offense didn’t lay too many eggs at , but it did happen on occasion.
Last year, the Rebels were held to 24 points in , Mississippi, against Washington State. They only scored 17 points as heavy favorites in matchups against Florida and Kentucky the year before, two losses that cost Ole Miss a chance at making the College Football Playoff.
Saturday’s performance from LSU’s offense against h Tech — especially in the first half — could be categorized as egg-laying, despite winning 45-14. LSU turned the ball over on four consecutive possessions just before halftime and then couldn’t find the end zone from the 2-yard line on the following drive.
LSU’s defense held h Tech to zero yards at halftime, and yet the Tigers led only 10-7. Just seven days earlier, the Tigers steamrolled Clemson 51-10 and had over more than 600 total yards.
It wasn’t just a puzzling offensive performance; LSU fans were left baffled.
“I think it’s a reality check after such a high like last weekend,” quarterback Sam Leavitt said, contrasting the Clemson performance to this week’s struggles. “It’s difficult. You try to really hone in and focus on things to get better at. But because it was so explosive and entertaining, it’s hard to find those little details.”
LSU scored on its opening five drives of the second half to eventually pull away from the Bulldogs. But a Kiffin offense shouldn’t need a third-quarter surge to beat — with all due respect — h Tech.
Between the 20s, LSU moved the ball. The Tigers had 278 yards at halftime and marched into the red zone on six of their first 10 drives. The problems came once LSU got near the end zone.
That’s where Leavitt threw two of his three interceptions — the second was returned 100 yards and a touchdown. The red zone was also where LSU’s struggling run game has the most trouble, forcing a turnover-prone Leavitt to make throws into tight spaces.
“One of (the turnovers), I think, was a missed throw,” Leavitt said. “But I do think I was trying to force a lot, especially in the red zone. We were just struggling a little bit. I felt like I had to put it on my shoulders. It just hurt us, and I had to come back on the sideline and … I told my coach I was like, ‘Hey, I’m forcing it. I’m trying to make plays. I just need to put the ball in my playmakers’ hands and let them do their thing.’ ”
Despite accumulating more than 300 yards on the ground against Clemson, LSU was held to 1.9 yards per carry in the first half against h Tech. The run game improved in the second, but not before the Tigers were stuffed twice near the goal line on their first drive of the third quarter.
“The inability to run the ball, in direct runs, was something the week before was really, really good for us,” Kiffin said. “And so as you saw later on, we had to start going around them with things because everything was (so jammed) up in the middle.”
The ground game issues were compounded by Leavitt’s spotty accuracy. Even besides the interceptions, Leavitt missed the mark on too many throws, especially deep. He underthrew a potential touchdown pass to Phillip Wright just before the end of the third quarter and failed to connect with Winston Watkins on four attempts.
He also didn’t see a wide-open Watkins at the goal line in the second quarter; the play before his second interception of the night was returned for a touchdown.
“It was difficult early on,” Leavitt said. “Because for me, being the spokesperson on the offense, how do I go get on the guys if I feel like I haven’t done my part well enough?”
The dud from LSU’s offense on Saturday doesn’t guarantee a loss next weekend, when Kiffin returns to Oxford and LSU faces Ole Miss. The Tigers’ explosive night against Clemson also never meant that the national championship would be LSU’s to lose.
The truth is likely somewhere in between. Whichever side the offense falls closer to against Ole Miss will likely determine LSU’s fate at the home of Kiffin’s old stomping ground.
Next time, the Tigers can’t afford to lay an egg.