LSU football sees brief lead slip into stomping by Alabama, takes crushing loss for playoff bid - The Reveille, LSU's student newspaper
By Google News Sports ·
LSU football drove down the field nearly at will. The Tigers put up 365 yards of total offense in three quarters, against Alabama’s 283 in the whole game. LSU just couldn’t keep its momentum up once it got into the red zone.
Alabama, as it has done in all but one visit to Baton Rouge since 2012, bullied LSU and left with a 31-13 win.
LSU’s inability to convert in the red zone has tormented the Tigers offense in its two previous losses. Against Alabama, the Tigers moved away from what got them close to the end zone in the first place.
The offensive stats for LSU didn’t match those of a team that could only muster 13 points in a poisonous home environment — LSU’s crowd forced three key Alabama false starts.
Tiger quarterback Sam Leavitt completed 35 of 47 passes for 380 yards but no touchdowns. But after Alabama went up 24-13 with 10 minutes left, Leavitt took 2 sacks in four plays. Alabama scored one offensive play later. The game was over.
Leavitt’s top targets, tight end Trey’Dez Green and wide receiver Jackson Harris, were found in open space the whole game. Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. mixed their routes well when he could use the whole field, but Leavitt couldn’t find them close to the end zone.
Harris went for 116 yards on 11 catches for the day, and Green recorded 10 catches and 85 yards himself. Running back Dilin Jones got most of the touches close to the end zone, otherwise Leavitt just ran it himself.
LSU got its first lead of the game late in the third quarter when Jones went untouched into the endzone. A 57-yard catch and run by Alabama wide receiver Rico Scott and two minutes later, Alabama reclaimed its spot in front.
Everything nice that LSU had was borrowed, not kept for itself. This is a trend that extends back to previous games. LSU let its offensive momentum that it had built up slip through its fingers like fine sand.
Leavitt threw his first interception in nearly five halves of football with less than a minute in the first half. The interception, combined with an unconverted 4th and 5 at Alabama’s 9-yard line about 5 minutes prior, kept LSU to its lowest-scoring half of the season, only mustering 3 points.
Every big attempt at gaining major momentum saw the Tigers hurt themselves. Like his interceptions, Leavitt’s past issues with tipped passes came back. LSU’s first two failed fourth down conversions were ended early by swatted balls.
LSU’s defense struggled to keep Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell from being his dynamic self. Defensive coordinator Blake Baker has stuffed mobile quarterbacks this year with his elite pass rush, but LSU’s defensive tackles weren’t causing too much disruption.
Russell had many clean pockets, including when he was able to find tight end Kaleb Edwards at the LSU 1-yard line in the second quarter. Alabama would score two plays later.
Baker adjusted to use his secondary to keep Russell honest when the front seven couldn’t. Cornerback DJ Pickett had LSU’s only sack of the first half, and safety Ty Benefield added one in the second.
Benefield has the perfect game sense and archetype for a quarterback spy, but he couldn’t even make enough of a difference with his offense’s issues. LSU’s linebackers couldn’t keep up like Benefield and Pickett did.
LSU, still reeling from the loss of linebacker Whit Weeks, had to throw TJ Dottery and Davhon Keys into a situation they couldn’t keep up with. Neither were quick enough to maintain Russell.
LSU fumbled at the end of the…
Originally published by Google News Sports
