We’ve all heard of statement wins; this was a statement loss. This loss highlighted LSU’s deficiencies, and Auburn came away with a 24-19 win after overcoming a 13-0 deficit. This was Auburn’s first win in Baton Rouge since lighting cigars in Tiger Stadium in 1999. LSU got off to a promising start, stopping the visiting Tigers on their first drive with an aggressive defense geared towards stopping the run. Max Johnson hit Kayshon Boutte for a 55 yard gain on their first offensive play. Johnson would eventually finish the drive with a perfectly placed 31 yard touchdown to Boutte. Everything seemed be going well, but that would prove to be the last touchdown of the night for LSU. The defensive game plan was to stop the run. LSU held Auburn to 44 total yards rushing for the night, which under normal circumstances is a formula for success. The problem is Bo Nix was anything but normal in this game. Nix channeled his inner Manziel and converted a critical 4th and 2 into a touchdown the second quarter. The game never felt the same. Auburn would go on to score 17 more points while LSU settled for field goals. The defense did a good job of getting into the backfield, but they have to find a way to tackle the quarterback when he’s within their grasps. However, I can’t blame this loss on the defense when the offense had eight possessions after the Auburn touchdown and came away with two field goals. How could LSU be so stagnant after scoring so easily earlier in the game?

Jake Peetz refused to run the ball. Corey Kiner’s first 2 runs went for 11 and 6 yards, respectively. Kiner would only get 3 more carries on the night. This is inexcusable. There is no explanation for handing the ball off to lesser backs with an offense that averages less than 2 yards before contact per run, especially when the carries are so limited. It’s not always about having a dominant running game; the threat of the run is enough to take pressure off the quarterback as well as the defense. Max Johnson can’t consistently win against quality teams with no run threat whatsoever; no quarterback can. LSU has to be more balanced regardless of the effectiveness of the run plays. We’re still not seeing enough creativity (pre-snap motion, wildcat, jet sweep action) running the ball, which leads me to believe Peetz has given up on the run completely. You can not allow a team to drop nine guys in coverage at any level of football. The plays have to come in quicker from the sidelines. It seems that every week the coaches talk about what has to change, but nothing is changing offensively. It’s bad enough that Johnson has to operate in a one dimensional offense, but it’s worse when the offensive play calls come in late. Peetz is not giving the young quarterback enough time to check protection, and the team is losing valuable timeouts. Even Les Miles had to laugh when they called a timeout after a kickoff. They’re also losing any chance to run plays with tempo if the plays don’t come in. Sometimes it’s better to simply run a play than call a timeout then run a different, yet equally ineffective play. When you struggle to run your best chance to gain positive yardage is to catch the defense off guard, but that’s next to impossible if the play clock is down to 2 seconds before the snap. The play calling and flow of the game is putting too much pressure on Johnson, and the Tigers are fortunate he hasn’t had more interceptions resulting from impatience.

The flaws of this team will be magnified as they enter an even more competitive stretch of the schedule. There is nothing the staff can do about the physical limitations of the offensive line, but there are many other shortcomings that can be addressed. I can only hope that the coaches learn from their mistakes and put the team, specifically the offense, in a better position to be successful. As time goes by I’m losing confidence in their ability to do so. Although I can only speculate, I think that Orgeron needs at least 8 wins to keep his job. That means 5 more wins with an undefeated Kentucky, Florida, Ole Miss, Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas A&M. It all starts with a trip to Lexington this weekend, but LSU does have the benefit of playing Kentucky after an emotional win against Florida. This season isn’t lost, but time is running out. GEAUX TIGERS!