The film removes the emotion.
After LSU whitewashed Clemson in a 51-point offensive tsunami a week ago, Lane Kiffin went to the Monday podium and suggested the offensive line needed to be better. Less than 36 hours after a 41-point thrashing of a name brand opponent, there were problems up front.
Huh?
LSU ran for over 300 yards, and Sam Leavitt was never sacked. What more can an offensive front do?
Kiffin suggested Leavitt’s legs and Dilin Jones’s ability to run through tackles camouflaged a middling effort from the Tiger front five. Saturday night, Leavitt still dazzled with his feet for three rushing touchdowns, but those Clemson questions turned to Tech troubles for the Tiger offensive line.
Louisiana Tech made 11 tackles behind the Tiger line of scrimmage. Leavitt was sacked five times. Jones never gained more than two yards on his first 10 carries. Two of Leavitt’s three rushing touchdowns and Landen Clark’s one scamper score required significant playmaking and improvision. The other of Leavitt’s was beautifully blocked, but that was the outlier.
The flaws in the offensive line don’t suggest LSU is doomed. The next time Lane Kiffin and Charlie Weis field a below average rushing attack will be the first. Ole Miss finished in the top six of the SEC in rushing all six years of Kiffin’s tenure and led the league twice. Last season’s sixth place finish was the worst of the lot, and the Rebels still managed to finish fourth in the nation in rushing touchdowns, albeit with 15 games to do it.
Derrick Henry won the Heisman running in Kiffin’s scheme in Tuscaloosa.
The track record suggests it will be figured out, but the first two games have been a problem.
“Not real good,” Kiffin said of his offensive line. “Five sacks. A lot of negative plays. When they’re bringing everything up there, it is going to be a little bit big-little that way, and in the third quarter some of those runs finally broke. When they’re kind of selling out the way that they are, you’re going to have some zero, one yard plays and then hopefully you break some like we did in the third quarter.”
Because of the inability to run in the red zone, LSU had to resort to the pass. Two were intercepted, and three times Leavitt was sacked inside the Bulldog 20.
Those shortcomings don’t hurt as badly when you can make 10 trips to the red zone and still manage 45 points despite the trouble.
Perhaps that’s a sign of an elite team. Perhaps it an early harbinger of bad things to come. Last September, Brian Kelly called the local media “spoiled” after pointing out some offensive issues with a 3-0 team following the win over the Florida where the defense’s five interceptions overshadowed a third straight pedestrian offensive effort.
Kiffin spoke to LSU’s red zone troubles willingly following Saturday’s 31-point win.
“Inability to run the ball,” Kiffin sad of the red zone issues. “Credit to (Tech). They did a really good job with a lot of pressures down there. And then we didn’t execute on assignments.”
The win could serve as a slice of humble pie after a euphoric opening night dismantling of a Clemson team that eeked by Georgia Southern on Saturday night. Next up is an Ole Miss defense that allowed Louisville to run for 162 yards and Charlotte to roll up 143. The Rebels allowed 4.2 yards per carry through three games.
To control the pace of the game, the volume of the crowd and the amount of time Trinidad Chambliss is on the field, LSU will have to run the rock.
Saturday night’s effort was uninspiring. Next week’s will be potentially season-defining.
