×
OLOL LSU Sponsor Banner
Swinson Ucla

PALMER POSTGAME: A second strength is emerging

Sep 21, 2024 | 9:17 PM

By Hunt Palmer

Leaving the field in Las Vegas, LSU only offered one discernable strength.

The Tigers could throw the football.

That night the LSU running game was bottled up. The running backs couldn’t find holes running behind LSU’s veteran offensive line. The defense had its issues on every level. Miller Moss eclipsed 300 passing yards, and the Trojans took control late in the game. They ran the ball when they had to and created explosive plays much of the game.

The Tigers were, essentially, the proverbial “one-trick pony”.

A second strength has emerged over the past two weeks—LSU’s pass rush.

The Tigers aren’t an elite defense. Not by any stretch. But Blake Baker’s modus operandi has always been aggressiveness, and he’s unleashing LSU’s edge rushers at every opportunity.

Saturday afternoon LSU sacked UCLA’s Ethan Garbers five times, pressured him another five and put him on the ground early and often.

The beverages on UCLA’s return flight may be served at room temp, because all the ice on that plane needs to be taped to Garbers’s ribs.

Bradyn Swinson followed up his SEC Defensive Player of the Week effort in Columbia with two more sacks and another hurry.

He came screaming off the edge on UCLA’s first third down of the second quarter and sacked Garbers to force a punt.

When the offense couldn’t capitalize on the short field he created with the sack, he took it a step further on UCLA’s next drive.  He moved to the offensive right side, dipped and drilled Garbers again, this time forcing a fumble that Sai’vion Jones fell on to give the Tigers the ball back.

Swinson showed flashes in 2023 of being LSU’s best edge rusher. Jones and Ovie Oghoufo logged more snaps than Swinson, but the Oregon transfer still led the Tigers in hurries with nine.

If that number seems low, it is.

LSU didn’t have a calling card on defense last year. Every facet of the unit was a liability. This Tiger defense has its issues. A UCLA offense that never got out of neutral against a terrible Hawaii team went up and down the field on LSU’s secondary in the first half. That should raise concern.

In the same way, this two-week assault on opposing quarterbacks should inspire some confidence.

Swinson is certainly playing with plenty.

He’ll only get credit with one forced turnover, but he helped create another. Early in the fourth quarter, LSU held a 14-point lead. Swinson ripped off the edge once again and forced Garbers to vacate the pocket as the back judge flagged UCLA left tackle Rueben Unije for holding. Garbers rushed a throw down the field that Jardin Gilbert intercepted.

The Tiger offense cashed another field position gift in for three points to put the game on ice.

Swinson has stolen the show, but Jones chipped in with two hurries and half a sack. Whit Weeks has shown some serious pass rush ability. Harold Perkins is a terror when activated (and healthy, we’ll see how his tests go. It didn’t look great.). Paris Shand brings a rush presence from the interior, and LSU blitzes were successful in creating some chaos at South Carolina.

No one is insinuating that the Bruins and Gamecocks are College Football Playoff threats. At this point, you’d be hard pressed to suggest LSU fits that bill, either.

However, LSU does have a pair of strengths that could complement each other to produce more wins moving forward.

While the ground game has been spotty at times for the offense, the passing game is humming. Nussmeier completed 73 percent of his throws for 352 more yards and two more scores. Traditionally, ball control is achieved on the ground. LSU can do it through the air. LSU ran for 56 yards in the second half on Saturday and threw it for 188. The Tigers possessed the ball for 19:51 of the 30 minutes.

The same story played out last week when LSU won time of possession 18:24 to 11:36 after halftime against the Gamecocks.

That keeps those defensive legs fresh to set their collective hair on fire and harass opposing quarterbacks.

This post-USC month was always going to be about development. It’s the weakest portion of the schedule. None of these wins were going to erase the sour taste Las Vegas served up. That doesn’t mean it can’t offer some development while the teeth of the SEC awaits in October and November.

Right now, LSU can approach games with a clear roadmap to success.

Throw the ball. Control the clock. Produce points. Get a lead.

Send pressure. Live with some chunk plays by the opposition. Force game-changing mistakes.

In back-to-back weeks, against flawed offenses, that formula has paid off. South Alabama will collect a check next week, and they‘ll probably score some in the process. You can wager that the Tigers will turn up the heat on the Jaguar offensive line, as well.

Then it’s two weeks to prepare for an Ole Miss offense that entered the weekend second in the country in scoring and rolled up 55 on LSU last season.

I can’t tell you whether or not LSU is going to win that game.

But now I know the plan.

 

Legion LA sports