Rabalais: LSU’s ‘baffling signals’ go over 5 yards in ‘dismal’ Texas A&M defeat | LSU

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – In the dying seconds of the first half of Saturday night’s game at Kyle Field, Texas A&M was tentatively looking for yards in an attempt to squeeze into a late basket between the raindrops.

The Aggies lined up for a 45 yard dash, but LSU was charged with a 5 yard penalty.

The call? Delay of the game on Glen Logan for sending “disconcerting signals”.

Not really.

Three thoughts:

1. In my fast moving years, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game lag on defense.

2. What, on behalf of legendary NFL referee Ben “He gives him the business!” Dreith, are these confusing signals?

3. Basically, this entire LSU football season has been a baffling series of signals.

Last week’s 27-24 win at Arkansas was just a brief respite from the endless tired drizzle the 2020 Tigers find themselves in. Not named Alabama and Clemson (provided Trevor Lawrence plays quarterback) .

Whoever the Aggies are in 2020, to me they’re not a true national title contender with Kellen Mond (11 of 34, 105 passing yards) in the quarterback. Of course, LSU isn’t that either, and 2019 is increasingly becoming a distant memory – or something akin to frolicking through a field of dreams.

It was a dismal evening on the Texas prairie, with torrential rain making everything open to the miserable elements. No one was more miserable than the Tigers themselves, who squandered a really solid effort of improved defense (except for a few big busts, naturally) by coupling it with a mostly inert offensive effort in a loss of 20-7.

“I was very disappointed with the offense,” said LSU coach Ed Orgeron, whose obvious frustration during the game and the season overflowed for everyone to see in the second half.

Orgeron and offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger tried to start and restart the offense with the two freshman quarterbacks at their disposal: TJ Finley and Max Johnson.

Bless their young hearts, they are not what Tigers need. Myles Brennan is what the Tigers need, but he’s only slightly closer to returning to the field than Joe Burrow. You could have imagined Brennan outdoing mediocre Mond, but you play with who you have and do what you can with them. Just ask the Denver Broncos, without a quarterback, as they prepare to face the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

That said, one has to wonder how effective Brennan really could have been behind an offensive line that melted like a sandcastle at high tide against the Aggies’ headhunting defense, which was credited with three sacks and nine quarter hour.

The LSU running game was similarly smothered, totaling just 36 yards on 25 carries. It is gaining ground by the dropper, 1.4 meters per stroke, while the TJ / Max firm has passed for a respectable 231. It is not impossible to keep a defense out of your backfield with this kind of. imbalance (this worked pretty well for Mississippi State vs. LSU), but it’s often not a winning game.

With Brennan stubbornly not galloping up the hill to save the Tigers, the question for the week ahead will be whether Johnson or Finley – who got an earhole from Orgeron after throwing a pick-six from the third quarterback that went 20-0, Basically ending the game with 19 and a half minutes remaining – is expected to start against number 1-ranked Alabama.

Here’s a better plan: When the Crimson Tide knocks on the door on Saturday, the entire state of Louisiana should pretend no one is home. Bama might believe it. He knows that normally most of us are usually in Orange Beach or Destin, anyway.

Even the Tigers’ previously laudable special teams have let them down. Cade York had a 34-yard field goal down and left the mark in the second quarter. Then when LSU had the Aggies on the run, forcing a punt after a third and a 32 of their 9, said kick rebounded and bit Arik Gilbert in the leg as he tried to flee the ball.

Alas, young Arik, sometimes the ball finds you. Especially in a season like this.

LSU’s biggest problem, however, was the offensive line. The Tigers’ problems there put the attack on a downward spiral just as the rightly criticized defense is showing signs of life. Whichever way you slice it up, it’s hardly a pretty picture as the Tigers will likely face the top two teams on their schedule: Alabama at home (what’s a home game?) And Florida on the road.

Speaking of Saturday night, LSU only had one offensive lineman signed up for the 2020-2021 signing class. The Tigers still have three slots in this class. More offensive, good linemen must be recruited.

Online play on both sides of the ball (the Tigers ditched Mond for just their third sack this season) is a big reason Texas A&M is 6-1 and is at the heart of the college football playoff hunt. at # 5 of last week’s initial. rankings. But the Aggies, who lost 52-24 to Bama on Oct. 3, really aren’t all that. They have the defense of a contender but do not have enough playmakers in attack.

Difficulty playing on offense is something LSU can relate to now.

“We couldn’t find a rhythm,” said Orgeron. “We went with Max to do some quarterback runs, but we couldn’t block.

“We have a lot of young players who have to learn to play. We must continue to fight.

Unlike the 48-11 loss to Auburn last month, the Tigers did fight.

But bewildering signals, whatever they are, outweigh this fight, just as the season is reaching its most difficult level.