By Chris Marler
Season in a sentence
Playoff hopes should have been tempered by what the team lost in the draft, but a 9-4 record still feels like underachieving given the talent on the roster.
Three Highs
- The Ole Miss Win
Death, taxes, and beating Ole Miss in Death Valley—those three things held true this year, except for my cousin Erik, who’s in some trouble with the IRS. But I digress.
- Garrett Nussmeier
We knew Nuss was going to be a gunslinger coming into the season, but what we didn’t know was just how much of an absolute dawg he would be. Case in point, hurting his throwing shoulder against Vanderbilt and telling Brian Kelly two series later he was going in and, “I’m throwing the f****** football.”
- The No. 1 Portal Class in the country
The desperation that came with the end of the season and start of December has led to a ton of optimism heading into next year. Losing four games sucks. Losing Bryce Underwood really sucks. What both things did, however, was create a sense of urgency, as well as free up some money to sign the best portal class in America.
Three Lows
- The Alabama loss
After losing to Texas A&M because they couldn’t stop a running quarterback, it felt inexcusable to let Jalen Milroe single-handedly beat them with his legs in the very next game—especially after a bye week to prepare. I still blame Omar.
- The Florida loss
The Tigers ran 93 plays and only scored 16 points. They gave up more sacks to Florida than they had in the previous nine games combined. That loss is like square foot math to me because I still can’t figure it out.
- The defense is still not up to caliber
The defense made improvements in year one under Blake Baker. However, it’s still nowhere near where it needs to be or is expected to be. That being said, losing a key interior defensive lineman out of the gates and one of the best defensive players in the country at linebacker didn’t help.
The Offense
I expected the offense to take a step back this year. There should be a natural drop off when you lose a Heisman winning quarterback and two first round draft picks at wide receiver. The loss that wasn’t talked about nearly enough was the offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock going to Notre Dame. That may have been the biggest loss of all, from 2023 to 2024.
There were plenty of positives from this unit. The offensive line was the best in program history and one of the best in the country all year long. You also had Garrett Nussmeier emerge into one of the best quarterbacks in the conference and saw several players step up at wide receiver, as well. However, having an offensive line that strong and still struggling to generate a productive run game was incredibly concerning.
LSU finished dead last in the SEC in rushing yards per game, with just 116.4 per game. The offense was solely based on the passing game, ending the year with 534 attempts. That’s the second most in any season since 2016 for LSU. In fact, it’s just 33 less attempts than the historic 2019 offense and they played two more games.
Bottom line, the offense was good considering the pieces it lost from the previous season. However, finishing seventh in the SEC in scoring and failing to score over 24 points in four of their last five games felt pretty underwhelming.
Offensive Grade: B-
The Defense
LSU’s defense improved in year one under Blake Baker. However, the bar was set pretty low after 2023. The 2024 Tiger unit ranked tenth or worse in the SEC in scoring, passing, rushing, and total defense, including 14th in scoring allowing over 24 points per game.
There were also several highs during the year, which is both a positive and a very big point of confusion. There were games against Ole Miss and Arkansas where the defense held two of the best offenses in the conference—and the country—completely in check, or at the very least made plays when it mattered most.
I thought the Arkansas game was a turning point for the team and they were about to go on a run. Keep in mind, Arkansas had just beaten a top five Tennessee team and were coming off a bye before they played LSU. LSU beat them by 24. What happened over the next few weeks against Texas A&M and Alabama was about as demoralizing and hope crushing as it could have been. They allowed an average of 40 points per game against the Aggies and Tide and lost those games by an average of 22 points.
The most frustrating part of both losses is that it came against a seemingly one dimensional quarterback who struggled to throw the ball. Regardless, I think the building blocks and foundation Baker has put in place are really promising for the future. It should be said that the losses of Jacobian Guillory and Harold Perkins in the first month of the season had a huge impact on the defense.
Defensive Grade: C+
Overall Grade
There were some very big disappointments during the 2024 season for LSU. The dejected feeling I saw from the fanbase after the USC and Alabama losses were palpable and even as an outsider I hated to see it. A 9-4 season feels like a letdown and stepback for a lot of fans, especially considering expectations after the Ole Miss and Arkansas wins.
I may be in the minority here, but I fully believe in Brian Kelly as a head coach. I think the narrative that he can’t win the big one is absurd and completely fabricated. To be honest, I think coming into this season his entire career has been clouded by three losses – 2012 Alabama, 2018 Clemson, and 2020 Alabama. Those three losses drove the narrative that he can’t win the big one. Nevermind the fact that those were three losses to three National Champions and two teams that are widely considered in the top five to ten teams of all time.
I think the end of the year will be the best thing that has happened to this program since Joe Burrow. Finishing 8-4 and losing out on Bryce Underwood created a storm of negativity around LSU, thanks to social media overreactions and punchline culture. Here’s what also happened—it lit a fire under Brian Kelly and he’s been on a tear ever since. You lost out on Bryce Underwood, but that freed up a ton of NIL money and he’s been spending money like my girlfriend at Target during Christmas time.
I cannot wait to revisit the receipts I’m sure Kelly is keeping for this time next year, and that’s all I have to say about that.
Overall Season Grade: B-
