LSU is coming off a 20-9 loss to Alabama, the team's fourth loss in five games. Alabama and Ty Simpson dominated the game on Saturday in LSU's first game under interim coach Frank Wilson. While the team took the loss, three people are the most to blame for the disaster.
Simpson had a solid game for the Crimson Tide, but the LSU defense was solid overall. LSU held Alabama to just 344 yards of offense and just 56 rushing yards. They also forced a turnover in the game. Further, they held Alabama to just 4-13 on third down conversions. While LSU had chances to take control of the game early, they failed on multiple occasions, and the offense was a complete disaster.
The running game was a failure
LSU has not been great on offense this year. They are 108th in the nation in points per game, scoring 19.6 points per game. Meanwhile, the team is 114th in yards per game. The run game is 125th in the nation, averaging 97.9 yards per game. The offense was well below average in the running game. LSU ran the ball 26 times and managed just 59 yards. That is good for just 2.3 yards per carry.
Harlem Berry led the way for LSU in the game. He ran the ball 12 times for 66 yards in the game. Still, 37 of his 66 yards came on one play. That means he had 11 carries for 29 yards the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the rest of the running game was horrible. Caden Durham ran three times for four yards, while backup quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. ran six times for just one yard. The team also lost yards due to Garrett Nussmeier being sacked.
The consistent inability to get the run game going led to multiple long third downs for LSU. LSU was just five for 14 on third down. Of the 14 third-down conversion attempts, only two were under five yards.
Garrett Nussmeier continues to struggle
LSU has struggled in the passing game this year. They are 75th in the nation in passing yards per game this year, while sitting 12th in the percentage of plays that are passes. Nussmeier struggled again against Alabama. He completed 18 of 21 passes, but for just 121 yards and without a touchdown. This led to Nussmeier being benched during the game. Van Buren took over, but did not provide a spark to the offense. He completed just five of 11 passes for 52 yards.
Nussmeier was a pre-season favorite to win the Heisman, but has progressively gotten worse in recent weeks. In the loss to Ole Miss, he passed for just 197 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He was solid against Vanderbilt, passing for 225 yards and two scores, but it was not enough for LSU to get the win. Then he was sacked five times while passing for just 168 yards against Texas A&M.
This year, he has passed for just 1,927 yards with 12 touchdowns. He has also been intercepted five times this year. Nussmeier has not been the playmaker he needs to be, and that was on full display agaisnt Alabama.
Alex Atkins deserves a lot of blame
LSU fired Brian Kelly heading into their open week after the loss to Texas A&M. This led to Frank Wilson becoming the interim coach of the team. Shortly after Kelly was dismissed, Joe Sloan was let go as the offensive coordinator for LSU, leading to Alex Atkins being the interim OC. His play-calling was not good in his first showing as the offensive coordinator.
LSU had a solid first drive. It started with a false start, but LSU drove to the Alabama 14-yard line. They attempted a field goal, which would have given LSU the lead early in the game, but the field goal was missed. The next drive ended on a fumble from LSU. After Alabama took the lead over LSU, the Tigers started driving the field again.
LSU got down to the Alabama 20-yard line. On third down, needing nine yards, the play call did not send receivers beyond the first down, leading to a fourth and two. The team decided not to go for it and settled for a field goal. The next two drives of the half saw LSU lose three yards and punt in both of them.
The Tigers then opened the half with a solid drive. They got down to the Alabama eight-yard line, but on third and goal from the eight, the play call did not come in fast enough, and the team took a delay of game. This led to third-and-goal from the 13, where Nussmeier was sacked for a loss of 14.
Down by 11 in the fourth quarter, LSU drove again. Still, another LSU penalty and a sack knocked them out of range to go for it on fourth down. Overall, LSU continually had bad play calls, which did not put the team in a position to win. That falls on Alex Atkins.
