Finally, a complete effort
What’s better than a win? Winning comfortably, and that’s something LSU has struggled to do this season. But after seven weeks of playing, LSU finally had a complete, complementary game of football. This Tiger team has been getting better each and every week this year, and if they can keep building, then we might be in for an enjoyable winter.
0: Number of LSU three and outs on offense
I have no idea of verifying if this is true or not, but I feel like teams who go an entire game without a three and out have a win percentage of 100. That’s gotta be true, right?
Anyway, every single time LSU got the ball, the final drive of the game notwithstanding, the Tigers got at least one first down. Zero is also the number of times Garrett Nussmeier was sacked and the number of times the offense turned the ball over. The Tiger offense protected the ball, converted third downs at a better than 50% clip (8-14, 57%), and was 5-5 in red zone scoring. That’s type of efficiency is going to win you games. A lot of them in fact. The one thing that might lose you games, however is…
8: Number of false starts called on LSU
As a whole, LSU was penalized 11 times with eight of them being either a false start or an illegal snap. Three of those false starts/illegal snaps were called on DJ Chester, Will Campbell, Bo Bordelon, and Mason Taylor all got called once, and even Aaron Anderson had a brainfart split out wide. I’ve been to Arkansas twice and I know things can get loud, but if the crowd can cause that many procedural penalties, I’m scared to see what the Texas A&M fans can do.
14%: Garrett Nussmeier’s completion percentage on passes 15 or more yards downfield
I don’t remember if this was brought up in the game thread or the recap, but we got on the subject of Nuss throwing it deep and those attempts missing more often than hitting. Well against Arkansas, Nuss only hit once on seven attempts of passes more than 15 yards downfield. I’ll leave the diagnosing to Max, but it does feel like LSU misses having a Chris Hilton/Kyle Parker type of vertical threat. Thankfully Nuss was money on throws up to 15 yards downfield, but I wonder what happens if a team tries to take a page out of Ole Miss’s book? Do we see a repeat of the 22 of 51 performance?
7: Number of CJ Daniels receptions
Speaking of Ole Miss, I think the biggest difference in Nuss’s passing in that game versus the one against Arkansas was the presence of CJ Daniels. He’s been awesome for LSU this year and hopefully his early departure from the Arkansas game won’t cause him to miss time against Texas A&M. He raises the ceiling of the LSU offense.
4: Number of Damian Ramos field goals
LSU had to settle for a few too many first half field goals against Arkansas, but thankfully Damian Ramos was up to the challenge. Ramos hit a career-best four field goals including a new career-best from 48 yards out. He may not have Cade York’s leg or have had a moment like Cole Tracy against Auburn, but he does what you ask for of any kicker: he makes his kicks.
9: Number of Whit Weeks tackles
The Honky Badger! He’s been playing like a madman lately and he might (?) be LSU’s best player at the moment. If he has another effort like that on this Saturday night’s national stage, he might vault himself squarely into the All-American/Butkus Award conversation.