How close is LSU's offense this year to 2019 LSU?

When Brian Kelly took the podium on Monday afternoon, the first 30 minutes of his 32-minute press conference were about the struggles of LSU’s defense. It felt appropriate after the worst defensive performance in program history just took place, but while the loss is the main story, the play of LSU’s offense still deserves recognition.

“The 2019 team was prolific and won a national championship,” Kelly said. “These numbers are starting to look like those kinds of numbers. That’s the kind of offense we’re talking about. That’s why it’s so darn important to play better defense. When you have an offense like this, you want to be able to showcase it and it doesn’t get the shine because all the questions are about the defense and I understand that.” 

After a 2022 season where the inconsistencies of LSU’s offense nearly cost it several key games, the Tigers have turned it around and become a juggernaut and one of the best offenses in the country through five games. Furthermore, the Tigers have done so while facing the third hardest schedule in the nation.

Kelly’s quote about comparing this offense to 2019 feels like a stretch, after all, this team already has two losses, but when you look at the numbers, the comparison isn’t too far off. Here, I wanted to look at the two teams stats through five games and see just how far this offense is from the one that set the college football world on fire on its way to a title. 

2019 LSU

QB Joe Burrow: 1864 yards, 22 touchdowns, 3 INTs, 127/162 – 78.4 completion %

• 62 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns

WR Justin Jefferson: 30 receptions, 547 yards, 7 touchdowns

WR Ja’Marr Chase: 23 receptions, 451 yards, 6 touchdowns (4 games)

WR Terrace Marshall: 20 receptions, 304 yards, 6 touchdowns (4 games)

RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire: 65 carries, 360 yards, 5 touchdowns

Overall offense: 571 yards per game, 7.7 yards per play, 54.6 points per game 

Teams faced: Georgia Southern, Texas, Northwestern State, Vanderbilt, Utah State

2023 LSU

QB Jayden Daniels: 1710 yards, 16 touchdowns, 2 INTs, 117/160 – 73.1 completion %

• 292 rushing yards, 3 rushing touchdowns

WR Malik Nabers: 40 receptions, 625 yards, 5 touchdowns

WR Brian Thomas Jr.: 33 receptions, 537 yards, 8 touchdowns

WR Kyren Lacy: 8 receptions, 149 yards, 2 touchdowns

RB Logan Diggs: 57 carries, 354 yards, 3 touchdowns

Overall offense: 551 yards per game, 7.8 yards per play, 44 points per game

 Teams faced: Florida State, Grambling State, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Ole Miss

Takeaways

This year’s team had a more challenging schedule, but you can also argue the 2019 team pulled its starters in the fourth quarter of four out of five of those games. Regardless the performance from this year’s squad is much closer than I had anticipated, even edging out the 2019 team in terms of yards per play.

Jayden Daniels’ legs are vital to this year’s offense and add another dimension to this offense which perfectly suits Mike Denbrock’s offensive system. Then you have the added element of the vertical passing game which was a major focus over the offseason, as Nabers, Thomas, and Lacy are all averaging over 15 yards per reception and Daniels is at 10.7 yards per attempt.

The passing game is clicking and Daniels has never looked so comfortable. The emergence of Thomas as a true No. 2 receiver has further opened up the options for him and Denbrock as they look to dissect defenses.

The run game was also a major question coming into the year, but the play of Logan Diggs has quelled a lot of those concerns as he is averaging 6.2 yards per carry and taken the reigns as RB1 on this offense. 

The first down offense is elite, the offensive line has done its job, and the overall balance has created an incredibly difficult offense for opponents to stop. This week, LSU’s offense will likely need to win another shootout as Missouri hosts plenty of offensive firepower as well, but the offense is firing on all cylinders and showing no signs of slowing down.