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What We Learned From LSU's Loss Against The Auburn Tigers
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
In one of the craziest games we have seen in SEC play this season, the LSU Tigers fell in Auburn by a final of 18-13 after Danny Etling’s last-second touchdown was waived off. You saw it. I saw it. Let’s get through these takeaways and hope to forget about it.
1. The Front Seven Is Really Good
Going into Saturday night’s matchup, we all heard over and over again how Auburn had a group of defensive linemen and linebackers capable of limiting or even shutting down Leonard Fournette and the LSU rushing game.
What many did not account for was just how good the LSU defense is up front. Led by Arden Key, the linebackers and big boys up front were able to consistently get through the line of scrimmage and wreak havoc in the Auburn backfield. Several times on big third-down situations we saw quarterback Sean White under pressure, and they shut down the offense several times in the red zone.
Now, the Tiger front seven wasn’t perfect, as we saw some big plays come through the middle and a few instances in which Auburn ran right up the gut for five yards play-after-play, but overall they had an incredible game. They aren’t going to consistently shut down the offense, but they have the ability to move offenses backward in a hurry.
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
2. The LSU Secondary Needs To Get It Together, And Soon
The LSU defensive backs didn’t TECHNICALLY get torched by the Auburn passing attack on Saturday, but it was close. Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn insists on his talented rushing team becoming a pass-first school, and he finally found a team who wouldn’t embarrass him in his attempt to do so.
The home Tigers came out throwing once again, and had decent success in doing so. Sean White threw for 234 yards, and while that may not be a number that signifies trouble for a secondary, the tape tells a bit of a different story.
White was able to pick the LSU defense apart on short/medium range passes, and on multiple occassions we saw LSU defensive backs get burned by an Auburn receiver deep down the field with White just not being able to put the ball on target. If he had even the slightest bit of accuracy on his deep ball, we’re likely talking about the LSU defense giving up multiple touchdowns through the air.
John Reed-USA TODAY Sports
3. Leonard Fournette’s Ankle Appeared To Be Healthy, But Another Injury Scare Puts That Into Question
After seeing the star running back miss time and play at less than 100%, it appeared Fournette was finally fully healthy, or at least as close to it as he was going to get. Against an Auburn defense that is considered among the best in both the conference and country, the LSU running back ran for 101 yards on 16 carries.
Fournette didn’t have nearly the dominating day he did last year against Auburn, but we got a consistent showing of the power and quick first step that make him one of the most dangerous players in all of college football. Multiple times he took the ball and exploded through the gaps to the outside and flew down the sideline, making it pretty clear that the ankle is no longer an issue.
Then, late in the fourth quarter, Fournette went down holding his ankle. He would return, but didn’t see another carry and appeared to be limping a bit. We’ll update you when we have more.
John Reed-USA TODAY Sports
4. The Passing Attack Still Isn’t Where It Needs To Be
A “new and improved” Brandon Harris was supposed to be the guy to finally give LSU a passing attack to compliment the team’s run-first approach. Well, as we all saw, that didn’t happen. Harris was flat out awful to begin the season and was benched for Danny Etling, who quickly showed promise as a guy who could do what Harris couldn’t.
A few weeks after Etling replaced Harris, it’s more of the same. The Tigers still can’t keep a defense honest with a passing attack. A very talented receiving group isn’t able to get the ball in their hands, and teams are able to commit all of their defensive efforts to shutting down Fournette and the rest of the backs.
We’ve seen two quarterbacks and we’ve still seen little production. Something needs to change.
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