I think everyone is underestimating LSU's offensive power. Our O-line is stout and experienced. Receivers are good to very good. RBs are good to very good and deep. Only question is QB, and so far neither are bad. I'd say so far they're average. Regardless of how good Auburn's defense really is, they will be exploitable, and LSU will exploit them in the second half. Because Crowton is very good, and the offense has a ton of talent.
LSU is 7th in the SEC in pass offense. That's middle of the road, so on the surface it looks decent. But then you look at the bigger picture. 193 yards passing against App State. Last year they gave up 300+ per game in the secondary against DII teams. Then: 209 against North Texas. They give up 311 passing per game so far this season and allowed more points to Kansas State and Tulsa than they did to LSU.
no one caught that I put LSU was 7th in pass DEFENSE. I put that one in there on purpose. But anywho, it's cool. Regardless, we will find out a lot about LSU tonight.
Neither team is going to be able to run easy. The winner will be the one who develops a passing game. The way to win this one is to pull away by two scores. If it's a one-score game, it will be very hard to win on the road in the upper tier of the SEC. Home Team will get all the close calls, slow clocks, and short chains. We cannot afford to have special teams breakdowns as in recent years. We need to have a punter emerge and right now!
Actually, that's the smaller picture (i.e. details). The bigger picture is that LSU was in scrimmage mode from mid-third quarter on in both of those games. And LSU strives for a balanced attack, which I think we all should be thankful for. Comparing stats in these games is fruitless. There are lots of reasons why LSU didn't have to put up 500 yard games against our first two opponents to spank them. Not least of which were short field situations via good defense, turnovers, etc. I'm just not on the bandwagon because I don't see the facts backing up the groupthink. LSU's offense is balanced, talented, our OL is very, very good, and our quarterbacks are average. That's enough to be one of the better offenses in the SEC and respectable in the nation. We'll see after tonight. If we stink up the joint, I'll eat my crow like a grown man.
To me, this is the X-factor in the game. Even with decent QB play, this type of game can easily tilt on the shoulders of the punting game.
As good a night as Lee ended up having, I might even consider fighting for "slightly above average but inconsistent." :hihi:
Well Crowton did indeed dig into his bag of tricks. He let it fly in the 2nd half. I am sure he second-guessed his safe play calling in that first half. That wasn't LSU football as we have come to know under Crowton. And the most aggressive team did indeed reap the spoils of victory.
