By Hunt Palmer
Good pitchers use multiple pitches.
A 98-mph heater is great to have in the arsenal, but if that’s all you have, great hitters will get to it. You better be able to spin the slider, too. And a changeup doesn’t hurt.
Last season’s LSU football team really only had one pitch. Jayden Daniels had to race the opponent to 45 points. That worked quite nicely against Missouri and Florida. Florida State, Ole Miss and Alabama won that battle.
LSU had nothing else to turn to.
This version of the Tigers may not have as good a pitch as Daniels, but it has more of them. No longer is the only hope a 395-yard passing day and a token stop from the defense.
Since the loss in Las Vegas, a game where LSU’s running game fizzled and the defense faltered, the Tigers have gradually made improvements all over the field.
LSU running game showed life in Fayetteville.
Freshman Caden Durham produced another highlight reel touchdown run on the Tigers’ first drive. He finished with 101 yards and three scores. LSU averaged 6.1 yards per carry in the first half and finished the game with 158 rushing yards.
When LSU took the football at its own 20 with 10:42 to play and a 17-point lead, everyone in Razorback Stadium knew what was coming. The Hogs still couldn’t stop it. LSU marched 80 yards on 14 plays. Eleven of those were runs for 56 yards and the touchdown.
LSU absolutely owned time of possession all night because of the ground game and the efficiency of the short passing game. LSU held the ball for nearly 11 minutes of the first quarter and for the second week in a row nearly retained possession for 40 minutes of a 60 minute game.
Ball control. Another pitch.
“Those are the things you see out of a football team that is emerging and is a contender,” LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly said postgame. “Certainly, when you go on the road and win in an SEC venue, a lot of things are coming together for our football team.”
How about the defense?
Last season LSU had to win despite the defense. One could argue the Tigers have won the last two weeks because of the defense. Over the last six quarters of SEC football, the Tiger defense has allowed all of one touchdown. For the second week in a row, the opposition couldn’t find paydirt in the second half.
Arkansas, a Top 5 SEC rushing attack, managed 38 net rushing yards. The Hogs entered the contest best in the SEC in runs of 10-plus yards, better than seven per game. Saturday they produced just one.
The pass rush was quiet in the first half, but it showed up after intermission. LSU created three huge sacks of Taylen Green and the play of the game, Whit Weeks’s tip and interception, that set the offense up inside the three yard line for an easy score.
Dating back to the South Carolina game, the Tiger pass rush has been a reliable pitch for this team. LSU’s 24 sacks are tied for second in the league with Ole Miss.
The Rebels haven’t been able to add to that total for two weeks. This week that was because they were off. Last week it was because they played LSU and didn’t record one.
Pass protection. Another pitch.
LSU once again didn’t allow a sack at Arkansas. Edge rusher and former Tiger Landon Jackson got into the backfield a couple of times but was never able to get Nussmeier to the ground. LSU has only allowed two sacks all season. USC, UCLA, Ole Miss and Arkansas all failed to register a single one.
South Carolina’s pair of sacks remain the only blemishes on the offensive line to his points, and considered the Gamecocks sacked Oklahoma quarterbacks 9 times on Saturday, maybe that’s just an elite position group.
Brian Kelly continues to produce LSU teams that improve over time. He and both of his new coordinators deserve a truckload of credit for that.
LSU jumped over the Arkansas landmine with ease on Saturday. These next two games will define the season. Consider it the meat of the opposing lineup.
First up, a monster showdown with the only other unbeaten SEC team—Texas A&M.
Kyle Field will be the premier environment in all of college football next Saturday. If the Tigers can win that game, a trip to the College Football Playoff becomes increasingly likely. Even a loss sets up a potential elimination game in Tiger Stadium against an Alabama team with two league losses.
No matter what, that game will have playoff implications. Considering the feeling most in purple and gold had after the loss to USC, that’s welcome news.
The steady improvement LSU has shown must continue. The whole arsenal must be available.
Batter up.
