it allowed 256 yards, just 15 fewer than it allowed in the 1st half. And it’s not like allowing 14 points should be that notable for an LSU defense.

But given how terribly the defense has played of late, including the 1st half Saturday, the turnaround from the 1st half to the 2nd, primarily from allowing 25 points to 14 while producing a touchdown, was surprising.

After allowing Luther Burden III to catch 9 passes for 110 yards in the 1st half, LSU held him to 2 catches for 39 yards in the 2nd half.

In addition to Burns’ clinching pick-6, another of the biggest plays of the game was produced by the defense in the 4th quarter. LSU was clinging to a 42-39 lead when Missouri crossed midfield with less than 2 minutes remaining, but Bradyn Swinson sacked Brady Cook, causing a fumble that turned a 3rd-and-6 at the LSU 46 into a 4th-and-32 at the Missouri 28.

Biggest concern: The defense – still

Despite the improvement in the 2nd half and doing just enough to help the team win, the defense is far from fixed. Far.

Missouri drove into field-goal range on its 1st and last possessions of the 2nd half. Perkins saved the 1st by blocking the kick and Missouri missed on the last 1. In between Missouri had 2 easy touchdowns drives (6 plays, 75 yards and 5 plays, 70 yards) and was marching again before Swinson’s big play.

The defense is less of a concern than it was coming out of the Ole Miss game, but only slightly.

Developing trend: Logan Diggs is really important

LSU was struggling on offense and defense as it fell behind 22-7 in the 2nd quarter, but Diggs’ rushing success helped stabilize the offense and give the defense a rest. He rushed for 19 yards on a drive to a Damian Ramos field goal, then he rushed for 49 yards on a drive to Daniels’ 3-yard touchdown pass to Mason Taylor.

From that point on, the offense was clicking. Diggs has emerged from a crowded field as the clear-cut most-productive running back. He takes some of the rushing burden away from Daniels and helps keep the chains and clock moving, which is significant because it limits the number of defensive snaps.

Key stat: Turnover margin

The math is pretty simple. LSU took the ball away twice and didn’t turn it over.

Perkins’ interception led to a touchdown and Burns’ interception was returned for a touchdown. Those 2 plays made the difference in a 10-point margin and were significant equalizers for a defense that largely was ineffective otherwise.

First impression about Week 7 (vs. Auburn)

Auburn is well positioned to give LSU quite a fight.

Auburn (3-2) is 0-2 in the SEC, but it played Texas A&M on the road and hosted Georgia, playing very well in a 27-20 loss that wasn’t settled until the final moments.

It has had 2 weeks to rest, build on that performance and study ways to attack LSU’s porous defense. LSU and Auburn are known for close battles featuring wacky elements, and this match-up could produce more of that.

The post LSU football: Stock report after Week 6 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

And the Tigers were really, really bad on defense in the 55-49 loss in Oxford.

Now it’s Tell the Truth Monday, which requires finding the good in losses just as it requires finding the bad in victories.

But the failure in this game – almost exclusively on defense – requires that the good stuff get merely perfunctory acknowledgment before moving on to the bad stuff that has this team trending to the negative as the end of the 1st half of the season looms next Saturday.

OK, Jayden Daniels is great. So are Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. Logan Diggs is also really good. The offensive line seems to be settling in, and if Mason Taylor continues to get healthier, the offense will get another boost.

And the special teams have been solid, orders of magnitude better than the disaster that they were last season.

That’s enough of that.

Now to the bad stuff.

There’s no need to rehash the details of 1 of the worst defensive performances in the history of LSU football. The Tigers were simply awful, and even a superficial look at the box score will tell that story.

But there’s more to look at than numbers on this Tell the Truth Monday.

Last Monday, LSU head coach Brian Kelly said in the wake of a narrow, defensively-challenged victory against Arkansas that the key to the defense playing up to the level that its talent suggests should be attainable was to do “the ordinary extraordinarily well.”

Instead the Tigers did ordinary things, such as knowing their assignments, shedding blocks, taking proper angles and tackling, extraordinarily poorly.

Kelly’s point was a valid one: young players, as they often do, were trying to do too much. They were allowing themselves to be seduced into trying to make big plays that required them to abandon their responsibilities and take on those of a teammate.

That inevitably leads to breakdowns.

Defensive schemes are designed for all 11 players to be disciplined and efficient in performing their assigned tasks, each trusting that each of their teammates will do their job.

But against the Rebels, no one did their job well with any degree of consistency, and if anyone was trying to do a teammate’s job along the way, they failed at that too.

In the end, though, the failures are the responsibility of Kelly, defensive coordinator Matt House and the rest of the defensive staff.

The Tigers started poorly on defense, played marginally better for a brief stretch late in the 2nd quarter and early in the 3rd quarter, then collapsed when the game was being decided.

Lane Kiffin and his staff did a better job of having their players, who were coming off a physically exhausting, frustrating and disappointing loss at Alabama 7 days earlier, ready to compete at a very high level as soon as the game kicked off.

To the credit of Kelly, his staff and their players, they gradually got the game turned in their favor. They took their 1st lead on the 1st possession of the 3rd quarter and held a 9-point lead midway through the 4th quarter.

But Kiffin, his staff and their players recovered, and down the stretch they regained the passion and efficiency that they had in the early going while the LSU group reverted to its early-game sluggishness.

In a game in which any touchdown-free possession, especially a scoreless one, was potentially lethal, the Rebels’ final 2 possessions produced 2 touchdowns and the Tigers’ final 2 possessions produced 0 points.

And this is where coordinator Mike Denbrock and the rest of the offensive staff can get a small share of the blame for the team’s inability to win a game in which LSU had a 35-12 run.

Kelly and his staff will show the game tape to the players. They’ll point out the many, many examples of poor execution, explain the corrections that need to be made, then demonstrate how to effect those corrections on the practice field.

They’ll consider possible depth chart changes and craft a game plan tailored to Missouri.

It’s up to the players – primarily the defensive ones – to perform better this week.

Missouri is undefeated and easily capable of duplicating the offensive success that Arkansas had against LSU if not that which Ole Miss had.

The Rebels had an excellent bounce back after Alabama, which is playing much better, as is Texas A&M. Auburn played Georgia to the wire.

If LSU is going to be relevant in the SEC the rest of the way, it needs to make significant strides this week.

That means it’s up to Kelly and his staff to do a better job of having their players ready to compete when the game kicks off and raise the entire team’s performance to a level that’s more consistent with its talent level.

The players need to do the ordinary extraordinarily well.

So do the coaches.

The post Tell the Truth Monday: LSU failures fall on Brian Kelly and his staff appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Jayden Daniels passed for 414 yards and 4 touchdowns, 3 of which went to Brian Thomas Jr., who was 1 of 2 100-yard Tigers receivers along with Malik Nabers (102). And 100-yard rusher Logan Diggs had 2 touchdowns.

But it wasn’t enough.

The LSU defense allowed Jaxson Dart, Tre Harris, Jordan Watkins and Quinshon Judkins to negate the Tigers’ fireworks as the Rebels compiled 706 yards. Dart’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Harris with 39 seconds remaining provided the winning points.

Daniels drove LSU to the Ole Miss 15 in the final seconds, but 2 false start penalties and 2 incompletions in the end zone thwarted the threat as the Tigers fell to 3-2 and 2-1.

Player of the Week: QB Jayden Daniels

It could have been Thomas (8 catches, 124 yards, 3 touchdowns) or Nabers (8-102) or Diggs (19 rushes, 101 yards, 2 touchdowns).

But Daniels completed 27 of 36 for 414 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions and rushed 15 times for 99 yards and a touchdown (though he did lose a 1st-quarter fumble at the Ole Miss 25).

Every week Daniels is the Tigers player of the week – and for the last 2 weeks the SEC Co-offensive Player of the Week – which says a lot about his remarkable production – and the short list of teammates approaching his level of play.

Freshman of the Week: No one

A few freshmen got significant playing time and showed up in the stats. Linebacker Whit Weeks was active for the 3rd consecutive game and finished with 9 tackles, 2 solo, and 1.5 tackles for loss. Defensive backs Ashton Stamps and Ryan Yaites got opportunities as the coaches kept trying waves of defensive backs, desperately searching from some combination that could do something right.

But they never found an effective group though Stamps finished with 6 tackles, including 4 solo, and Yaites batted down a 4th-down pass by Dart in the 4th quarter, which could have been a key play if the defense hadn’t wilted in the final half of the 4th quarter.

Given the defense’s overall ineffectiveness, it would be inappropriate to single out anyone from any class for a notable performance.

Biggest surprise: Defense’s utter defenselessness

Ole Miss has weapons and Lane Kiffin is a very good offensive coach. But Kiffin has lamented his offense’s inconsistency this season and the Rebels scored just 10 points a week earlier in a loss at Alabama.

So the Tigers’ defense should have been able to do something right. But they didn’t. They gave up 389 passing yards and 317 rushing yards. They had zero sacks and essentially no pressure. They allowed 9 of 16 3rd downs to be converted and 2 of 3 4th downs. Had they been able to make 4 of Ole Miss’ 12 possessions scoreless ones – instead of a mere 3 – they probably would have won the game.

But they couldn’t – and they didn’t.

Biggest concern: The defense (of course)

All of it. The line, the linebackers, the secondary, the coaching. There were missed assignments against both the run and the pass, countless bad angles taken by pursuers and countless missed tackles, especially down the stretch when the defense was clearly gassed because of spending nearly 4 hours back on its heels.

This is 2 weeks in a row that the defense performed poorly. Last week a series of Arkansas penalties and Daniels’ brilliance enabled LSU to escape Tiger Stadium with a 3-point victory. But if this keeps up, every week is going to be a struggle for the offense to keep up with the opponent, which brings us to …

Developing trend: Daniels has to be nearly perfect

Daniels has been outstanding so far this season – and he has had to be. The poor defense and the limited commitment to the running game has required Daniels to carry the team most of the time.

Saturday night was a perfect example of how miniscule his margin for error is. He directed an offense that gained 637 yards and scored 7 touchdowns. But any possession that ends with anything other than a touchdown – like the 1 that ended with Daniels’ fumble, or the 1 that ended with Damian Ramos’ 56-yard field goal falling short as the first half ended, or 2 4th-quarter ones that ended in punts or the final 1 that ended because Daniels ran out of time – can be lethal.

Key stat: 55 points

Virtually any Ole Miss offensive stat could be cited, but scoring is the bottom line and allowing 55 points will virtually always produce a defeat. All of the countless short-comings listed above contributed to the loss, but the 1 stat that gets to the core of the game is the points allowed.

First impression about Week 6 (at Missouri)

It’s going to be a shootout. No one is slowing down Daniels and the LSU offense, and the LSU defense isn’t slowing down anybody. Missouri isn’t a likely candidate to be the opponent against which the LSU defense gets back on track.

Missouri is 5-0 and had 532 yards in an easy 38-21 victory against Vanderbilt on Saturday in Nashville. Brady Cook passed for a career-high 395 yards and 4 touchdowns and established an SEC record with a streak of 347 consecutive passes without throwing an interception. It could be target practice against a defense no longer known as DBU.

The post LSU stock report after Week 5: Tigers give up 706 yards in brutal loss to Ole Miss appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It trailed at halftime, didn’t lead until early in the third quarter, didn’t take the lead for good until 5 seconds remained and couldn’t exhale until Zy Alexander intercepted KJ Jefferson’s desperation heave at the Tigers 19-yard line as time expired.

It wasn’t smooth and it wasn’t pretty. But in the end LSU had 34 points and Arkansas had 31.

That’s the most important thing – even on Tell the Truth Monday.

But it’s important to find the shortcomings in victories just as it is to find positives in defeat.

And if Brian Kelly were to tell the truth he would probably say this is the best kind of Tell the Truth Monday – one that comes after a victory, and one that features enough undeniable blemishes to make it easier to get the players quickly focused on fixing stuff and trying to get better for the following week.

A week earlier the Tigers were focused and ready to roll at the outset against Mississippi State, even after taking a bus ride from Tupelo to Starkville – with a stop to stretch at a car dealership along the way – before the unusual kickoff time of 11 a.m.

But against Arkansas – with a 6 p.m. kickoff in Tiger Stadium, which is 2nd only to 7 p.m. as the preferred time for home games – they clearly weren’t as ready as the Razorbacks were to compete from the get-go.

Jayden Daniels completed his 1st 13 passes against State, but against Arkansas he threw incompletions on his 1st 2 tries, then after a pair of completions he threw an interception.

LSU got a 49-yard touchdown pass from Daniels to Brian Thomas Jr. right before halftime to close within 13-10, and 3 plays into the 3rd quarter those 2 connected on another 49-yard touchdown to give the home team the lead for the 1st time.

The Tigers wouldn’t trail again, though the Razorbacks would tie them at 24 and 31.

So they overcame the slow start and that’s commendable. But often time slow starts are tone-setters for slow-footed performances or otherwise are too much to be overcome – and that could be the case next time, perhaps as soon as next Saturday against Ole Miss in Oxford.

Getting off to a better start has to be and will be a focus this week as LSU prepares for a 5 p.m. kickoff against the Rebels.

The Tigers defense kept Jefferson and the Arkansas offense in check long enough for the offense to get its act together, and then the offense had just enough responses to Jefferson’s continual scoring drives against the defense in the 2nd half.

But the LSU defense will have to play much better than it did for the majority of the game against the Razorbacks.

The Tigers got off to a good start as Arkansas’ 1st 4 possessions ended with a punt, a field goal, an interception and a field goal. But the Razorbacks’ 2nd to last possession of the first half produced a touchdown and set a tone that carried throughout the second half.

LSU’s offensive success limited Arkansas to 3 viable 2nd-half possessions, but those series produced a field goal followed by 2 touchdowns. The final possession had just enough time for Jefferson to launch his Hail Mary that went unanswered.

In the end, the Razorbacks accumulated 426 yards and gained 25 1st downs, thanks in large part to converting 8 of 13 3rd downs and the lone 4th down they went for (with a fake field goal).

All of that enabled Arkansas to possess the football for 34 minutes and 22 seconds.

Right now the best thing the Tigers have going for them is the offense – primarily the passing game.

But when the opponent runs more plays than LSU does, as the Razorbacks did (68-58), the Tigers’ biggest strength gets diluted.

Under Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss is really good at running the ball and throwing it, though the Rebels’ fast pace doesn’t allow them to possess the ball as long as most teams.

Complementary football is important, but it’s most useful when the offense, defense – and special teams – not only are in sync with one another, but are all playing at a high level for 60 minutes.

If the LSU offense can play for 60 minutes against Ole Miss like it did for the final 30:30 against Arkansas and the defense can play for 60 minutes like it did for the first 26 – and the special teams can be solid for 60 minutes as they were Saturday, the Tigers’ chances of leaving Oxford with a victory will be greatly enhanced.

The post Tell the Truth Monday: Victorious Tigers need a more complete outing appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The Tigers defense couldn’t maintain a fast start.

But both did just enough – with a boost from kicker Damian Ramos – for No 12 LSU (3-1, 2-0) to escape Tiger Stadium with a 34-31 victory against Arkansas on Saturday night.

LSU scored 31 of its points during the final 30 minutes, 30 seconds of game time, including Ramos’ game-winning 20-yard field goal with 5 seconds remaining.

Jayden Daniels and receiver Malik Nabers were outstanding for a second consecutive week and receiver Brian Thomas Jr. joined the passing party as the Tigers’ aerial game barely managed to out-do KJ Jefferson and the Razorbacks.

Throw in a strong 2nd half from Logan Diggs, who finished with 97 yards on 14 rushes, and interceptions by Andre Sam and Zy Alexander, and LSU wound up with a pretty balanced performance that was kind of rocky in the beginning.

Player of the Week: QB Jayden Daniels

Yeah, this is getting old. But for the 3rd consecutive game, Daniels was tremendous – and the primary reason LSU won. He wasn’t as efficient Saturday as he was a week earlier when he had a school single-game record 88.2 completion percentage (minimum 25 attempts) in a 41-14 win at Mississippi State, but he wasn’t too far off.

Daniels completed 20 of 29 for 320 yards with 4 touchdowns, though he did have 1 blemish with a poor interception. But beyond the numbers he was calmly efficient and had an answer for Jefferson every time the Tigers needed one – which was often.

Freshman of the Week: LB Whit Weeks

Weeks started in place of injured Omar Speights for the 2nd consecutive week, and for the 2nd consecutive week the freshman took advantage of the opportunity. Head coach Brian Kelly praised Weeks for putting his exceptional speed to good use in compiling a team-high 8 tackles against Mississippi State.

Weeks was active again against Arkansas and finished with 9 tackles and half a sack and was consistently disruptive all over the field.

Biggest surprise: The offense’s slow start

Arkansas only gave up 282 yards against BYU a week earlier, but its defense couldn’t get off the field with the game on the line as the Cougars finished the game with a 17-0 blitz.

LSU’s offense, which was extremely efficient against State, sputtered throughout the first half. The running game was inconsistent, Daniels was under pressure and inaccurate, and he and the receivers often seemed to be out of sync with one another. It was a much different story in the second half, and all’s well that ends well.

Biggest concern: The offensive line

This was supposed to be a strength of the team, but so far it hasn’t been quite as good as advertised. It hasn’t been bad and it has been fine periodically – but it has been inconsistent, and that was the case Saturday night.

The Tigers had 74 rushing yards in the 1st half and 41 of those came on 1 sprint by Josh Williams. As already mentioned, the Hogs were able to pressure Daniels, and that contributed to the early inconsistency of the passing game. This unit is capable of being very good, but it should have been more consistent than it has been during the 1st 3rd of the season.

Developing trend: Quick-strike passing game

The passing game wasn’t as efficient or consistent Saturday night as it was a week earlier, but for the 2nd consecutive week it did feature chunk plays for touchdowns.

Against Mississippi State, Daniels had early 26- and 33-yard touchdown passes to Nabers to get the offense rolling. Against Arkansas, the Tigers appeared headed to halftime with a 10-point deficit before Daniels and Thomas teamed for a 26-yard completion and a 49-yard touchdown to trim the deficit to 3 at the half. On the 3rd play of the 3rd quarter, they teamed for another 49-yard touchdown, giving LSU its 1st lead of the game. Daniels’ 20-yard touchdown pass to Nabers produced the Tigers’ final touchdown.

Key stat: Penalty disparity

LSU wasn’t perfect, but it was penalized 5 times for 51 yards – acceptable numbers.

Arkansas, which was hurt badly by 14 penalties in the loss to BYU, emphasized being better disciplined this week – and it was for more than half of this game. But in the 4th quarter as the teams were trading haymakers, the Razorbacks were constantly being set back by penalties that made keeping up with the Tigers more difficult.

First impression about Week 4 (at Ole Miss)

The Tigers and the Rebels could both use an open date next week after LSU went through a 60-minute heavyweight bout with the Razorbacks and Ole Miss lost at Alabama (24-10) in a physical game in which the Crimson Tide defense looked its best.

Both teams should be able to work out most of the kinks by Saturday when the Rebels will try to get their inconsistent running game on track against an LSU defense that allowed just 3.7 yards per rush to Arkansas. Ole Miss might need to lean on Jaxson Dart’s arm more than its running game, but Daniels is setting a pace that’s really hard for anyone to match.

The post LSU football: Stock report after Week 4 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The Tigers were ranked No. 5 in the AP preseason poll, meaning they were supposed to look like SEC championship and CFP contenders.

They didn’t look the part in a season-opening loss to preseason No. 8 Florida State, and there was no telling what their 72-10 rout of FCS Grambling in Week 2 meant because of the disparity in talent.

Week 3 was going to be a better gauge.

SEC opener. Pretty good Mississippi State team. On the road, cowbells, et cetera.

The game wasn’t competitive: No. 14 LSU 41, State 14.

It’s Tell the Truth Monday, and that means staying grounded in victory and defeat. Find silver linings in defeat and don’t overlook blemishes in victories.

But the truth on this Monday is that it’s difficult to find blemishes of much significance in the Tigers’ dominating performance.

Nonetheless, the point of Tell the Truth Monday is to analyze the previous weekend’s performance and place it in a useful context.

Sometimes there just aren’t many positives to be found in a particular defeat (see 2 Mondays ago). And sometimes, like this Monday, there just aren’t many negatives to be found in a particular performance.

But the bigger picture can provide a more useful context than an individual game might. And that’s where LSU is on this Monday.

Analyzing the few scattered imperfections within the performance in Starkville isn’t going to be as useful as placing the performance within the context of the entire season, who the Tigers were expected to be, what they appear to be after 3 games and where the most encouraging performance of the 1st 3 suggests they might be headed.

State certainly isn’t the best that the SEC or even the West division has to offer. And perhaps this win won’t seem as impressive in December as it appears now if the Bulldogs can’t figure out some stuff in Zach Arnett’s 1st season as a head coach and in Will Rogers’ transition in 1st-year coordinator Kevin Barbay’s much different offense.

We’ll see.

Arkansas (2-1) visits Tiger Stadium next Saturday night. The Razorbacks were lurking just outside the Top 25 and figured to be a bigger challenge than State, but they lost to visiting BYU 38-31 on Saturday.

The truth is that the SEC West last season didn’t quite live up to its lofty standard of recent seasons, and the 1st 3 weeks of this season suggest it might fall even farther from that standard.

Alabama already has a loss, has changed quarterbacks twice (and counting) and was uninspired in a 2-touchdown win against South Florida, which was an underdog by nearly 5 touchdowns.

Texas A&M’s hope of having a bounce-back season took a big hit in its loss at Miami 2 weeks ago.

Arkansas’ loss left just Auburn and Ole Miss as teams from the West that made it through 3 weeks without getting beat.

The most impressive win among those teams came in Week 2 when Ole Miss went into New Orleans and beat Tulane, which was No. 24 but played without its starting quarterback.

As for Auburn, which opponent provided the stiffest challenge? Massachusetts? Cal? Samford?

No one stands out in the West yet. That’s not uncommon so early in the season, but usually a few teams in the West would have looked the part of a CFP contender by now.

But we’re still waiting.

As for Mississippi State, it was 2-0 going into the game against the Tigers and has yet to leave Starkville. It opened the season against FCS Southeastern Louisiana, then edged Arizona in overtime.

So as dominant as LSU was, it’s difficult to know if that performance is a sign that the Tigers are putting it all together. Or did they just take advantage of an opponent still trying to figure itself out?

We’ll start to get more answers as games against SEC opponents get stacked in the coming weeks.

LSU might or might not be growing into the team it was projected to be. And it might not need to be a great team to win an increasingly suspect division.

But it’s worth noting that during the first quarter of the regular season, the Tigers have done a good job of fixing stuff, which was a trademark of Kelly’s 1st team on its way to the SEC title game.

The post Tell the Truth Monday: LSU was dominant, but what does it mean? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It jumped on Mississippi State right away. Its defense dominated. Jayden Daniels was nearly perfect, and so was Malik Nabers.

The No. 14 Tigers played wire to wire like a team that not only deserved its current ranking, but maybe deserved that preseason No. 5 placement that seemed misplaced during the season-opening loss to Florida State.

But that was then and now it’s SEC time, and LSU looks like it’s ready to contend for a second straight West division title.

It’s just mid-September and there’s a long way to go. But as SEC openers go, this was about as good a performance as Brian Kelly could have hoped for.

Player of the Week: QB Jayden Daniels

On most Saturdays, a wide receiver catching 13 passes (tied for 5th-most in school history) for 239 yards (4th most in school history) and scoring 2 touchdowns, all of which Nabers did, would automatically warrant Player of the Week recognition.

But this wasn’t an ordinary Saturday because Daniels was extraordinary. He set a school record (minimum 25 passes) with an 88.2 completion percentage (30-of-34) for 361 yards and the 2 touchdowns to Nabers. He also rushed for 2 touchdowns, carrying 15 times for 64 yards.

He broke the Bulldogs’ spirit early and never let them believe they had a chance to get back into the game. Daniels didn’t get the entire second half off as he did in the 72-10 rout of Grambling a week earlier, but he did give way to Garrett Nussmeier early in the 4th quarter.

Freshman of the Week: LB Whit Weeks

LSU played without injured starter Omar Speights, which gave other defenders – particularly linebackers – more opportunities to make plays. Weeks took advantage. He had a team-high 8 total tackles, 2 of which were solo, and a quarterback hurry.

Running back Kaleb Jackson was in contention to gain this recognition for a 2nd consecutive week, rushing 5 times for 19 yards (with a highlight crash into a State defensive back) and catching 2 passes for 15 yards. But Weeks had a bigger impact on the game.

Biggest surprise: LSU smothered State’s passing game

Yes, it’s no longer the Air Raid offense in Starkville, and Will Rogers’ transition in first-year coordinator Kevin Barbay’s more conventional system was bumpy through the 1st 2 games.

But the Tigers’ pass defense struggled badly against Florida State and even had a tough 1st quarter against Grambling before improving. Rogers figured to have some success, but he passed for a mere 103 yards (11-for-28) and backup Mike Wright tossed a 4-yard touchdown to Antonio Harmon long after the outcome was decided.

LSU sacked Rogers 4 times and pressured him consistently. The secondary stuck to the Bulldogs receivers. All in all it was a dramatically improved pass defense.

Biggest concern: None

OK, LSU didn’t take the ball away. It was penalized 6 times (mostly because of the offensive line). Jay Bramblett’s 2 punts covered a total distance of just 77 yards. State’s Lideatrick Griffin averaged 34 yards on 3 kickoff returns, but he’s perhaps the most dangerous kick returner in the country. And Jo’Quavious Marks broke free for a 52-yard run.

So if nits must be picked, there are the candidates. But overall nothing happened in any of the 3 phases that should be of significant concern to Kelly and his staff.

Developing trend: Logan Diggs as the bell cow

The Tigers have a whole bunch of capable running backs, and they’re holding early-season auditions for primary roles during the heart of the season.

Diggs, a Notre Dame transfer, is looking more and more like the No. 1 option, even with senior John Emery Jr. making his season debut Saturday. Diggs, who had 15 carries for 115 yards and a touchdown against Grambling, led 5 running backs with 9 carries for 41 yards and caught 3 passes for 30 yards. Emery, Jackson and Noah Cain all got touches Saturday, but Diggs appears to be the most complete back.

Key stat: LSU’s time of possession was 38:39

LSU did a lot of things well on offense and defense, and this stat touches on the overall dominance better than any other.

Daniels’ efficiency, Nabers’ playmaking, the running game’s steadiness and the defense’s dominance against the run and the pass all were key factors in the Tigers’ possessing the ball for nearly two-thirds of the game. LSU didn’t have a 3-and-out until its 2nd to last possession of the game and State went 3-and-out 5 times.

First impression about Week 4 (vs. Arkansas)

It’s going to be higher scoring than the Tigers’ 13-10 win last season in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks played that game without starting quarterback KJ Jefferson (shoulder) and LSU’s defense dominated 2 backups.

Harold Perkins Jr. announced himself to the country in that game, playing with the flu and finishing with 8 tackles, 4 sacks, 2 forced fumbles (the 2nd of which sealed the victory), 1 pass break up and 1 quarterback hurry.

This game figures to feature a lot more offense as Jefferson and Daniels trade big plays.

The post LSU football: Stock report after Week 3 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The short answer is, we don’t know.

We’ll find out when the Tigers play Mississippi State beginning Saturday morning in Starkville.

The Tigers weren’t ready to compete for 4 quarters against an apparent CFP contender in Florida State in their season-opening 45-24 loss.

They were more than ready to take advantage of an outmanned FCS opponent (Grambling) in a 72-10 thrashing Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.

But that didn’t provide significant clarity because of the quality of competition.

Mississippi State is not the same as either of those opponents.

The Bulldogs, 2-0 after routing Southeastern Louisiana and holding off Arizona State 31-24 in overtime on Saturday, don’t have the talent that the No. 4 Seminoles have. But they have a lot more talent than Grambling has.

It’s the first Tell the Truth of the SEC season, and the truth is 2 games haven’t given us much of an idea of what to expect from Brian Kelly’s team in its conference opener.

The Tigers looked unworthy of their preseason No. 5 ranking when they played Florida State, and the mismatch that they took advantage of Saturday has no predictive value when it comes to SEC competition.

We know that LSU has a very good – and occasionally outstanding – quarterback in Jayden Daniels. But we knew that before the season started.

We know that LSU has a lot of talented wide receivers, but we don’t know how consistently productive they will be. They had a few drops that were harmful in the opener, then they dominated against Grambling.

We know LSU has better depth at running back than it had a year ago, but we don’t know if that will translate into a week-in and week-out SEC-caliber running game.

Is Notre Dame transfer Logan Diggs the best of the 8 options that Kelly and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock have to choose from? Or is it perhaps John Emery Jr.? We don’t know because Emery has yet to play, presumably because of academic shortcomings, but he might be available in Starkville.

Is the offensive line as improved as Kelly said it was before the season? It wasn’t when it faced Florida State, but it suggested it might be against Grambling. This week will be a better gauge.

We don’t know if the defensive front 7 is as good as it was lauded to be going into the season. It wasn’t against Florida State and it didn’t stand out as much as one might have expected it to against Grambling.

Is the defensive line one of the better lines in the SEC? Maason Smith, coming back from knee surgery that kept him out of virtually all of last season, was suspended for the opener and was only slightly more noticeable against Grambling.

What about Harold Perkins? Did Kelly and coordinator Matt House over-think his role? Perkins was spectacular at times coming off the edge last season, but the Tigers have made him a middle linebacker who’s supposed to move around in order to create favorable match-ups from a variety of positions. So far he hasn’t been as dynamic as he was last season.

And we don’t know if concerns about the rebuilt secondary and the kicking game are overblown or spot on.

The secondary was overmatched against Florida State and didn’t do any better on Grambling’s first 3 possessions, though it performed better as the game wore on.

The special teams haven’t had major breakdowns like they did with disturbing regularity last season, so maybe improvement is in the offing there. Maybe.

The start of a football season is supposed to reveal how a team’s reality is or isn’t going to match with preseason expectations.

Football teams often make their greatest improvement from Week 1 to Week 2 as the familiarity within new position groups grows and coaches are able to pinpoint shortcomings to focus on and strengths to build around.

It’s difficult to tell just how much improvement the Tigers made from Week 1 to Week 2. The gap between a 21-point loss and 62-point victory is misleading because of the cavernous gap in the quality of the 2 opponents.

LSU certainly didn’t look like a team worthy of its preseason ranking in the opener.

Last week it did what it should have done against an FCS opponent – nothing more and nothing less.

Now it has its first opportunity to show whether it’s capable of repeating as SEC West champion.

So far we have very few clues.

The post Tell the Truth Monday: We don’t know if LSU is ready for SEC play appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It scored at will in a 72-10 victory against outmanned FCS opponent Grambling on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.

The No. 14-ranked Tigers got the bad taste of the 45-24 loss to Florida State in the season opener 6 days earlier out of their mouth.

But they didn’t fix everything.

The defense allowed Grambling to drive 83, 80 and 69 yards on its first 3 possessions. That produced just 10 points thanks to LSU stiffening at the 6 and the 5 and Grambling making just 1 of 2 chip-shot field goals.

After that the game quickly got out of hand because LSU scored touchdowns on all 6 of its first-half possessions to take a 42-10 halftime lead.

Player of the Week: QB Jayden Daniels

Daniels completed 18 of 24 passes for 269 yards and 5 touchdowns – in the 1st half.

He had no problem carving up the Grambling defense and sharing his 5 touchdown passes among 4 receivers – Brian Thomas Jr. (2), Chris Hilton Jr., Malik Nabers and Kyren Lacy. Daniels was the primary reason that LSU was in total command by halftime, and he was able to give way to Garrett Nussmeier to start the second half.

Freshman of the Week: KR/RB Kaleb Jackson

He started the game as the Tigers kickoff returner and had 3 returns for 72 yards.

As the blowout proceeded, he got some second-half action at his primary position – running back. He wound up rushing 11 times for 62 yards and touchdowns from 5 and 3 yards. LSU likes his potential as a running back, but he’s starting off fairly far down the depth chart – even with John Emery Jr. and Armoni Goodwin unavailable.

Biggest surprise: Just 1 sack

Maason Smith returned from his 1-game suspension. He and Mekhi Wingo are supposed to be one of the best defensive tackle tandems in the country. Harold Perkins is supposed to be an elite pass rusher.

Presumably those leaders and others are bigger, stronger and more athletic than Grambling’s FCS blockers. Presumably they should have been able to get into the backfield with regularity and get the Grambling quarterbacks on the ground a few times. But they didn’t getting their lone sack (on 31 pass attempts) for a 1-yard loss until late in the 3rd quarter.

Biggest concern: The pass defense

Even before factoring in the near absence of sacks, the pass defense was a concern coming into the season because LSU was counting on so many newcomers at cornerbacks. That proved to be problematic against Florida State’s elite receiving corps. It was still less than what Brian Kelly and defensive coordinator Matt House would like it to have been – at least in the early going against Grambling.

After those first 3 long drives by Grambling, LSU’s defense – especially the pass defense – played much better. In the end it allowed just 157 passing yards, partly because it took advantage of Grambling’s backup quarterback – and limited passes – in the second half.

Developing trend: The rushing workload

The Tigers are trying to use their improved depth at running back to lessen the rushing burden on Daniels. It didn’t work out well against Florida State as Daniels was the busiest rusher, finishing with 15 carries for 64 yards while 3 running backs totaled 12 carries for 49 yards.

Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock put Logan Diggs to work right away and he finished with 15 carries for 115 yards and a touchdown while Daniels had just 5 rushes for 29 yards. In addition to Jackson’s mop-up duty, Josh Williams had 6 carries for 43 yards and Noah Cain had 7 carries for 33 yards and a 1-yard touchdown. Eventually LSU would like to have consistent roles for the running backs, but that remains a work in progress. The lessened burden on Daniels on Saturday was an important development.

Key stat: LSU had 622 total yards

The dominance of the LSU offense – and the balance (320 passing yards, 302 rushing yards) – is what enabled the Tigers to dominate early and prevent the slow start defensively from becoming problematic.

First impression about Week 3: at Mississippi State

LSU didn’t turn the ball over against Grambling, so that wasn’t a problem. Still, the Tigers might want to put an added emphasis on ball security as they prepare to open SEC play at Mississippi State next Saturday.

The Bulldogs forced turnovers on Arizona’s first 4 possessions – 3 straight interceptions, then a fumble recovery – in their 31-24 overtime victory Saturday night in Starkville. Once the Wildcats stopped turning the ball over (they had 1 more in the 2nd half), they had some success moving on State (touchdown drives of 77, 75 and 80 yards) – providing a blueprint for LSU’s offense to follow next week.

The post LSU football: Stock report after Week 2 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

One year after LSU lost its opener by 1 point to Florida State after an extra-point attempt that came with no time remaining was blocked and prevented overtime, the Tigers were embarrassed by the Seminoles 45-24 on Sunday night.

LSU led at halftime, but FSU scored 31 straight points before the Tigers managed a meaningless score with 75 seconds left.

Now it’s Tell the Truth Monday – Labor Day edition.

And the truth is the Tigers gave a performance that might have been understandable for head coach Brian Kelly’s first team’s first game a year ago.

But the truth is the performance was a head-scratcher coming from a team ranked No. 5 in the preseason poll.

Sure, this group of Seminoles finished last season with a 6-game winning streak and entered the opener Sunday night in Orlando just 3 spots below LSU in the preseason poll.

But this outcome had as much to do with the Tigers playing like a team that was vastly overrated as it had to do with a mostly impressive performance by the Seminoles, who overcome a slew of penalties and a few dropped passes to push LSU around.

Tell the Truth Monday requires a dispassionate look at wins and losses – not sugar-coating shortcomings that are revealed even in wins and not overlooking good stuff that happens in losses.

But it’s going to be really hard to find good LSU stuff in this loss.

Let’s start with the most salient numbers.

The Tigers allowed the Seminoles to convert 9-of-14 3rd downs as well as the only 4th-down try they attempted.

One of the Tigers’ top priorities in preseason preparations was to get better at 3rd-down and 4th-down defense.

They failed badly in their first opportunity to show improvement.

On the opening defensive possession of the season they allowed the Noles to go 2-for-2 on 3rd downs – when they needed 5 and 13 yards – as key plays in an 86-yard touchdown drive.

After an FSU field goal tied the score on the opening possession of the 3rd quarter, the Noles faced a 4th-and-1 at the LSU 42 and Jordan Travis passed to Lawrance Toafili for a 41-yard completion that set up Travis’ 1-yard touchdown run.

That gave FSU the lead for good.

The Tigers added a twist to their 3rd- and 4th-down travails by being equally bad at them on offense. They converted just 3-of-10 attempts on 3rd down and failed on all 3 attempts on 4th down.

Two of the 4th down failures were LSU’s Achilles’ heel in the first half.

The first 2 plays of the season produced Jayden Daniels pass completions that gained 55 and 15 yards as well as a 1st-and-goal at the 5.

The Tigers ran 6 plays from the 5 and closer, including 4 from the 1, the last of which had Daniels getting sacked for a 13-yard loss on 4th-and-goal.

LSU had another major red-zone failure when they reached the FSU 13 in the 2nd quarter and Daniels was stopped for a 2-yard loss on 4th-and-1.

Not only did the 4th-down failures deny the Tigers in areas of the field where 3 points should have been guaranteed and 7 points probable, they also highlighted 3 major problems: Harold Perkins was a non-factor, and the offensive line and secondary struggled.

Rather than point the finger at Perkins, it’s wiser to blame the scheme. Last year, Perkins was a monster off the edge. Kelly talked all offseason about moving Perkins around this season, but having him spy Travis instead of rushing him was a mistake that shouldn’t be repeated.

LSU’s vaunted offensive line did not play like the strength it is supposed to be.

When the offense reached the goal area on the opening possession, the Seminoles stiffened and whipped the LSU blockers.

The Tigers are supposed to have far superior running back depth compared to last season, when Daniels led the team in rushing. But Daniels had the most carries (15) and rushing yards (64) while 3 running backs combined for 12 carries and 49 yards.

The early goal-line problem was exacerbated by Daniels’ indecisiveness, which surely was due at least in part to the breakdowns up front.

Along the way Daniels was plagued by a few drops from his wide receivers.

And speaking of wide receivers, FSU has 1 of the best groups in the country – a group that was bound to be a very difficult challenge for the Tigers’ new group of cornerbacks.

The Seminoles’ wide receivers won that battle handily – not just because the LSU corners were beaten periodically but also because the pass catchers made numerous contested catches when the Tigers weren’t beaten.

Three of Travis’ 4 touchdown passes, 9 of his 23 completions and 122 of his 342 passing yards went to Keon Coleman, a transfer from Michigan State who played high school ball in Opelousas, La., some 50 miles from Tiger Stadium.

The game got out of hand when the Noles scored 4 touchdowns in barely 15 minutes of action down the stretch.

The way they pushed LSU around and the Tigers seemed willing to accept it at the end was reminiscent of the bullying in a 42-21 loss at Kentucky in the middle of the 2021 season.

It turned out that was the final straw in the school’s decision to fire Ed Orgeron, which eventually led to Kelly leaving Notre Dame for LSU.

Despite what happened Sunday night, the Tigers are in better hands now than they were in 2021 and 2023 could still be a very good season.

And that’s about all there is to fulfill the Tell The Truth Monday requirement of finding something positive in defeat.

The post Tell The Truth Monday: LSU looked vastly overrated in opener appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Just like last season.

The Tigers (ranked 5th) appear to be evenly matched with the Seminoles (ranked 8th).

Just like last season, when FSU prevailed, 24-23, in a battle of unranked teams at the Caesars Superdome.

LSU will have to try to slow down Jordan Travis and the Seminoles’ dynamic offense without star defensive tackle Maason Smith.

Not just like last season, when Smith suffered a season-ending knee injury on FSU’s 1st possession, but pretty darn close as Smith will serve a 1-game suspension for participating in an autograph-signing session shortly before the NCAA decided to allow such things.

And the Tigers should feel right at home at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

Just like the end of last season, when they went to the site of Sunday night’s game and blasted Purdue, 63-7, in the Citrus Bowl just 4 days after the Seminoles went into the same venue and knocked off Oklahoma, 35-32, in the Cheez-It Bowl.

But for all the similarities between these teams and between this year’s opener and last year’s meeting, there are some significant differences.

At least LSU hopes so.

Head coach Brian Kelly said Monday that the Tigers are a smarter football team, that they understand the systems better entering his 2nd season, that they have a greater appreciation for the “smallest” details that need to be taken care of in order to be a more consistent team than they were even in a 10-4 season in 2022.

The Tigers’ performance in last year’s opener showed that shrinking concerns about the offensive line’s readiness had shrunk a bit prematurely, though the unit grew into a strength as the season progressed.

Kelly joked that 6 days before last season’s opener it would have been virtually impossible to find a consensus about the precise composition of the starting unit against the Noles.

“We’re in such a different place than we were last year, and we should be,” Kelly said.

The offensive line’s early struggles diminished the running game, opening only occasional holes for running backs and causing most of the running success to come from quarterback Jayden Daniels scrambling away from trouble.

Daniels ran for 114 yards against FSU last year while running backs Noah Cain, Armoni Goodwin and Josh Williams combined for 39 yards.

LSU enters this season with 8 viable options at running back, though Goodwin (doubtful) and Williams (probable) have been limited in preseason camp.

The performance last season featured badly timed defensive breakdowns that helped the Noles convert 11 of 15 3rd downs — an issue that would never be fully solved — and all sorts of breakdowns on special teams that would be virtually chronic throughout the season.

Even in Smith’s absence, Kelly said the Tigers “are really pleased with the growth and development of our defensive live guys.”

Additionally, linebacker Harold Perkins hardly played in last year’s opener, and he’s being touted as 1 of the most dynamic defensive players in the country going into this season.

Jay Bramblett shanked a punt that set up a short field, leading to a 43-yard touchdown drive a year ago. But Bramblett’s miscue, unlike most of the special teams’ shortcomings, was an aberration.

“Jay Bramblett has been a weapon,” Kelly said.

Malik Nabers muffed 2 punts that the Noles recovered near the LSU goal line.

But Kelly said the difference in Nabers’ maturity and dependability both on and off the field from last season until now “is night and day.”

FSU blocked 2 kicks by Damian Ramos — a 30-yard field-goal attempt and an extra-point attempt that would have produced overtime after the Tigers completed a 99-yard drive with a touchdown on an untimed down at the end of the 4th quarter.

Kelly said Ramos has been “outstanding throughout camp.”

As for the special teams as a whole, he said, “our miscues last year were evident,” noting that “we didn’t field the ball very well.”

But this season, Kelly said, “we think special teams can and should be a positive force and influence games.”

FSU will provide a good gauge for where LSU is entering the season.

Just like last season.

But the better gauge might be how the Tigers perform in areas of presumed improvement that were weaknesses at this time last season.

The post LSU football: Tigers hope 1 year makes a big difference in key areas appeared first on Saturday Down South.

For all practical purposes, so is his primary rebuilding of the LSU football program.

That doesn’t mean the Tigers are where Kelly expects them to eventually be. In fact, he has been careful to remind everyone that there is more work to be done to establish ideal depth in the program.

Kelly has had only 1 recruiting class that he can call his own as his 2nd season as head coach in Baton Rouge gets underway Sunday against Florida State in Orlando.

The expectation is that the 2023 Tigers won’t be the best team that Kelly will put together.

But the reality is that Kelly’s 1st team won the SEC West, and his 2nd team should be better. LSU is in basically everyone’s preseason Top 10, although that hasn’t translated into a whole bunch of folks picking the Tigers to finish ahead of Alabama for a 2nd consecutive season.

It’s Tell the Truth Monday, and the truth about this season is that Kelly has LSU ahead of any reasonable schedule that might have been plotted when he arrived from Notre Dame to rescue the program from poor seasons under Ed Orgeron in 2020 and 2021.

The truth is that Kelly and the Tigers have completed the return-to-national-championship-contender phase of the rebuilding project.

That doesn’t mean they’re going to win the national championship for the 2023 season — or even the SEC championship, or even another SEC West title.

What it means is none of those accomplishments would be shocking, and none would be as surprising as the division title last season.

This program has come a long way in s short period of time.

More work remains before Kelly and LSU can attain the perennial national championship contender status that is enjoyed by the team the Tigers beat out for the SEC West title (Alabama) and the team that spanked the Tigers in the SEC title game (Georgia) last year.

But the legitimate qualifiers that Kelly inherited a year ago about the significant shortcomings he was handed and the amount of time it would take to ascend to the top tier in the most challenging conference in college football are gone.

LSU has returned as a legitimate SEC title contender, which automatically makes any such team a legitimate national-championship contender.

Kelly has one of the better and most experienced quarterbacks in the country in Jayden Daniels, who has a bevy of talented receivers to target. The experience and dependability of the offensive line as well as the depth at running back are much greater than they were a year ago.

The defense features a lot of new faces, but it is talented and deep at all 3 levels.

The special teams were shaky at best last season, but a coaching change and a focus on the units should produce improvement.

So there’s justifiable excitement around the Tigers’ program as well as a recognition that Kelly and his staff have cleared the highest hurdles left behind by Orgeron and his staff.

Still, it’s uncertain whether Kelly’s 1st season can be seen as the establishment of the floor for the rebuilt program. Or did it feature lightning-in-a-bottle elements that produced a false sense of just how far the program has advanced, which belies the 2 steps forward, 1 step back nature that often accompanies these types of projects?

The season opener against the No. 8 Seminoles presents a useful gauge of where the 2023 Tigers might be headed.

LSU and FSU met in the 2022 season opener in the Caesars Superdome. Both teams were hopeful but uncertain as to whether they were on the cusp of returning to Top 25 status or embarking on a multiseason journey toward it.

The Tigers put together an uneven performance, which would prove to be 1 of their worst of the season, that ended with them 1 point short after Damian Ramos’ extra point was blocked with no time left.

FSU, which was coming off 4 consecutive losing seasons, used the victory as a springboard to a 10-3 season.

So both the Tigers, who finished 10-4, and the Seminoles bounced back far enough to earn preseason Top 10 designations this summer.

This opener is the marquee game of Labor Day weekend. But the true gauge of the progression of Kelly’s program will be determined by how LSU fares as an SEC West and conference title contender as well as a potential CFP participant.

The post Tell the Truth Monday: Brian Kelly has done the heavy lifting at LSU appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Zach Arnett is a defensive coach, and his predecessor (Mike Leach) was an offensive coach.

Things definitely are going to be different in Starkville in 2023. They might be better, or they might be worse.

Arnett and his staff have a lot to work with, but Arnett, who was promoted from defensive coordinator to succeed Leach after Leach’s unexpected death last December, is a newcomer to this job.

It’s the start of a new era in Starkville.

The Bulldogs understandably have many questions going into this season.

Here are 10 bold predictions for Mississippi State in 2023:

1. QB on the run

State will have a rushing touchdown by a quarterback for the 1st time since 2020.

No, it won’t come from Will Rogers, whose only career rushing touchdown came in 2020, but rather from Vanderbilt transfer Mike Wright, who will spell Rogers occasionally as a dual threat.

In fact, Wright, who had 7 rushing touchdowns in 3 seasons with the Commodores, might even have multiple rushing touchdowns this season.

2. Griffin to separate himself

Lideatrick Griffin will stand alone for kickoff return proficiency.

Griffin has 2 of the 3 best single-season kickoff-return averages in school history. He averaged 32.3 yards in 2021, which is the 3rd-best total in school history. Griffin surpassed that average by 0.5 yards per return last season, tying Eric Moulds’ school record set in 1994.

This season, Griffin will have an even higher average, separating himself from Moulds atop the all-time list.

3. Less can be more

The Bulldogs plan to be more balanced on offense by having more designed runs, which means fewer passes.

But Rogers is still really accurate and more down-the-field passes will produce a higher yards-per-attempt average, which will mean a more productive offense.

It’ll just look a little different along the way.

4. Making a mark

Whatever dip Rogers’ yardage stats take will be covered by a much more robust rushing attack.

Jo’Quavious Marks will lead the way by easily becoming the 1st State runner to amass 600 rushing yards since 2019. His 582 yards last season are the current standard.

That will enable the offense to roll past the 1,062 rushing yards it had last season, which were the most since the 2,868 yards in 2019, the year before Leach arrived and installed the Air Raid offense.

5. A new target

For the 1st time in a long time, a tight end will catch a pass for the Bulldogs.

The position became extinct in Leach’s offense, but it’s back in new coordinator Kevin Barbay’s scheme.

The milestone catch could be made by 1 of 2 transfers from the teams that played for last season’s CFP national championship — Ryland Goede (Georgia) or Geor’Quarious Spivey (TCU).

Or it could be made by 1 of 2 junior-college transfers — Seydou Traore (who’s from London, of all places) or Nick Lauderdale, who’s from much closer to campus (Jackson, Mississippi).

It might even be redshirt sophomore Antonio Harmon or 1 of 2 true freshmen — Rayfield Lotten (New Orleans) or Jacarius Clayton (Tupelo, Mississippi).

Who knows? This is uncharted territory.

6. More of a team effort

Linebackers Jett Johnson (115 tackles) and Nathaniel Watson (113) are the top returning tacklers in the SEC.

But this season they will combine for barely 200 tackles.

That won’t mean a drop-off by them. It will mean a better collaborative effort in bringing down opposing ball carriers.

7. Kicking stability

State has used multiple kickers in each of the past 2 years without finding a reliable 1.

Two years ago, the Bulldogs had the worst kicking game in the SEC (14 of 25 on field goals for 56%) as Brandon Ruiz and Nolan McCord shared the field-goal duty. Things got marginally better last season, as Massimo Biscardi and Ben Raybon combined to make 12 of 17 (70.6%, ranking 10th in the SEC).

This season, UCLA transfer Nick Barr-Mira (35 of 49, 71.4% in 3 seasons) will bring stability to the field-goal department.

8. Yet another career record

Rogers already holds virtually all of State’s career passing records.

But there’s 1 major record that requires a lot more work — touchdowns accounted for in a career.

Dak Prescott (2012-15) holds the record with 114, followed by Nick Fitzgerald (2015-18) with 101.

Rogers begins the season with 83, and he will find a way to pass both Fitzgerald and Prescott.

9. State champs

The Bulldogs not only will win the Egg Bowl against Ole Miss on Thanksgiving night for a 2nd consecutive season, they also will knock off Southern Miss 5 days earlier to claim the unofficial Mississippi state championship.

10. Top newcomer

Arnett will have the best record among 1st-year head coaches in the SEC.

OK, so he only has 1 competitor for that distinction, but Auburn’s hiring of former Ole Miss and Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze attracted a lot more attention than Arnett’s promotion.

But Arnett’s team will easily qualify State for a bowl game for a 14th consecutive season.

The Bulldogs will finish 8-4.

The post Mississippi State football: 10 bold predictions for 2023 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It doesn’t return as many starters on defense.

Things will be different on both sides of the ball.

If the Bulldogs are going to improve on their record from last season (9-4 overall, 4-4 in the SEC), the areas in which they improve are going to have to outweigh the areas in which they aren’t as good.

That’s the way this thing works.

This team is different than last year’s, the schedule is different, and the strengths and weaknesses won’t be exactly the same.

Here are 5 areas where Mississippi State will be better … and worse … in 2023:

5 areas the Bulldogs will be better

1. Place-kicking

The Bulldogs had the worst PAT percentage in the SEC last season (91.8) after missing 4 tries, and their field-goal percentage was 10th (70.6).

They brought in UCLA transfer Nick Barr-Mira to fix that. Barr-Mira wasn’t great with the Bruins, but he was consistent, and a continuation of that performance will provide an upgrade for State.

Barr-Mira made 15 of 21 field goals last season, 14 of 21 in 2021 and 6 of 7 in 2020. On top of that, over the course of 3 seasons he missed just 3 PATs in 146 attempts, 1 fewer miss than the Bulldogs had in 49 attempts last season.

The kicking will be better and that could make a difference against a typically competitive SEC schedule.

2. Rushing offense

It’s no secret that the Bulldogs plan to be more balanced under new offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay than they were under former head coach/offensive coordinator Mike Leach.

The addition of more planned rushes — and quite possibly significantly more — will mean greater productivity from a running game that was last in the SEC in yards per game (81.7) and 2nd-to-last in yards per attempt (3.6).

State not only will run the ball more often, but it will run it more effectively.

If it doesn’t, then the offense will have a problem.

3. Punting

The Bulldogs were 11th in the SEC last season with an average of 40.2 yards per punt.

They’ll be significantly better this season.

Graduate student and transfer Andrew Osteen, who averaged 42.2 yards (2nd-best in UCF history) in 50 career games, and freshman Keelan Crimmins from Melbourne, Australia, could share the position or 1 may earn it outright.

In any event, there will be improvement.

4. Scoring defense

State allowed 23.1 points per game last season, which was 7th in the SEC.

That came against a schedule that included eventual national champion Georgia, which had the highest-scoring game against State (45-19). This year, Georgia gives way to South Carolina on the schedule.

The absence of Georgia will help hold down the points allowed, but the return of key players such as linemen Nathan Pickering and Jaden Crumedy as well as linebackers Nathaniel Watson and Jett Johnson will be a key factor in reducing the points allowed.

5. Yards per pass attempt

The signature element of Leach’s teams was the Air Raid offense, which meant lots and lots of passes, lots and lots of completions and lots and lots of passing yards.

But State didn’t pass the ball down the field nearly as much as Barbay plans to. As a result, the Bulldogs averaged a mere 6.4 yards per pass last season.

The increased emphasis on the running game might lead to fewer total passing yards, but the average gain will be greater.

5 areas the Bulldogs will be worse

1. Kickoff returns

The Bulldogs were really good at returning kickoffs last season, thanks in large part to Lideatrick Griffin.

And they’ll be good again with Griffin leading the way.

But it won’t be surprising if they have a drop-off from last season, when they led the SEC with an average of 26.9 yards per return.

Opponents will be even more aware than they were a year ago of Griffin’s ability to hurt them and will kick away from him even more.

When Griffin has opportunities to return kicks he’ll again be among the best in the country. But those opportunities might not come as frequently.

2. Takeaways

State was among the best in the SEC at taking the ball away last season, tying for 1st at 1.8 per game.

But it’s difficult to see how the Bulldogs don’t have fewer takeaways, if only because of the departure to the NFL of cornerback Emmanuel Forbes (6 interceptions, including 3 pick-6s).

3. Pass completion percentage

As was noted earlier, the new offense will feature more runs, fewer passes and a greater emphasis on passes down the field.

The passes down the field inherently bring a greater degree of difficulty, which will inevitably lead to a lower completion percentage.

4. Turnovers

Sticking with that theme, the greater degree of difficulty will lead to more interceptions.

Will Rogers is a smart and experienced quarterback, and he’ll make good decisions. But even good decisions can lead to bad outcomes when the throws are more challenging.

The increase in turnovers won’t be huge, and Rogers will still be very good.

But the increased rewards in the passing game will be balanced by an increased risk.

5. Passing touchdowns

The increased emphasis on running the ball will mean fewer clock stoppages and, ultimately, fewer plays run.

Additionally, the sharper running game will be utilized more frequently in the red zone, allowing the runners to poach a few scores from the passing game.

The passing game will still be very good, but the running game will be more productive.

The offense will remain very good, but the strengths and weaknesses of the offense won’t be exactly the same as last season.

Just like the rest of the team.

The post Mississippi State football: 5 areas where the Bulldogs will be better … and worse in 2023 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It also has a bunch of important newcomers — both true freshmen and collegians who came through the transfer portal.

So the Tigers could be even better than they were last season, when they won the SEC West. But whether they are better or worse, we can be pretty sure they will be different.

Their offense has a lot more running backs to work with, and their defense is counting on a lot of newcomers in the secondary.

Other newcomers are sprinkled throughout the roster.

Here are 5 areas where LSU will be better and worse in 2023:

Better

1. Rushing offense

LSU had a really good offense last season, but it leaned on quarterback Jayden Daniels in the running game more than it wanted to, partly because the running back position was relatively thin.

But the Tigers have plenty of running back options — 8 viable ones — in addition to Daniels. And they have a more experienced offensive line than they had last season, all of which adds up to a more productive rushing attack.

2. Touchdown passes

Daniels was very good last season, both as the team’s leading rusher and an efficient passer. But his touchdown pass total was modest (17, tied for 9th in the SEC).

But the improved running game and a stable of talented wide receivers, as well as Daniels’ continued maturation, will lead to an increased number of touchdown passes.

3. Punt returns

LSU’s punt-return game was almost nonexistent last season. The Tigers averaged just 3.3 yards per punt return, the worst average in the SEC, and had just 16 returns.

It will be difficult for them not to be better than that.

4. Run defense

LSU was in the middle of the SEC pack last season, finishing 7th with an average of 148.4 rushing yards allowed.

The return of 3 of the top 4 tacklers — Greg Penn III, Harold Perkins Jr. and Greg Brooks Jr. — and the addition of former Oregon State tackling machine Omar Speights means there will be plenty of talented Tigers pursuing the ball and slowing down opposing runners better than last season.

5. 3rd-down defense

LSU has placed an emphasis on playing better 3rd-down defense than last season.

The overall 3rd-down conversion rate (39 percent) was bad enough, and it was exacerbated by allowing too many 3rd-and-longs to be converted, as well as periodic failures at crucial times in games.

The improved run defense should create more challenging 3rd downs for opponents. It will be up to the defense to do a better job of not letting opponents off the hook.

It will.

Worse

1. Takeaways

LSU did a pretty good job of taking the ball away from opponents last season, tying for 6th in the SEC with 20 — 11 fumbles and 9 interceptions.

But the Tigers are counting on a few unproven players at cornerback, and it’s unclear how well they’ll be able to make interceptions.

So the takeaway number will take a slight dip.

2. Red zone defense

A dip in takeaways will make it more difficult for LSU to prevent scores after opponents reach the red zone.

The Tigers did well with their red-zone defense last season, allowing points on 80.4 percent of trips there, which was the 5th-best percentage in the SEC.

LSU will be good in the red zone again. It just won’t have quite as high a percentage of scoreless trips by opponents.

3. Pass defense

LSU had 1 of the better pass defenses in the SEC last season, ranking 4th in fewest yards allowed (206.2 per game).

The aforementioned presence of unproven cornerbacks — as well as the likelihood that the Tigers will play with a lead quite a bit, forcing opponents to pass an inordinate amount — will prevent LSU from matching last year’s passing yardage stat.

4. Turnovers

The Tigers did a really good job with ball security last season. They had the 5th-fewest turnovers in the SEC (18) — 11 fumbles and just 7 interceptions.

Ball security doesn’t figure to be a major problem this season. But Daniels and the passing game will be more aggressive overall after he began last season being super cautious with his throws.

A couple more turnovers here and there will push the 2023 total past the 2022 total without significantly impairing the Tigers’ ability to win.

5. Sneaking up on people

There isn’t a whole lot LSU can do about this one.

The Tigers probably snuck up on some opponents last season because expectations were that they would perform far below the level of SEC West champs.

LSU is pretty much a consensus Top 10 preseason pick and generally considered a contender to repeat as division champs.

Beginning with Florida State in the season opener Sept. 3 in Orlando and carrying through the entire SEC schedule, the Tigers’ opponents will be anticipating a Top 10-caliber performance from Brian Kelly’s team.

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The Tigers were generally expected to be a middle-of-the-pack team in the SEC last season. But they won the West Division and finished 10-4 after routing Purdue in the Citrus Bowl.

LSU exceeded modest expectations, and the expectations for this season are much more significant.

Is this year’s team headed back toward national championship-contender status, or does that require more program building?

Kelly still has some recruiting work to do in order to have the roster depth to match that of Georgia and Alabama. But he’s getting close.

Here are 10 bold predictions for the Tigers:

1. Record-setting runner

Jayden Daniels will break Jordan Jefferson’s career record (2008-11) for rushing yards by a quarterback (1,018).

Daniels rushed for a team-best 885 yards last season, so surpassing Jefferson should happen early in the season, but it might not come as quickly as it first seems.

That’s because of a …

2. Crowded running back committee

The Tigers were thin at running back by the end of last season, but that won’t happen this season.

There are 8 viable ball carriers, and they will reduce the need for Daniels to be the primary runner, though he’ll still be used as a multipurpose quarterback.

3. More special in the kicking game

LSU was plagued by special teams breakdowns throughout last season.

Improving in that area has been a point of emphasis, and the Tigers will be better. Alabama transfer Aaron Anderson will provide a big boost to the return game, which was especially weak on punts last season as LSU averaged 3.3 yards per return.

Punter Jay Bramblett was very good last season and returns for a 5th season. Placekicker Damian Ramos will build on a solid redshirt freshman season.

4. Belated coming-out party

Defensive tackle Maason Smith will be one of the top defensive linemen in the SEC.

He was expected to be just that as a true freshman last season, but he suffered a season-ending knee injury on the 1st defensive series of the season opener.

Now Smith is almost a full year removed from the surgery, healthy and ready to roll alongside Mekhi Wingo, who’s already 1 of the better defensive linemen in the league.

Presumably, Smith will be more judicious in his celebrations this season after his injury occurred while he was celebrating a teammate’s sack.

5. Frequent end-zone visits

Malik Nabers caught just 3 touchdown passes last season, but 2 came at the end of the season when he found the end zone against Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and against Purdue in the bowl game.

That gives him a streak to build on, and he’ll keep the streak going at least through the 1st half of this season. That will enable him to break the school record for consecutive games with a receiving touchdown (7).

The record is shared by Kayshon Boutte (2020-21), Jarvis Landry (2012-13) and Dwayne Bowe (2005).

6. Busting into backfields

Harold Perkins Jr. was a disruptive force as a true freshman last season. He’ll be even more disruptive as a sophomore.

LSU is going to move the linebacker around to create favorable matchups and maximize his ability to make plays, especially in the backfield.

Perkins will be a frequent visitor to opponents’ backfields and surpass Gabe Northern’s single-season record (1994) for tackles for loss (23).

7. Tight end targets

Mason Taylor finished his true freshman season last year with the 2nd-most receptions by a tight end in school history.

His 38 catches were 9 fewer than Thaddeus Moss had in 2019.

Taylor will top Moss’ total and eclipse the school record for touchdown catches by a tight end (5), which is shared by Richard Dickson (2007 and ’08), Robert Royal (2000) and Brad Boyd (1972).

8. New top tackler

Linebacker Omar Speights arrived from Oregon State through the transfer portal.

Even though the Tigers return their top 3 tacklers from last season — linebacker Greg Penn III, Perkins and safety Greg Brooks Jr. — it will be Speights who will be the team’s top tackler.

Speights, who totaled 308 tackles in 4 seasons with the Beavers, will flirt with 400 career tackles by the time this season ends.

9. Hello, Big Apple

Daniels had a very good 1st season with the Tigers.

He’ll have an even better one in 2023.

Daniels’ 2nd season in Mike Denbrock’s offense, working behind a more experienced line while getting help from a much better group of running backs and having plenty of talented targets to throw to, will be a memorable one.

He’s not going to make the kind of jump that Joe Burrow made from 2018-19, but the favorable circumstances aren’t all that different.

Ultimately, Daniels will be invited to New York in December as a Heisman Trophy finalist.

10. Back to back in the West

It was a big surprise when LSU won the SEC West last season. It won’t be nearly as big a surprise when it happens again this season.

The Tigers will finish 10-2.

The post LSU football: 10 bold predictions for the 2023 season appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Arnett was promoted from defensive coordinator after head coach Mike Leach died suddenly last December, and guided the still-stunned Bulldogs to a ReliaQuest Bowl victory over Illinois in his debut as Leach’s successor.

Leach’s fingerprints are still on this program and his spirit still lingers in Starkville. But after an off-season to get ready for the post-Leach era, it’s now Arnett’s program and team.

He has a lot to work with to try to continue the building that Leach did for 3 seasons, but he’s also putting his own imprint on the program.

Here are 10 burning questions as Mississippi State opens camp:

1. Can the Bulldogs take advantage of a stable roster?

Teams all around the SEC and the country have absorbed numerous losses to the transfer portal and in many cases tried to use the same portal to supply replacements, leading to continuity challenges.

State, despite the coaching change, had minimal attrition from last year’s team and didn’t need a whole bunch of newcomers from other programs.

Will the stable roster of a team coming off a 9-4 (4-4 SEC) season help State get off to a fast start against a schedule featuring visits from Arizona, LSU and Alabama as well as a trip to South Carolina in September?

2. How will the transition on defense go?

Linebackers coach Matt Brock did a fine job in the bowl game after taking over play-calling duties from Arnett.

Now he’s the coordinator and retains the play-calling responsibilities, though Arnett certainly will still be involved in the defensive preparation.

Arnett said he and Brock, with whom he has worked for 3 seasons since Leach brought him with him from Washington State, have “viewpoints on defense (that) are almost identical.”

But it remains to be seen how the 34-year-old Brock performs for a full season as a coordinator in the SEC.

3. Who can help Nathaniel Watson and Jett Johnson?

The glass-is-half-full angle is that Brock is blessed to have 2 experienced linebackers who combined for 230 tackles.

The half-empty angle is that leaning that heavily on 2 guys creates the possibility of breakdowns – one way or another.

Better balance among the tacklers likely would mean more consistent defensive play.

4. How will Marcus Banks adjust to his move inside?

Banks was solid at cornerback last season, but he will be playing over the slot this season.

It’s a key move in a secondary that has to adjust to the loss to the NFL of Emmanuel Forbes.

5. Can Lideatrick Griffin do even more?

Griffin was one of the top return specialists in college football last season and emerged as a productive pass receiver as well.

Opponents will undoubtedly kick away from him on special teams, and defenses will keep a closer eye on him as well.

He’s one of the most dynamic players in the SEC, and the Bulldogs will get the ball in his hands any way they can.

6. Will better balance mean a better offense?

State won’t be running Leach’s famed Air Raid Offense, though new coordinator Kevin Barbay won’t abandon Leach’s approach to the passing game.

The former Central Michigan coordinator comes over after 1 season at Appalachian State, and he’ll run a more conventional passing attack and also feature the run game more, leading to more play-action and more throws down the field.

The idea is to be more conventional, but still creative and highly productive.

7. How quickly will the offensive line adjust?

The Bulldogs return a lot of experience on the line, and that maturity should come in handy.

The group should be effective, but the changes in the scheme will require adjustments and perhaps even position changes. All should be fine, but the line could be a work in progress throughout August.

8. Can 2 quarterbacks be better than 1?

Will Rogers is definitely State’s starting quarterback and is poised to have another big season in his record-setting career.

But former Vanderbilt starter Mike White, who came through the transfer portal, possesses dual-threat skills that have Arnett and Barbay excited about the situational possibilities of using him as a complement to the pocket-passing Rogers.

Will the tandem make the highly productive offense more prolific, or will the new dynamic create an even more complicated adjustment for Rogers?

9. Can Jo’Quavious Marks thrive with a bigger workload?

Marks led the Bulldogs with 582 rushing yards and 9 rushing touchdowns last season, but the running game is going to take on more responsibility.

Dillon Johnson, who formed a strong 1-2 punch with Marks, has moved on to Washington, so Marks will get even more opportunities. Penn State transfer Keyvone Lee and returning backup Simeon Price will also be in the mix, but Marks is the strongest candidate to handle the role of SEC feature back.

10. Is Arnett up to the job?

Arnett was one of the most respected defensive coordinators in the country before Leach lured him from San Diego State to Starkville 3 years ago.

He’s a fine coach and was the sensible choice to succeed Leach.

But his head-coaching resume still consists of just 1 game.

The post 10 burning questions as Mississippi State opens camp appeared first on Saturday Down South.

His first season was supposed to be the start of a gradual rebuild after he inherited a program that produced a 5-5 record in 2020 and a 6-7 record in 2021.

But Kelly’s first team won the SEC West title last season and finished 10-4. With that as a benchmark heading into Year 2, the expectations for the 2023 season are much higher that anyone would have projected when Kelly was hired.

The Tigers might be CFP contenders – or maybe being significantly better than last season is a bit unrealistic for a roster still in need of reinforcements.

Here are 10 burning questions as LSU opens camp:

1. How will the running back rotation evolve?

Suddenly what was once a thin position is a very deep one, especially if John Emery Jr. gets academically eligible, which Kelly said at SEC Media Days was his expectation.

Josh Williams, Noah Cain, Emery and Armoni Goodwin all had between 250 and 550 rushing yards, while quarterback Jayden Daniels led the team with 885 yards last season.

All 4 of those backs return and will be joined by Notre Dame transfer Logan Diggs, Oklahoma transfer Tre Bradford and highly touted freshmen Trey Holly and Kaleb Jackson.

There aren’t enough carries available for everyone to get involved so preseason camp will establish a pecking order and a rotation that should lessen the burden on Daniels as a runner.

2. Who will start at left guard?

The Tigers return all 5 starters on what should be a strong offensive line, but there is competition on the interior.

Garrett Dellinger is the incumbent at left guard, but figures to be pushed by Maryland transfer Mason Lunsford.

3. Who will start at center?

The center position shapes up in fashion similar to that of left guard.

Charles Turner III is the incumbent, but he figures to be pushed by veteran Marlon Martinez.

4. Will the special teams be better?

The special teams had recurring breakdowns throughout last season, ultimately leading to coordinator Brian Polian being moved to an off-the-field role before he was hired as athletic director at John Carroll University.

Kelly promoted senior defensive analyst John Jancek, who has been a defensive coordinator at 8 different colleges, to succeed Polian. But when defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey stepped away from the program to deal with “a personal health matter” on Wednesday, Kelly named Jancek to take on Lindsey’s role.

Bob Diaco, who had been a senior defensive analyst, took over Jancek’s duties as special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach. Diaco, a former head coach at Connecticut, has coached special teams at 4 schools, including Virginia. He worked on Kelly’s staffs at Central Michigan, Cincinnati and Notre Dame.

The arrival of Alabama transfer Aaron Anderson as a return specialist (in addition to being a wide receiver) should give a boost to the special teams.

5. How will the newcomers in the secondary fare?

The Tigers have dependable veteran starters at safety in Greg Brooks and Major Burns, but the cornerback, nickelback and backup positions are up for grabs, mostly among newcomers.

The group features transfers in Denver Harris (Texas A&M), Zy Alexander (Southeastern Louisiana), Duce Chestnut (Syracuse), JK Johnson (Ohio State) and Andre Sam (Marshall).

Additionally, the coaches are trying to find the best fit for promising true freshman Javien Toviano.

6. Which freshman tight end will emerge?

The Tigers have one of the best receiving tight ends in the SEC in Mason Taylor, but they don’t have a proven player behind him.

They brought in 3 true freshmen who will compete for playing time behind Taylor – Ka’Morreun Pimpton, Mac Markway and Jackson McGohan.

7. Are the edge rushers ready for SEC competition?

LSU feels good about the competition here, but none of the competitors has played a down in SEC.

Two transfers – Ovie Oghoufo (Texas) and Bradyn Swinson (Oregon) – as well as true freshman Shawn Womack will battle for spots on the depth chart during preseason camp.

8. How will Harold Perkins adapt to a new role?

Perkins had a significant impact as a true freshman last season, primarily by being disruptive in opponents’ backfields from his outside linebacker spot.

LSU thinks he can be even better by lining up some at middle linebacker and moving around so that opponents have an even more difficult time tracking him and slowing him down.

9. How much better will Jayden Daniels be?

Daniels got more comfortable and confident as last season went along and the expectation is that his growth will continue in his 2nd season in coordinator Mike Denbrock’s offense.

The former Arizona State quarterback is expected to be one of the better quarterbacks in the SEC, but the Tigers’ hopes of reaching the CFP will largely be tied to whether he can have an SEC Offensive Player of the Year/Heisman Trophy contender type of season.

10. Will the Tigers be better prepared to open the season against Florida State?

LSU opens the season against Florida State for a 2nd consecutive season, traveling to Orlando a year after playing Kelly’s 1st game in the Caesars Superdome.

The Seminoles won last year’s game 24-23 as the Tigers turned in a sloppy performance that didn’t hint at the success that the season would ultimately produce.

Both FSU and LSU enter this season with much higher expectations than a year ago.

A Tigers victory would strengthen a likely Top 10 ranking, but a similar outcome to last year’s opener would get the season off to a concerning start.

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After going 5-5 in Kiffin’s 1st season, Ole Miss broke out with a 10-3 record that landed it in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

But the Rebels took a step back last season when they finished 8-5.

This year’s team features a half-dozen new coaches on Kiffin’s staff, a boatload of new players and the return of a few dynamic players as it tries to get the program-building back on track.

Here are 10 burning questions as Ole Miss opens camp:

1. Can the Rebels shake off their late-season slide in 2022?

Kiffin’s 3rd team seemed like it was building on the success of 2021 when it won its first 7 games, climbed to No. 7 in the AP poll and showed up at No. 11 in the 1st CFP rankings.

But then things went south.

The Rebels lost at LSU, 45-20. They bounced back with a win against Texas A&M, then played Alabama to the wire but came up short, 30-24. They never recovered.

That started a 3-game losing streak to end the regular season, which was followed by a loss to Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl.

At SEC Media Days, Kiffin took the blame for not being able to keep the players’ chins up after their loftiest goals became unattainable.

It’s his challenge to do a better job of regaining a positive mindset and focusing the players on goals just as lofty as the ones from a year ago.

2. Will they be ready for a tougher September schedule?

Ole Miss’ fast start last season came against a relatively soft early-season schedule.

But that’s not the case this season. After the season opener against Mercer, the Rebels visit Tulane, which went 12-2 last season and is popping up in some preseason polls.

The SEC opener is at Alabama, followed by a visit from LSU.

Repeating last year’s start will be quite a challenge.

3. How quickly will the rebuilt roster mesh?

The roster features 40 new scholarship players, which doesn’t provide ideal continuity for a team facing such a tough start.

But the transfer portal requires everyone to deal with added roster turnover, and Kiffin has been one of the best at utilizing that opportunity.

Shortcomings in continuity can be overcome by an influx of top-flight talent.

4. How quickly will the players adapt to their new coaches?

Ole Miss has a new defensive coordinator, a new special teams coordinator and new position coaches handling the offensive line, running backs, linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties.

The players and the new coaches have to get to know one another, the players have to learn what their new coaches expect of them, and it remains to be seen if the individual coaches are an upgrade over their predecessors.

5. Can Pete Golding upgrade the defense?

The marquee coaching change saw Kiffin lure Golding, who was Nick Saban’s defensive coordinator for the last 5 seasons.

It’s Kiffin, so his offense is going to move the ball a lot and score a bunch of points.

It’s also probably not going to possess the ball for a terribly long time, forcing Golding’s unit to stay on the field for the majority of the game.

The offense’s productivity means the defense doesn’t have to be dominant in order for the team to be successful, but the defense allowed an average of 35 points per game during the 1-5 finish.

Golding was brought in to make the defense much more competitive than that.

6. How good are all those new DBs?

Seven defensive backs have arrived in Oxford through the transfer portal, including a late arrival in former Miami cornerback Chris Graves Jr.

Deantre Prince, who has started 20 games in the last 2 seasons for the Rebels, figures to start at 1 cornerback spot, but much of the rest of the secondary will consist of players who have yet to play in a game at Ole Miss.

7. Will Joshua Harris have an impact on the defensive line?

Harris was a highly regarded recruit when he signed with NC State and played in 38 games in 4 seasons with the Wolfpack, but he never had a huge impact.

At 6-4, 325 pounds, he has the size to make a difference on the interior of the line and create more opportunities for Cedric Johnson, who has 13.5 sacks as a Rebel.

8. Can Quinshon Judkins be even better?

Judkins was 1 of the most productive freshman running backs in SEC history last season when he set school records for carries (274), rushing yards (1,567) and rushing touchdowns (16). He was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year.

Kiffin said Judkins is “really special” and could be even better in his 2nd season, operating behind a veteran offensive line.

9. Who will be the go-to receivers?

Ole Miss lost its 2 most productive wide receivers last season – Malik Heath and Jonathan Mingo.

The transfer portal produced all-C-USA receiver Tre Harris (Louisiana Tech), and Prince has identified true freshman Ayden Williams as someone who “can be a big-time guy.”

10. Who will be the quarterback?

Often times a quarterback competition will automatically provide the most burning question at this time of year.

But it’s worth noting that the Rebels should be in a good shape regardless of who winds up as the starter.

Jaxson Dart did just fine last season after transferring from USC, but that didn’t stop Kiffin from welcoming 2 high-profile newcomers – Spencer Sanders (Oklahoma State) and Walker Howard (LSU).

Sanders, who started 4 years for the Cowboys but was hampered by a shoulder injury last season, has far more experience than Howard, who threw just 4 passes and was redshirted as a true freshman last season.

The real question isn’t so much who will start as whether whoever the starter is can approach Matt Corral’s productivity 2 years ago.

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Some have Skenes No. 1 and Crews No. 2.

A few have Wyatt Langford perhaps slipping in at No. 1 or No. 2.

But the expectation is that LSU will make history Sunday by having teammates selected with the first 2 picks of the MLB Draft.

Crews and Skenes?

Skenes and Crews?

Only the Pittsburgh Pirates know for sure, although they might still have some uncertainty about how they’ll ultimately use the No. 1 overall pick. They could go with Langford if he agrees to take slightly less money than Crews demands. The Washington Nationals will be standing by to potentially scoop up whichever Tiger isn’t picked.

If Florida outfielder Langford or some other dark horse goes to the Pirates or the Nationals, the remaining Tiger will presumably remain a Tiger — because the Detroit Tigers hold the No. 3 pick.

It has long been assumed that Crews – LSU’s 5-tool center fielder – would be the No. 1 pick. And he strengthened his resume by winning the Golden Spikes Award and helping lead the Tigers to the Men’s College World Series title over Florida.

But Skenes, a hard-throwing, 6-foot-6 right-hander, followed the best regular season by any pitcher in the country with a dominant performance in the postseason, though he didn’t pitch in the 3-game title series after throwing 243 pitches in 6 days to help lead LSU into the finale.

Choosing between Crews and Skenes has been a tricky proposition all season.

Crews was generally considered the best position player in college baseball, and Skenes was generally considered the best pitcher in college baseball. National media disagreed on which was the best player in college baseball, and now the Pirates must choose who they think will be the best professional player to come out of this draft.

Both are 21 years old (Crews is about 3 months older than Skenes) and both had 3 exceptional seasons in college.

Crews has 3 seasons in the SEC, while Skenes played his first 2 seasons at the Air Force Academy before transferring.

While batting leadoff as a junior and playing exceptional defense throughout, Crews established himself as quite possibly the best player in a program that has now won 7 national championships.

He’s a power hitter who also has developed plate discipline. He’s got good speed, which has shown up more in defense and base-running than in base-stealing.

In other words, Crews can help his new employer in virtually every way that a position player can.

Skenes, who added a good 5 mph to his fastball after arriving at LSU, had arguably the best season of any pitcher in Tigers history, breaking Ben McDonald’s school and SEC single-season record for strikeouts by finishing with an NCAA-best 209.

Though Skenes was limited to pitching while at LSU, he was an accomplished hitter at Air Force and recently said he’d like an opportunity to be a two-way player as a professional – presumably as a first baseman/designated hitter.

Regardless of whether that happens, Skenes’ lofty draft position will be a result of his skill as a pitcher.

Skenes supplements his elite fastball with a slider that greatly improved during his junior season, as well as a sinker and a hard change-up. He frequently topped 100 mph during the NCAA tournament, and the triple-digit throws came as often toward the end of outings as they did at the beginning.

Crews and Skenes both went to LSU in large part because they wanted an opportunity to win a national championship. They not only accomplished that, but both were at their best when the opportunity came about. They performed as a No. 1 overall pick would be expected to perform in such a situation.

Traditionally, position players are considered less risky than pitchers as draft choices because of the greater chance of injury that’s inherent in pitching.

That suggests Crews might be the safer pick.

But elite pitchers who do stay healthy – and live up to projections – are harder to come by than elite position players.

That suggests Skenes could ultimately have the higher ceiling.

But otherwise, there’s little to separate Crews and Skenes.

Or Skenes and Crews.

You’re on the clock, Pirates.

The post Pirates’ dilemma: Which of 2 LSU Tigers goes No. 1 in tonight’s MLB Draft? Or is there a cash-saving 3rd option? appeared first on Saturday Down South.