LSU Football: A great sign for the Tigers moving forward in 2020
By Zach Ragan
LSU Football is looking to re-establish itself as a power in the SEC.
LSU football‘s 2020 season didn’t get off to a great start.
The Tigers, a team that hadn’t lost since 2018, wasn’t able to get past Mississippi State in the season-opener.
As a result of the loss, LSU took a tumble in the polls. And analysts started questioning whether or not the Tigers are a one year wonder (which I think is silly, for reasons I detailed here).
Anyone expecting the Tigers to pick up where they left off in 2020 was misguided, to begin with.
LSU lost far too much talent from its 2019 national championship winning squad to be a dominant team right out of the gate in 2020. This is essentially a brand new team that Ed Orgeron and his staff are coaching.
But I’m confident that the Tigers will return to the top of the college football world.
In fact, I believe we’re already seeing their ascent back up the mountain.
A good sign for LSU football moving forward
Mississippi State absolutely carved up LSU’s defense in the season opener.
It wasn’t a pretty return to Baton Rouge for new Tigers defensive coordinator Bo Pelini.
LSU gave up over 600 passing yards to quarterback KJ Costello. They had no answer for the Bulldogs’ offense.
Even without Derek Stingley Jr, who missed the game due to a non-COVID related illness, LSU still should’ve been able to quell Mississippi State’s offense.
But for various reasons, it just didn’t happen.
Pelini, however, quickly got back to work after the loss and made the necessary adjustments.
In week two, the Tigers’ defense fared much better (albeit against Vanderbilt).
Against the Bulldogs, LSU gave up 383 yards after the catch. But against the Commodores, the Tigers gave up only 60 yards after the catch.
Now, I know Vanderbilt’s offense isn’t where Mississippi State’s offense is. But the talent gap between Vandy and Mississippi State isn’t that great.
The fact that LSU — specifically Pelini — was able to make that big of a difference in just one week is nothing short of incredible.
I think we’ll continue to see this kind of improvement from the Tigers’ defense all season long. And by the end of the season, I’m confident that LSU’s defense will be elite.
Next. Myles Brennan off to historic start. dark
The Tigers are going to be just fine. There’s too much talent — between players and coaches — for them not to be.