LSU Football: Tigers are clearly in trouble after uninspiring win against McNeese State

LSU football could be in for a long season if things don’t change soon.

The Tigers went home with a win on Saturday night, but it was an uninspiring 34-7 win against an inferior opponent in McNeese State.

A win is a win. And ultimately, LSU is 1-1 heading into a matchup against Central Michigan next weekend.

But I think we saw plenty of issues against McNeese State that could potentially linger all season.

LSU football needs to get its offense going….quickly

The Tigers’ defense looked much better against McNeese State. I’m not going to say all the problems we saw against UCLA were fixed (because McNeese State is nowhere near the same caliber as the Bruins), but I thought there were some positive signs from the defense.

Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron feels the same way.

From 247Sports:

"Orgeron: “Very pleased with our defensive performance. Not pleased with the last touchdown on the screen. Very pleased with our pass rush and I knew we were a good pass rushing team.”"

Offensively, though, there’s a lot that needs to be fixed.

The offensive line play was particularly poor against McNeese State. LSU was missing several key offensive linemen, but the backups still should’ve dominated against McNeese State. And that wasn’t the case.

LSU struggled in the run game, averaging just 3.5 yards per rush.

Freshman running back Corey Kiner probably needs to see more carries, but the offensive line issues are the big problem here.

Orgeron is aware of the issues, but it doesn’t sound like he knows how to fix them.

And that’s concerning.

From 247Sports:

"Orgeron: “We had some protection problems going against our defensive line in some scrimmages. We changed the protection one scrimmage, put a tight end and a back in there. So, we’ve been trying several things. We want to get our athletes in space, but it’s just not working so we’re going to have to look at it again and it’s all going to be about protection first, whether it’s a tight end and a back, whether it’s sliding the line, whatever it may be, we’re going to have to change it.”"

This is likely a side effect of making an offensive line coach change during the summer months.

But it’s an issue that has to get fixed ASAP.

If LSU struggled this much against McNeese State, what’s going to happen when they start playing SEC teams?

I think one of the big problems with this offense is Coach O’s desire to recreate the magic of the 2019 season. That’s likely never going to happen again. But the sole purpose of bringing Jake Peetz and DJ Mangas in to run the offense was to return to the “Joe Brady style of offense”.

The Tigers caught lightning in a bottle in 2019 with Brady, Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, and Clyde Edwards-Helaire. It was a dream combination that we’ll probably never see in college football again.

LSU needs to find what works for this team, instead of trying to turn the 2021 Tigers into the 2019 Tigers. Otherwise, it’s going to be a long frustrating season that ends poorly for everyone in Baton Rouge.