LSU lucky to escape South Carolina, but Tigers facing deeper disconnect: What’s not adding up?

If all that matters is the final score, LSU did what it had to.

LSU beat South Carolina, 36-33, and is still very much in the SEC Championship and College Football Playoff hunt. 

If we’re allowed to dig a little deeper, there are quite a few reasons to be concerned about the Tigers’ outlook for the remainder of the 2024 season. 

LSU survived more than anything against South Carolina, bailed out by multiple questionable officiating calls and Gamecocks quarterback LaNorris Sellers not playing in the second half because of an ankle injury. LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier is very lucky that two pick-sixes got called back because of penalties, the second an especially egregious interception in the red zone when the Tigers were still down four points.

Everyone knew the offense would take a step back this season without Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels, but the offensive play-calling and decision-making against South Carolina left a lot to be desired. Never was that more apparent than on a second-half 1st-and-goal on South Carolina’s two-yard line that resulted in zero points. 

Here’s the sequence of plays dialed up by LSU offensive coordinator Joe Sloan:

Kaleb Jackson runJosh Williams runJosh Williams run Pass play on 4th-and-goal at the one-yard line that predictably didn’t work and was compounded by Nussmeier tripping on the feet of his center. 

LSU’s offense looked better after it started leaning on freshman running back Caleb Durham, who had 66 second-half rushing yards and a touchdown, but the execution was still lacking far too often for a team expected to contend for the SEC. 

The bigger concern was the Tigers’ defense that looked as bad as it did a year ago when Brian Kelly wasted a historic offense. LSU went out and spent…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/lsu-lucky-to-escape-south-carolina-but-tigers-facing-deeper-disconnect-whats-not-adding-up/

Author : John Talty

Publish date : 2024-09-15 00:51:03

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