LSU FALLS TO USC: MY REVIEW

9/4/2024

Photo By: Phillip Cancilleri

Da Boot Sports
9/4/2024
By: Terrill J. Weil

BATON ROUGE, LA - This past Sunday night was a frustrating and disappointing one for all LSU Tiger fans. With high expectations as always, everyone was expecting a convincing LSU victory. But instead we were rudely treated to a fifth straight season opening defeat.

The 27-20 loss still stings. It was a winnable game and a contest that the Bayou Bengals should have won.

THE NEGATIVES

* An inconsistent rushing attack. LSU's running game struggles continue. Needing to replace
Jayden Daniels' 1,134 rushing total from last season, LSU went to Las Vegas betting heavily on establishing the running game. The Tigers finished the game with 117 rushing yards on 26 carries. 46 of those yards came in the first half. It was very disappointing that on more than one occasion the LSU offense failed to pick up a first down in short yardage situations on the ground. The offensive line's struggles in the running game was a huge negative.

* LSU's deep passing game. Lack of explosive big plays. A majority of Garrett Nussmeier's completions were short yardage, dink and dunk passes. With the speed the LSU receiving corp possesses, it was disappointing that the Tigers didn't take more shots down the field. LSU only has three plays of 20 yards or more on Sunday night.

  * The conservative approach of the offense early in the 4th quarter after gaining their first lead of the contest. After going up 17-13, LSU had back to back three and out possessions. The play calling by offensive coordinator Joe Sloan was very questionable. It showed a 'play not to lose' mentality, instead of keeping your foot down on the accelerator, trying to score to increase your lead. A touchdown drive on either of those possessions would have given the Bayou Bengals a two score lead, making it difficult for the Trojans to mount a comeback.

  * Poor red zone execution. The Tigers finished the contest with a 27% success rate in their red zone opportunities. The opening game drive ended with a turnover on downs after reaching the USC ten yard line. Late in the 4th quarter, LSU put together an impressive drive. But after reaching the Trojan's 15 yard line, the Tigers had to settle for a Damian Ramos' field goal to tie the game at 20, instead of taking a late lead.

  * Kyren Lacy's second half. After looking unstoppable in the first half with 94 yards receiving and a beautiful touchdown grab on seven catches, Lacy went without a catch over the final 30 minutes of play, only being targeted twice.

* LSU penalties. The Tigers committed ten penalties for 99 yards. Some of these penalties were undisciplined personal fouls.

THE POSITIVES

* The play of Garrett Nussmeier. The new LSU signal caller played a solid game. He went 29-38 for 304 yards with two touchdowns, He threw only interception on the final play of the contest. Nussmeier was accurate for a majority of the night, making great decisions and throws, while seldom mis-firing on his attempts. He finished the game with a 88.1 quarterback rating which was ranked 16th in the nation for the week. A strong performance for only his second career start.

* The LSU offensive line's pass protection. The O-line, while struggling in the running game, was fantastic in pass protection. Nussmeier wasn't sacked and had time to pass throughout the night.


* The improve play of the LSU defense. After last season's defensive nightmare, the defense can only go up in 2024. We saw decent improvement on Sunday night. The defense did struggle at times, but overall showed promise. The Tigers sacked USC quarterback Miller Moss twice and put nice pressure on him throughout the game. The defense also managed eight tackles for a loss. They held USC to only 69 yards rushing on the night. If this defense can stay healthy, expect to see improvement as the season goes on.


* The play of defensive end Sai'vion Jones. Jones was a beast all game long. He finished with five tackles and registered both sacks for the Tigers. Look for Jones to be a force for the defense all season long.

* The secondary still has some work to do, but over all we saw improvement and potential from this group. Ashton Stamps made a couple of outstanding plays. True Freshman PJ Woodland is going to be a star.

I know the opening season loss was a huge disappointment, but LSU fans shouldn't be pushing the panic button just yet. This team has nice talent and a good coaching staff. I think they will rebound nicely from this defeat. I still see the Tigers winning nine or ten games with an opportunity to qualify for the 12 team playoff. Take a deep breath Purple and Gold Nation. By season's end this will be a team that you will be proud off.

Now on the injury situation for the Tigers after week one, we get horrible news about John Emery Jr. After leading LSU in rushing against USC on Sunday night, breaking news on Wednesday is that he has suffered another ACL injury and will miss the remainder of the 2024 season. Emery suffered and serious ACL injury last season against Florida and worked very hard in the off season to make a return. He looked fantastic during fall camp and was going to be a key contributor in the LSU rushing attack this season. This is heart breaking news for the Graduate Student. We his him well in his recovery.
Defensive end Princeton Malbrue suffered a serious knee injury. He will undergo more testing throughout the week before Brian Kelly can inform us on the extent of the injury. Wide receiver Kyle Parker suffered a UCL elbow injury and will be doubtful for this week's game against Nicholls State. Chris Hilton Jr. continues to deal with the bruised bone in his ankle suffered during fall camp. The Tigers are hoping for his return in the coming weeks.

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