After two seasons of ineptitude, the LSU ground game has found traction.
Suggesting the Tigers have displayed dominance running the football would be a stretch, but head coach Lane Kiffin and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. have committed the Tigers to the running game.
No team in the SEC has run the ball more often. The results have been mixed, but success has shown up.
While LSU leads the SEC in rushing touchdowns, they’ve also allowed the third most tackles for loss in the league.
“When you’re inconsistent, you may have a ‘Hey, here’s some good plays,’ and they’re doing really well, or the drive’s coming and then all of a sudden we hold or all of a sudden we don’t finish on a block. We miss a stunt and the guy creates a negative run,” Kiffin said of his inconsistent offensive line play.
Mississippi State made six stops behind the LSU line of scrimmage on Saturday. Only one of those came on Dilin Jones’s 18 carries. The Wisconsin transfer has a knack for moving forward and making tacklers miss in the hole. It’s part of the reason he’s won the starting job.
“I think Dilin does a great job making the first person miss,” Kiffin said. “He has really unique vision, really quick feet in the hole. We’ve had some games where we played inconsistent up front or teams like (Mississippi State) that are really stunting all the time. They’re really trying to create havoc in the run game, and he’s really allowed us to have more success than what we’re blocking it.”
Pro Football Focus credits Jones with forcing 34 missed tackles and 444 yards after contact. That’s 78% of his 566 rushing yards on the season.
“He’s been a great addition, and those are the ones I’m proudest of,” Kiffin said. “They come in, and they’re not the marquee name and the top dollar and those things that everybody gets attention in portal.”
Even with Jones’s efforts, LSU has failed to crack 100 yards on the ground in each of the last two games. At Kentucky, the Tigers ran 36 times for 94 yards. That total dipped to just 90 on Saturday against the Bulldogs.
William Satterwhite has taken over at left guard for Bo Bordelon. The other four offensive line starters have remained the same. The unit has done some good things, but there has been inconsistency.
“Our guards play inconsistent,” Kiffin said. “They play well at times and then they have some poor plays. I think our center and tackles are playing good and playing pretty consistent, but we do get some ‘big little’ and part of that’s been inconsistent play at guard.”
Next up for LSU is an Auburn defense that ranks 13th in the SEC in rushing defense but fifth in the league in tackles for loss.
The task for Kiffin and Co. is to create that consistency. It will have to start up front.
