I wanted to look at our offense in a way that would be fair and analytical, and two things caught my attention this football weekend. One was an article saying the Saints are in line to break an offensive efficiency record, meaning the percentage of touchdowns scored compared to possessions. The other, when noticing how many more points some of our SEC brethren scored against their cupcakes compared to our 42 against our cupcake, I noticed everyone seemed to get at least one defensive or special teams TD, or else gave the offensive at least one short field with a strong return or turnover.
So I looked at our season through 11 games, and found the following:
LSU has had 142 possessions this season. Including end of half or game possession when we just ran the clock out (lowering these percentages) we have scored on 57 possessions, or 40%. We've scored 35 TDs, or 25%. Don't have national averages, but IMO, the total scoring percentage is probably decent by comparison, the TD scoring, not very good.
But, how hard, or more appropriately, how much, has the offense had to work for its points? Average starting field position for the season has been our own 31 yard line, so we're having to go 69 yards on every drive. And, we have a total of one TD by defense or special teams all season, that coming in the opening game on a pick 6. So, while we've been good at keeping our opponents from scoring (primary mission of the defense), those units have been virtually no help in scoring. Moreover, the D and ST aren't even helping the offense with a short field; by my definition,inside the opponent's 35. We've had that 10 times all season, and 8 of the 10 were produced by the defense. The only time special teams has given us a short field was by causing a fumble in the Georgia game (there was also an opponent's missed FG at the end of a half that officially gave us a possession, but with no time on the clock). The return game hasn't given our offense a single short field all season, and the defense hasn't given us one since the Miss St. game. The Rice game was the epitome of offensive efficiency for us. 6 scores - all TDs - in 10 possessions, damn near New Orleans Saints efficiency. But the average starting field position was our own 21 yard line, with the best starting field position being our own 34.
I would say in broad terms, while our offense needs to improve, the defense - and especially special teams - also need to improve in playing complimentary football.
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