Defense dominates early, offense finally awakens to win LSU's spring game
There wasn’t anything mind-blowing about LSU’s spring football game Saturday afternoon in Tiger Stadium under new head coach Brian Kelly.
Some of the Tigers’ bright spots from last year’s 6-7 team continued to shine, such as sophomore receiver Jack Bech, sophomore defensive tackle Maason Smith and sophomore running back Armoni Goodwin.
Some of LSU’s weaknesses from a year ago, like pass protection that allowed four quarterbacks to be sacked eight times in 107 plays on Saturday, are still a work in progress.
And despite there’s still probably more questions than answers for Kelly, he has 132 days to solve problems before the Tigers open the 2022 season on Sept. 4 vs. Florida State in New Orleans.
“Talking to our (coaching) staff after the game, we accomplished what we wanted and that was to try to create as much as possible a game-like situation,” Kelly said. “I wanted to see how our guys reacted to a game-like atmosphere.
“There were a lot of plays out there that can be for us evaluated, that gives us an opportunity now to know our strengths and weaknesses. So, when you step back and look at it, I feel really good about where we are in our evaluation process moving forward.”
The fact that LSU’s offense won the game 59-31 over its defense shouldn’t be a surprise.
But what was a concern, especially with a scoring system that awarded the defense three points for forcing three-and-outs and fumble recoveries, two points each for third and fourth-down stops and a point for each for sacks and tackles for losses, was the defense led almost the entire first half.
Even more so, the defense played the same coverage all day and played just two different fronts, according to Kelly.
It wasn’t until a 1-yard TD plunge by running back Josh Williams with 2:20 before halftime that the offense took the lead 31-28.
It was the start of 28 straight points by the offense, which scored four of five possessions in the second half before Kelly called it a day with 9:01 left in the fourth quarter after freshman quarterback Walker Howard’s 55-yard TD pass to junior walk-on running back Corren Norman.
LSU’s defense, led by the virtually unblockable Smith, recorded five sacks in the Tigers’ first four offensive possessions. Part of the problem was quarterbacks had to hold the ball too long waiting for receivers to break open against a very physical secondary.
“Our defense started out with the right mindset, they came out with good energy,” Kelly said. “I did not think our offense did. We had to get them thinking right at halftime.
“It was a little bit on the coaches and maybe a little bit on the players of not getting them to think the right way coming into this situation.”
The offense busted loose for three 75-yard scoring drives in the third quarter, capped by TD passes of 8 and 20 yards respectively from Garrett Nussmeier and Jayden Daniels to Bech and Myles Brennan’s 11-yard scoring strike to Malik Nabers.
Bech was targeted six times and made all six catches for 56 yards. He and tight end Kole Taylor (4 receptions for 22 yards) earned Kelly’s praise.
“His frame is deceptive in the sense that he uses his body well, he positions himself well,” Kelly said of Bech. “He plays better than sometimes he practices. He's a gamer. When it's time to play and the lights go on, you can count on him to make some plays.
“I liked Kole Taylor today. I thought he showed himself more than just a pedestrian player. He's long. He showed some yardage after the catch. He needs to live if possible in the weight room with us. And if he does that, you know with (Jack) Mashburn, maybe we got something there (at tight end). So, that's an upgrade for us.”
Even with Corey Kiner transferring this past week to Cincinnati, the Tigers’ running backs corps appeared to not miss a beat.
The top four rushers in LSU’s rotation – senior John Emery Jr., juniors Tre Bradford and Josh Williams and sophomore Goodwin – combined for 231 yards and four TDs on 32 attempts with just two carries for losses.
Bradford ran for 85 yards on 9 carries, Goodwin had 71 yards and a TD also on 9 carries, Williams had 51 yards and two TDs on 10 carries and Emory had 24 yards on 4 carries with his snaps limited since he’s recovering from an ankle injury.
Also, Bradford and Williams had two catches for 30 and 24 yards respectively and Goodwin’s 24-yard second quarter reception jumpstarted a TD drive.
“Those backs run really hard,” Kelly said. “You’ve got to tackle, you better get our backs on the ground. You saw that today. They can catch the ball and come out of the backfield. They bring some traits across the board that I think are highly competitive in this (SEC) league.”
If there was any change in the battle for starting quarterback, it was freshman redshirt Nussmeier showed he’s a serious contender.
Even though Kelly praised sixth-year senior Brennan – “He does really good things with the football, he knows the offense, he’s smart,” Kelly said – Nussmeier had the best statistical day.
He led the offense to points – three TDs and a field goal – in all four of his possessions. He was also the only QB to lead two TD drives against the first-team defense.
Here’s the statistical breakdown of the Tigers’ four QB candidates:
Garrett Nussmeier (4 possessions, 32 plays producing 3 TDs and 1 FG): Was 9 of 16 for 136 passing yards, 1 TD (6 of 9 for 83 yards on 2 possessions and 16 snaps with first team offense vs. first team defense, 3 of 7 for 53 yards on 2 possessions and 16 snaps with second team offense vs. second team defense).
Myles Brennan (5 possessions, 41 plays producing 2 TDs): Was 11 of 17 for 99 passing yards, 1 TD (4 of 7 for 34 yards, 1 TD on 3 possessions and 25 snaps with first team offense vs. first team defense, 7 of 10 for 65 yards on 2 possessions and 16 snaps with second team offense vs. second team defense).
Jayden Daniels (5 possessions, 21 plays, producing 2 TDs): Was 3 of 9 for 68 passing yards, 1 TD (2 of 3 for 48 yards on 3 possessions and 11 snaps with first team offense vs. first team defense, 1 of 5 for 20 yards, 1 TD on 2 possessions and 10 snaps with second team offense vs. second team defense). He also ran for 21 yards and a TD on 7 carries.
Walker Howard (3 possessions for 13 plays producing 1 TD): Was 3 of 7 for 59 passing yards, 1 TD (2 of 2 for 4 yards on 1 possession and 6 snaps with second team offense vs. second team defense, 1 of 5 for 55 yards, 1 TD on 2 possessions and 7 snaps with second/third team offense vs. second/third team defense).
“I’ve played two quarterbacks (instead of having a clearcut starter) and it’s not easy,” Kelly said. “It has to be a situation where you know you have to do it. I'd much rather just play one quarterback and try to fit the offense to their traits over somebody else. The two quarterbacks' situation is so difficult to manage.”