Can LSU recover from their shocking 2020?

In a way, LSU exemplified a lot of teams in the SEC: Lots of offense, not a lot of defense.

The two most balanced teams – Alabama and Texas A&M – were in the Top 5 in the country – and even Florida (6th) had issues stopping people.

Look, we knew that LSU would take a step back from their set-the-world-alight 2020. The good players either declared for the draft, or decided to opted out for COVID reasons, or opt out during the season.

Basically, LSU was a running a threadbare organisation. But we didn’t know how threadbare they were until they stepped on the field against Mississippi State….and were outplayed by them. And yees, you would have expected losses to Alabama and maybe one of Auburn, Texas A&M and Florida. And although they beat Florida- mostly thanks to a throwing of a shoe – they went 0-2 against the other two, and lost comically to Missouri.

What was most sickening wasn’t offense, but the missed tackles. And more missed tackles. And more missed tackles. And this was meant to be under a guy in Bo Pellini that we thought wouldn’t be out of sorts as DC after spending years being out-of-sorts as a head coach.

As we later found out, there wasn’t a formal interview. I mean, did Coach O even look at how bad Pellini’s teams have been since he left LSU to take the head coaching job at Nebraska? And with that hire, what does that tell you about Orgeron? Is this the head coach that didn’t get in his own way and won the National Championship in 2019, or is this the head coach who bumbled his way to being the worst head coach in Ole Miss history?

Anyway, that was the past. If it repeats itself – and doesn’t contain a win against Mississippi State or Arkansas (and let’s throw in UCLA in the mix too) – ‘Coach O’ could be ‘Coach Out’ by this time next year.

OFFENSE

News broke recently that Myles Brennan – who was probably going to be the starting QB this year – is out for the year, needing shoulder surgery. That gives the job to Max Johnson, who was actually pretty good when he started in the last couple of games for the Tigers. After that, it’s true freshman Brad Nussmeier. TJ Finley has gone to Auburn to try and play some minutes there (probably in 2022).

Johnson should have an excellent wide receiver in Kayshon Boutte, who had 735 yards and 5 TDs on 45 receptions. He stood out when Terrace Marshall was injured mid-season, and never returned. Is he the heir apparent to J’Marr Chase? Alongside him is Jaray Jenkins, who’s going to be a unit to deal with. He actually led the Tigers with a 17.3 yard average. Koy Moore should also be another addition. We expect LSU to go to receivers more than TEs now that Arik Gilbert’s gone to Georgia (via Florida, where he initially transferred to!).

Running backs-wise, John Emory and Tyrion Davis-Price are too good, if not spectacular players.

The good news is that LSU’s offensive line – which allowed 25 sacks in 10 games – is all back, and battle-tested. LSU will hoping for a vast improvement next year.

DEFENSE

All-world CB Derek Stingley is healthy and back, so look for quarterbacks to try and avoid him at all costs. He’s one of the best pass defenders in the nation, and he’s a shutdown corner. The addition of safety Major Burns from Georgia should help out the secondary some, but will it matter if the defense gets run on every week? Eli Ricks should be also be tasty in the backfield – he had four picks last year on a defense that had 13 picks.

Apart from the Mississippi State game last year, LSU did not keep one team to under 100 yards rushing, and against Ole Miss they gave up 307, giving up an average of 169 yards per game. It was terrible.

Sure, they return nine defensive starters, but how much progress will they have made one year to another on actually stopping the run? Ali Gay, top sack-getter Andre Anthony, and Glen Logan will be helped by Clemson transfer Mike Jones and top JUCO Navonteque Strong, but if they continue giving up the yards, this season’s gonna hurt.

LSU’s new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones – former DBs coach of the Minnesota Vikings – last had at DC job at Bowie State (that’s in Maryland, BTW) in 2009 (sorry if we sound nervous!), so we’re worried about whether he’ll step up.

SCHEDULE

at UCLA

McNeese State

Central Michigan

at Mississippi State

Auburn

Kentucky

Florida

at Ole Miss

at Alabama

Arkansas

ULM

Texas A&M

Daronte Jones and the new LSU defense will be tested immediately by their road trip at UCLA. Although no-one tends to give Pac-12 teams credit, UCLA can score a ton of points. If they come away from Southern California unscathed, they should be unbeaten up to the Auburn game. And honestly, God only knows what will happen in the Auburn game, because Auburn. We see them beating Kentucky. They then have one of the roughest streaks in the country when they host Florida, go to Ole Miss and go to Alabama. Arkansas and ULM will give the Tigers a bit of a break before the host ULM.

This sounds like I’m a downer, but I predict that the Tigers go 9-3 this year, with losses against, Ole Miss, Alabama and Texas A&M, but with a surprise victory over Florida and resounding victories against UCLA and a rebuilding Auburn.

Will this be enough to keep Ed Orgeron in a job?

I’m not so sure.