Shea’s Thoughts: Making sense of LSU’s 0-1 start
The LSU football team entered Sunday with revenge on the mind, but Florida State dealt the Tigers a gut punch out of the starting gates.
After FSU won by a single point in 2022, the Seminoles bounced back from a 17-14 halftime deficit to get the 45-24 win. In the second half, FSU scored 31 unanswered points on LSU’s defense, while the Tigers stumbled on offense following a solid first half on that side of the football.
What should LSU fans make of the loss and what it means moving forward? Here are my postgame takeaways after the Tigers started 0-1 for the fourth season in a row.
*** For starters, FSU is a very good football team. They have a lot of talent, they are stout on both sides of the line, the playmakers are there on offense, etc. They looked the part of a Top 5 team. This will be one of the toughest teams LSU has to play this year. For me, it’s a trio of FSU, Alabama and Texas A&M. That said, LSU showed tonight that there’s a gap right now between this team and that caliber of opponent.
*** Brian Kelly led off his press conference with statements about this falling – first and foremost – on the coaching staff. And it’s absolutely true. LSU had two 4th down attempts in the red zone result in turnovers on 2 of the game’s first 3 drives. And the defense left a ton to be desired from a coaching aspect. Harold Perkins was nowhere to be found, and whatever halftime adjustments the Tigers made, FSU’s were much better. The defense gave up 31 points in a row after the two teams came out from the locker room at halftime. Meanwhile, after the offense went to the red zone on five of six possessions in the first half, LSU didn’t score a point in the second half until the final minute. By that time, the game was far out of reach. It was bad all the way around after going into halftime with a lead that should have been bigger than it was.
*** I had LSU winning this game by a field goal. They ended up getting run out of the stadium in a 45-24 loss. I didn’t see it coming. Kelly said the same in the press conference, which can be viewed as worrisome given he sees this team every day. I got the sense that he knew the woes on pass defense were going to be an issue, but the lack of effort is something I could tell surprised him. We didn’t see that a lot from LSU a year ago, even when losing big. But once FSU got rolling in the second half, it was clear LSU’s players had the winds taken out of their sails. For me, that’s something that can’t become a trend. LSU won a lot of close games last year because they kept battling. This team didn’t show that same fight that we got used to seeing in Kelly’s first season. It was far from a “four quarters mentality”.
*** The defensive line had some moments of positivity. Remember, FSU has the most experienced offensive line in college football. LSU was up against a veteran unit, but Mekhi Wingo picked up where he left off. He looked sharp. Bradyn Swinson impressed me as a transfer who made some plays. He finished with five tackles, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry. Jordan Jefferson had some moments as a transfer defensive tackle out of West Virginia. They need Maason Smith back, they have to get Saivion Jones going at defensive end, then let’s see how they look when they start SEC play in a couple weeks.
*** I was very surprised the offensive line wasn’t better, most notably in the run game. Yes, FSU’s defensive line is really good. Jared Verse and Co. are about as talented as you’ll see, and they are deep. But the Tigers return five starters, and they simply couldn’t get the run game going. Remember, the Tigers did nothing on the ground game beyond Daniels in the loss to FSU a year ago. That happened again tonight. Daniels ran for a team-best 64 yards, but nothing else happened for the actual running backs on roster. Josh Williams popped a 35 yard run just before halftime, but he finished with just 44 yards on 4 carries. Noah Cain had 4 carries for 4 yards, and Tre Bradford had 4 carries for 1 yard. It was worse than a year ago, and LSU was playing musical chairs on the offensive line in that one. The running game issues lasted much longer into the season than just Week 1 in 2022. If that’s the case again this year, that’s bad news. I expected improvement there. We didn’t see it in Week 1.
*** You see why LSU’s evaluations of Louisiana are important. Keon Coleman out of Opelousas Catholic tore LSU apart tonight. He ended with three touchdowns, and he and Johnny Wilson both went for over 100 yards receiving. They are really good receivers, but LSU’s in the SEC. They will face a lot of talented receivers. We knew the pass defense – notably cornerback – was the biggest worry headed into the season. They weren’t close to being able to keep up with FSU tonight. Still a lot of questions that will need solutions there.
*** LSU has been in this exact spot before. They lost to FSU a year ago in the opener, then went on to win 9 of the next 10 games. The hope was that this year’s team is better than LSU’s team from a year ago, which we all knew overachieved. The Tigers have to find a way to get off the mat and put together a win streak. Grambling, @ Miss State, Arkansas, @ Ole Miss, @ Missouri, vs Auburn and vs. Army are the games leading up to the bye week before Alabama. LSU went 7-1 across that stretch of games a year ago. I said the team’s hope should be making it to a New Year’s Six bowl game, which would be improvement upon Kelly’s first season. If that’s going to be within reach, they need to find a way to go 7-1 across September and October. FSU is the best team the Tigers will face the first two months of the season, but that doesn’t mean some of those other teams can’t knock off LSU. As I’ve said, they squeaked by in games like Arkansas and Auburn a year ago. This team will have to be dialed in every single Saturday. They are not talented enough as a roster to not have that focus.
*** I won’t dig too much into the QB spot as I want to see more. Daniels was a 60% passer, most of the big gains were catch-and-run plays, and he led the team in rushing. That’s what I’m used to from a year ago. Let’s see if coaching adjustments and Daniels pulling the trigger downfield brings some different results. They had way bigger issues tonight than that. I would also give some other guys run at WR if they have guys like Kyren Lacy battling drops for the second year in a row. There’s talent in that room. Tap into it if the first-team unit isn’t delivering.
*** Bramblett looked solid punting it and Ramos made his lone FG attempt and extra points. All is good there. The issue, once again, was mishaps in the return game. The biggest blunder was Aaron Anderson dropping a punt and turning it over to FSU. That’s the exact same issues that bit them a year ago. And just like in 2022, LSU had to put Greg Clayton out there simply because he could be trusted to catch it.
*** I didn’t have RB Tre Bradford on by bingo card is getting the start at RB and taking it 50-plus yards on a catch on the first play from scrimmage. But I REALLY didn’t have it on my bingo card that Harold Perkins would have zero sacks and zero tackles for loss. He was dynamic as an edge rusher a year ago. But LSU wanted to use the offseason to work him in as a true middle LB. And tonight, he was pushed out of plays and was nowhere to be found. He finished with just a pair of solo tackles and never gave FSU any worries. That can’t happen. Kelly said in his postgame presser that these are the early road bumps in the transition to a full-time LB, but if he doesn’t bring production from the spot, I don’t see how they don’t turn to Omar Speights and Greg Penn at linebacker and use Perkins like they did a year ago. It’s Week 1, so I don’t want to make any sweeping judgements, but I didn’t expect to watch four quarters where Perkins never made a notable play.
*** FSU is really talented. LSU is not there yet. They can still win a lot of games, yes. But it’s going to take a quick reset, better coaching and better execution. A lot of the same guys from a year ago are back, as are both coordinators, so you expected things to be more crisp. The fact that they seemingly took steps backwards when it came to closing the gap on CFB’s best teams is what’s worrisome as the Tigers get out of the starting gates this season.
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