A harsh November for LSU

Prior to Saturday night’s game all the talk was how DHenry couldn't run against LSU. LSU had the 6th best D-Line in the country versus the rush and the Alabama O-Line was horrible - ranked 123rd in the country in allowing tackles for a loss.

LFournette on the other hand was expecting to rush for over 200 yards. The LSU O-line would easily match Alabama's D-Line and LF would be able to rack up the yards showing how dominate he actually is.

Everyone knows the final tally:
DHenry - 210 yds.
LFournette 31 yds.

So where does the truth lie?
Is the Alabama O-line really that good, that they overcame the 6th best D-Line?
Is DHenry better than LF because the LSU D-line is as good as advertised and he overcame the ineptitude of his own O-Line?

Did the LSU O-line match the Alabama D-Line and Fournette simply didn't have the skills to exploit minor gaps. Jalen Hurd, an average back with an average O-Line was able to rush for 92 yards against Alabama. Even LSU’s QB BHarris managed a 5yds per rush average versus Alabama. The same average that Chubb had until he exploited a minor gap and ran 83yds in the Alabama/Georgia game pushing his average to over 7 yards per carry.

Fournette is simply a serviceable back that hadn't faced any competition until Saturday night.
Simply put, other than Florida, LSU had not faced any teams that prided itself on stopping the rush - even a team that is as one dimensional offensively as LSU. The following list shows how LSU’s opponents are ranked versus the run.
• MSU – 68
• AUB – 93
• SYR – 62
• EMU – 127
• USC – 109
• FLA – 18
• WKY – 80

The best rushing defense LSU had faced prior to Sat night was Florida - ranked at a solid 18. In that game Fournette rushed for his second lowest total on the most carries in a game thus far. To further qualify that total, his lowest total was against South Carolina in which he only played the first half due to a perceived potential injury.

The truth lies in the numbers, DHenry is a really good RB and was able to overcome the flaws and weakness of an average O-Line and LF is an average back that was able to exploit weak competition and post inflated numbers due to LSU’s inept passing game.

Regarding the Heisman, Les Miles has used Fournette to try and capitalize on the same formula that others in the B1G and the Big12 have used in the past – inflated numbers against weak competition.

Historically, the Heisman winner seemingly plays poorly in championship games. Sam Bradford and Troy Smith both showed how inflated numbers versus weaker opponents paint a false image of a true champion. Mark Ingram and Cam Newton both showed how their numbers were a true indicator or their champion nature. That is one of the definitions of a Heisman winner – a champion. That’s why so few Heisman trophies go to players with losing records. LSU thought they had a Heisman RB until he faced a real D-Line. DHenry showed LSU what a Heisman RB looks like – when he faced the 6th best D-Line in the country and didn’t just help his team win, but helped his team dominate.

Arkansas will exploit the same weakness that Alabama revealed this week. Look for the Hogs to empty Tiger Stadium before the end of the fourth quarter. It is a very harsh November in Louisiana.