When LSU’s offense failed to capitalize twice deep in Auburn territory in its first Southeastern Conference game of the year, fans saw two rare occurrences for the first half of the 2013 campaign.
Under new offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and with the early improvement of senior quarterback Zach Mettenberger, the Tigers offense has been scoring when in the red zone.
“We know we have to put points on the board,” said junior wide receiver Jarvis Landry. “Scoring is key if we want to win some of those tough SEC games. They have a lot of teams in this conference and in the NCAA that can score points, and we have to be able to match those points with touchdowns instead of field goals.”
Prior to the Auburn contest, LSU was 15 of 16 on scoring conversions inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, scoring 11 touchdowns and four field goals in wins against TCU, UAB and Kent State.
LSU got five more attempts when Auburn arrived Saturday, and converted three of its five chances for scores. All three came courtesy of rushing touchdowns by the combination of senior fullback J.C. Copeland and sophomore running back Jeremy Hill.
Only four programs in the conference have been more successful inside the opponent’s 20: Ole Miss, Auburn, South Carolina and Missouri. LSU has the second-most red zone chances in the conference with 21, trailing only Texas A&M’s 29.
“We get downhill,” Copeland said. “There’s no juking, no cutting. We don’t do any of that. You either go straight downhill, or we’ll get somebody else in there who will.”
The trend of having high success rates in the red zone is nothing new for the Tigers, though.
LSU has scored in the red zone at least 84.9 percent of the time in every season since 2007. The Tigers led the SEC in conversions in both 2007 and 2011 with 93.3 and 93.4 percent success rates respectively.
Probably not coincidentally, the program also made BCS National Championship appearances in both of those seasons, taking home the trophy in 2007.
So the moral of the story remains: score when close to the end zone, and the road to the title game becomes a tad easier.
The key for the 2013 squad will be continuing to build off its early success.
In a three-loss 2012 season, the Tigers had their lowest red zone conversion percentage in six seasons — LSU converted 84.9 percent of the time in 53 red zone chances.
The squad fared better against SEC competition last season, scoring 25 times in 29 chances (86.2 percent).
With the Tigers getting into the meat of their 2013 SEC schedule, they will need to stay consistent when scoring opportunities arrive if they wish to stay in the win column.
“When you score, you win games,” Copeland said. “The more points we score [in the red zone], the better chance we have.”
“They have a lot of teams in this conference and in the NCAA that can score points, and we have to be able to match those points with touchdowns instead of field goals.”
Percentages if LSU success rate in the red zone by year:
2012- 84.9 percent (53 attempts)
2011- 93.4 percent (61 attempts)
2010- 86.3 percent (51 attempts)
2009- 87.8 percent (41 attempts)
2008- 89.6 percent (48 attempts)
2007- 93.3 percent (75 attempts)
LSU current 2013 red zone stats:
18 of 21 (85.7 percent)
14 TDs
4 FGs
SEC Top 5 squads for red zone conversion percentage:
1. Ole Miss (92.9 percent)
1. Auburn (92.9 percent)
3. South Carolina (88.9 percent)
4. Missouri (87.50 percent)
5. LSU (85.71 percent)
5. Alabama (85.71 percent)