The LSU defense went under a ton of change yet, the results are still the same

This offseason, we were sold a ton on how much better this defense was going to look than it did in 2023. Brian Kelly cleaned house in his defensive staff canning Matt House while bringing in Blake Baker from Missouri. Baker's staff was filled with coaches known for developing talent in Bo Davis, Kevin Peoples, and Corey Raymond.

Thus far, the new defensive scheme and staff look very similar to what we saw in 2024. The Tigers just faced a far inferior team, and the defense made them look like they were a good Power Five offense.

Last weekend against Louisiana Tech this Nicholls State team scored 17 points, 7 of which were on a pick-six. Against LSU, the Colonels scored 21 points all of which were on massive long drives. Nicholls' three scoring drives were 13 plays going 84 yards while taking up 7:17, 13 plays going 75 yards lasting 7:59, and 2 plays going 75 yards taking up 1:08.

The alarming part is where these teams differed with their rushing attacks in this game. LSU seemingly has one of the best offensive lines in the country and more talented backs yet they picked up 64 yards rushing on 21 attempts averaging three yards per carry. Against a defense that's supposed to compete in the SEC, Nicholls picked up 150 yards on the ground on 38 carries and two touchdowns.

LSU's defense hardly ever forced the Colonels to go backward recording just two tackles for a loss while failing to record a sack. The Tigers did force one turnover on a PJ Woodland forced fumble but, it did come after the Colonels completed a pass for a first down.

Now the Tigers do have the excuse of playing this game on a short week but, they still didn't put nearly enough pressure on an offense that was putrid last week.

In the secondary, there were issues all night as Nicholls State was able to pass on the Tigers whenever they wanted. Nicholls State ran the football most of the night but, their quarterbacks completed 16 of 22 attempts for 145 yards and a touchdown.

The bumps better get fixed this week

This week, LSU will head to South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks while College Gameday will be on campus. With Gameday in town and coming off of a massive win against Kentucky, the South Carolina fans will be juiced up and the team will be fired up with the chance to knock off a Top 25 opponent. If LSU comes out flat again next weekend like it did this weekend, the Tigers will be 1-2 before the difficult portion of this season.

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Note: All stats via ESPN