LSU's tire fire defense has burned the Tigers' title hopes

LSU has the SEC’s best quarterback (Jayden Daniels), receiver duo (Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr.) and offensive line, and yet the Tigers’ 2023 season is already a rotting pumpkin despite the calendar just turning to October. 

With two losses, a run to the College Football Playoff looks out of the question. If they don’t make some major changes, a return to Atlanta for the SEC Championship seems foolhardy, too. 

How did LSU get this bad defensively?

In the shootout loss at Ole Miss on Saturday, the Tigers allowed a program-worst 706 yards. They couldn’t cover a simple hitch, and the defensive line — one with multiple potential future 1st Round picks — got pushed around all night. They missed 17 tackles, per PFF. Brian Kelly said it was 34 on Monday.

They allowed 243 yards after the catch and had just two pressures (with zero sacks) on 36 drop-backs. 

“We need to be pissed off about what happened,” LSU’s head coach said. 

“That’s not a standard of play that’s acceptable.”

I’d say so.

TRE HARRIS FOR THE LEAD pic.twitter.com/9qqrA3tBUR

— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 1, 2023

Coming off last season’s surprising run to the SEC title game, expectations were heightened for the Tigers entering 2023. 

They were a popular pick to beat Alabama again and compete for a CFP spot. They weren’t supposed to win 10 games in 2022, but they did, and considering Kelly’s track record of improvement in Year 2 (the only time in 33 years his team had a worse record was in his second season as a head coach at Grand Valley State), most predicted a special season. 

Woof.  

The Tigers have the worst defense in the SEC. Despite having a quarterback with 19 touchdowns to just two interceptions, they’re 3-2 with possible losses all over the schedule — starting this weekend with a road game at Missouri. A year ago, they were embarrassed at home by Tennessee and rallied back to win the West, but a repeat turnaround looks daunting.

Kelly tried to warn everyone this offseason that LSU’s hype didn’t quite match the roster’s true potential. 

Despite being one of two teams in the entire SEC (the other being Vandy) with the same head coach, starting quarterback and both coordinators, Kelly told me at the SEC Spring Meetings, “We’ve got a little bit more traction. But we’re developing. We’re certainly a lot further ahead than we were at this time last year, but I know those high expectations come with being at LSU.”

When mentioned in the same breath as Georgia and Alabama at SEC Media Days, Kelly told SEC Gannett columnist Blake Toppmeyer, “We need another year of recruiting. One more really good year on both sides of the ball, I think, put us in a position where, I think, year three, the consistency piece, the depth of our program, the messaging, all the things we do on a day-to-day basis, puts us in a position to compete for a championship.

“Year 2, the foundation is in place. I think there’s a really good confidence within the group. We’ve got good players. There are some holes. There’s a little air coming out of the tire here and there. I think we’ve kind of patched most of it, but I think Year 3 is probably the year where I’ll feel, in terms of building a program, we’ve had enough time to really put the pieces together.”

Well, the Tigers’ defense isn’t just leaking air. It’s a full-blown tire fire, and there’s no way Brian Kelly thought it would be this bad. 

What’s plaguing LSU’s defense?

Matt House has a venerable reputation and is considered a schematic guru. He’s among the highest-paid coordinators in the country at $1.9 million, yet LSU’s defense doesn’t do a single thing well right now.

Football folks far more qualified than me can dissect the Tigers’ schematic issues — one in which LSU played a more traditional 4-3 defense in the opener against Florida State with last year’s freshman phenom Harold Perkins Jr. lined up at middle linebacker and have since reverted to hybrid 3-3-5 look against Ole Miss — but anyone with eyes can see that they’re a disorganized mess. 

The Tigers can’t get lined up properly. They lack physicality and don’t get off blocks. Tackling is optional. DBU is now Can’t Cover C.C. 

LSU ranks last in the SEC in yards per play allowed (6.47), 11th in scoring (31 ppg), 11th in 3rd downs (47%) and last in explosiveness. If you like advanced analytics, the Tigers rank 130th in defensive EPA and 121st in success rate.

Yes, LSU has been hit hard with injuries and poor luck. Losing safety Greg Brooks, who is sidelined with a brain tumor, has compounded problems in the secondary, but the results being this ugly is still inexcusable. 

They’re not beret of talent — albeit not the typical oodles of talent residing in Baton Rouge — and depth is an issue, but Matt House & Co., aren’t utilizing what they do have anyways. 

Against Ole Miss, 14 defenders played at least 20 snaps — 10 of which were former 4-and 5-star prospects. The foursome that wasn’t didn’t include veteran transfers Omar Speights, an All-Big 12 linebacker a year ago, FCS All-American corner Zy Alexander and ex-Marshall safety Andre Sam. 

LSU’s defensive line was getting punk’d by Ole Miss, yet the Tigers still had Maason Smith, Mekhi Wingo and Sa’vion Jones all play north of 71 snaps each. Five-star freshman Da’Shawn Womack can’t get on the field and transfer Jordan Jefferson saw just 15 snaps for some reason. 

Right now, it’s hard to know where the Tigers go from here. 

Kelly added longtime DL coach Pete Jenkins to the staff as an analyst Sunday night, so I guess that’s a start.

But it’s going to take a lot more than adding a retired 82-year-old coach to fix all of LSU’s ails. 

The Tigers weren’t great defensively in 2022 — 9th in the SEC in yards per play allowed — but there was hope they’d make major strides with Perkins playing a bigger role, the return of Smith and several lauded portal additions. 

Instead, LSU is doing its best 2022 USC impression.

In six days, this defense will face a Missouri offense that is humming, with quarterback Brady Cook averaging over 350 yards a game throwing to superstar wideout Luther Burden, who leads the nation in receiving. If the Tigers have any hopes of turning around their season and remaining in the SEC West hunt, they better find some answers fast. 

“I expect them to respond the right way,” Kelly said after the loss to Ole Miss. 

“They have a lot of pride. They play for LSU. They know that is not the standard. I expect them to come ready to address – and we address as coaches – things we need to do better.”