LSU’s first half against Ole Miss this season was the worst football I’d seen from a Les Miles-coached team in a long time. Yet somehow, LSU’s first half against Furman on Saturday managed to be even worse.
The word “disinterested” doesn’t do it justice. The Tigers were sloppy in all three phases of the game and were flat-out sleepwalking against a Furman team that showed up to play.
Miscommunication dug the Tigers an early hole as Odell Beckham Jr. went deep on their first offensive possession, but Zach Mettenberger stared him down and threw a hitch route. The result was an easy interception that Paladin cornerback Reggie Thomas returned 74 yards for a touchdown.
The defense again struggled to tackle and get off the field on third down. Against a Paladin offense that couldn’t throw the ball more than 10 yards down the field at a time, LSU surrendered 12 first downs as Furman converted four of its first eight third downs.
The LSU defense forced Furman to settle for three field goals, but that isn’t something to celebrate against an FCS opponent that came in sporting a 3-4 record.
Perhaps the Tigers’ biggest regression came on special teams.
James Hairston set the tone for the evening when he booted the opening kickoff out of bounds. Then, previously perfect kicker Colby Delahoussaye missed an extra point and a short field goal before being relieved by Hairston. To top it off, Beckham muffed and lost a punt to give the Paladins a chance to tie the game late in the second quarter.
All this added up to LSU leading 20-16 heading into the second half of an unwatchable game. A number of fans who did show up filed out of Tiger Stadium, and I can’t blame them.
If LSU played like that against a more talented team, it would have found itself down by double digits.
The only reason LSU had a lead was because all the Paladin magic in the world couldn’t help them tackle Jeremy Hill. The sophomore shredded would-be tacklers and needed just six carries to score two touchdowns in the first quarter. Considering Hill’s dominance, it was quite perplexing why he didn’t touch the football for the entire second quarter.
To their credit, the Tigers righted the ship at halftime. They blanked the Paladins 28-0 in the second half and ended up with nearly 700 yards of total offense as Mettenberger, Hill, Beckham and Terrence Magee all had huge statistical nights.
But if LSU plays poorly in the first half against Alabama in two weeks, it will have its doors blown off.
The Tide has outscored its last two opponents 63-0 in the first half, pouncing on them and going for the jugular before the opponent even had a chance to settle into the game. LSU is much better than Arkansas or Tennessee, but if it doesn’t turn around its recent first-half woes, the score could get ugly in a hurry.
Miles and company have two weeks to rest up and have whatever amount of come-to-Jesus meetings they need in order to get ready for the Tide. It will be interesting to see if Miles can get the kind of inspired performance he got out of them against Alabama last season.
James Moran is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Beacon, N.Y.