LSU left Saturday with a comfortable 45-14 win over Louisiana Tech, but the film still left a familiar knot in the stomach: the Tigers’ offensive line did not consistently hold up in the run game, and that is a problem with No. 8 Ole Miss waiting next.
The timing matters. LSU is 2-0, ranked No. 7, and the trip to Oxford on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on ABC feels like the point where the season really starts to sharpen. Lane Kiffin did not sugarcoat what he saw up front.
“Not real good,” LSU coach Lane Kiffin said when asked to assess his offensive line, which he previously criticized as far as the guard play last week after the 51-10 win over Clemson. “Five sacks, a lot of negative plays.”
That lack of push showed up early and often, especially in short-yardage chances right up the middle. LSU could not turn goal-line snaps into clean movement in the first quarter, then ran into more trouble in the second and third quarters as the interior of the line struggled to create space.
The Tigers finished with 147 rushing yards on 44 carries, a 3.3-yard average. That number looked even rougher in the first half, when LSU managed just 44 yards on 23 rushes for a 1.9-yard average. In the first quarter alone, the Tigers had 13 rushing yards on 12 attempts.
Quarterback Sam Leavitt also took a beating in the middle of it. He was sacked five times, including four in the first half, and threw three interceptions in the second quarter while LSU held only a 10-7 lead at halftime despite piling up 278 total yards.
“They did a really good job with a lot of pressures,” Kiffin said of Tech. “And then we didn’t execute on assignments.
And then the turnovers certainly didn’t help. But the inability to run the ball in direct (up the middle) runs.
And so, as you saw later, we had to start going around them with things.”
That was the story in a nutshell: LSU eventually had to find answers outside the tackle-to-tackle stuff because Louisiana Tech kept holding firm against the inside run. The opponent was a 32-point underdog, but the Tigers still had to adjust to get their offense moving.
“This was an offensive production issue about how we finish drives and taking care of the ball,” Kiffin said. “The yards are still up there (528), but you’ve got to finish the drives and do a better job in the red zone.”
The numbers from Pro Football Focus backed up the eye test. Starting left tackle Jordan Seaton and starting center Braelin Moore were LSU’s only offensive linemen to land in the 70s overall, with grades of 71.7 and 73.4.
Starting left guard Bo Bordelon checked in at 57.5, starting right guard Aliou Bah at 60.8, and starting right tackle Weston Davis, who exited with an injury, came in at 43.3. Backup true freshman left tackle Brysten Martinez posted a 41.5.
Backup right guard Devin Harper earned a 55.7 in 10 snaps, and backup Ja’Quan Sprinkle scored a 60.4 as the No. 2 left guard in 10 snaps. Sean Thompkins Jr. was the bright spot at right tackle in place of Davis, grading at 72.3.
The challenge gets more serious now, even if Ole Miss has not looked sharp on defense through two games. The Rebels are No. 108 in total defense at 395.5 yards allowed per game and No. 103 against the run at 152.5 yards allowed per game.
LSU, meanwhile, is still putting up big numbers overall. The Tigers are No. 3 nationally in total offense at 620.5 yards per game and No. 27 in rushing offense at 228.
Still, the warning signs from the Louisiana Tech game were hard to miss, and Kiffin made clear the issue is not just about yardage. It is about finishing possessions and protecting the football.
“We turned the ball over four times,” Kiffin said. “And then the red zone - to be down therre 10 times - two times without scores.
Really disappointing there. Sam’s got to do a better job of taking care of the ball.
We made a lot of yards, and we were smooth through that at times. So, we’ve got to execute better.”
And with Ole Miss next, do not be surprised if LSU makes a tweak or two along the offensive line, whether in the starting five or the rotation.
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