Jobs are won in August, but competition remains throughout a 12-game season.
No. 10 LSU has three games of tape to study, now, and there have been positives and negatives to the wins over Clemson and Louisiana Tech as well as the loss at Ole Miss.
The negatives fuel that competition at spots across the roster. Saturday’s offensive line play hurt the Tiger offense with Sam Leavitt often feeling significant pressure on passing downs.
LSU coach Lane Kiffin’s answer when asked about the offensive line on Sunday leaves the door open for some changes this week.
“We’re going to look at some different things this week up front,” Kiffin said. “We need to play better and more consistent up there.”
Both Bo Bordelon (left guard) and Weston Davis (right tackle) had their issues on Saturday night against an active Ole Miss defensive front. Bordelon struggled with Will Echoles much of the game, and Davis allowed some pressure in the quarterback’s face from the offensive right side.
“Will Echoles, I remember during the week he made a comment about he thought he just had been playing okay, and it was that time for him to step up. He definitely stepped up,” Kiffin said. “He was a real dominant force in the game. That pass rush early really affected…when you get rushed like that early the way that they were able to apply that makes the quarterback move around early and start to run.”
When Davis missed three plays in the first half, Baylor transfer Sean Thompkins entered the game, the next man up at tackle. Ole Miss transfer Devin Harper competed with Bordelon in the spring before Bordelon won the left starting job.
Kiffin lamented the offensive line play after the win over Clemson, suggesting Leavitt’s creativity, and Dilin Jones’s ability to break tackles, had more to do with LSU’s gaudy statistics than dominant line play.
Kentucky was able to control the line of scrimmage against Texas A&M, LSU’s next opponent, on Saturday. The Wildcats ran for 156 yards and threw for another 252 en route to 31 points, including 24 after halftime.
Despite some ineffective play up front, LSU managed to score 24 points at Ole Miss with a chance at the end of the game to crack 30 with a score from near the five-yard line.
One SEC game has been played, and eight more remain. That used to be a full season of league games.
The Tigers will get back to work for Saturday night’s 6:30 p.m. kickoff in Death Valley against an opponent just as desperate for a win.
