re: Serious question for LSU fans?

LSU's problem in this current losing streak hasn't been slowing down Bama's offense, it's been scoring points.

In other words, Jalen Hurts really had nothing to do with it.

quote:

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LSU couldn't beat Jalen Hurts. How in the hell are you going to beat Tua?

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Conceptually, the answer comes from having a strong secondary and 'traditional' run defense.
We've always done well against passing QBs, including elusive pass-first dual threats. Lamar Jackson, Johnny Manziel, etc. Those guys can move, but they tend to shift around and still look downfield, trusting in their ability to make a pass. LSU has the DBs to hang in coverage, and the line will contain and then collapse on them.

It's the run-first guys, who either look to run all the time, or bolt at the first sign of trouble, that gets us. Cam, Tebow, this year Franks (and Fitzgerald ran for over 100 on us).

The goal is for Tua to drop back, and see that his WRs are covered better than he's used to seeing. And instead of taking off upfield, hope he lingers in passing mode, and runs out of time or forces a mistake. I DON'T think he's wired to run at the first sign of coverage.

Now, our defense has been solid enough against Bama the past few years, the issue has been the offense. The hope on THAT end is that Burrow is a different QB in a different system than we've had recently. His completion % isn't great, but that doesn't tell the full story. If you watch his pass plays, he's accurate even on the misses- guys drop passes, or he's throwing it away. Point being, he's usually finding the open guy, and hitting him when he finds him. He's only been fooled once in coverage, that was the pick 6 against Florida. That was the only gift he gave up to the opposing defense, as far as I remember. He does tend to ignore pressure (works if he can get the pass off, but can be bad when they get to him), and he also seems to have slippery fingers when he gets hit while running.
The big thing is that he seems smart enough to run a controlled no-huddle, and audible into the right play at the line. If I'm LSU I want to run that a good bit, to limit Bama's on-the-fly adjustments. Get Bama into a certain personnel package, then try to go tempo to take advantage of it.