There’s speed, and then there’s Southeastern Conference speed.
LSU (3-0) is no stranger to this phenomenon and the effects are only exacerbated in the hurry-up offense. The tempo of the game combined with the quickness of the individual players wreaks havoc on an imposing defense.
Defensive coordinators have mere seconds to get their players into position and ready for the onslaught of football plays headed their way.
“If you don’t get that little bit of communication, if that one person doesn’t know the call, then that’s detrimental,” said junior defensive end Jordan Allen. “It leaves a man wide open and it leaves a man out to dry.”
LSU opens conference play this week against SEC West rival Auburn (3-0), who has fully embraced the culture of a fast-paced attack under the tutelage of coach Gus Malzahn.
Malzahn is known for his
implementation of the hurry-up, no-huddle offense from his time at Arkansas State before coming to Auburn. With the Red Wolves, Malzahn’s offense ranked No. 35 in the country in 2012 with 2.52 plays per minute, 0.3 plays per minute faster than LSU last season.
Through the first three games of the season, Auburn averaged 68.3 plays per game, which isn’t much more than LSU’s 63 plays per game, but the LSU defense is still preparing for a heavy workload on Saturday.
“I think it’s something that we’ve practiced, in my opinion, every day since probably two springs ago,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “There is always a piece of every practice donated to an up tempo style of offense. So we feel like we’ve got a handle on it; it just needs to be made perfect.”
Two seasons ago, Miles led his team to Dallas to play possibly one of the fastest teams in the country — Oregon.
It’s been a long two seasons since the Tigers’ 40-27 win against the Ducks in the Cowboys Classic and LSU is by no means the same team, but a few LSU players can’t help but recall the 2011 matchup.
“It’s something really we’ve worked on ever since I can
remember prepping for Oregon,” Allen said. “We’ve kind of kept that true to our practice regimen. We’ve always made sure we stay on top of tempo and we go at a faster pace than the refs would have us go in a game so that way when we come to that situation we’re ready for it.”
Senior linebacker Lamin Barrow said he’s looking forward to playing an offense like Auburn’s this weekend and isn’t shy about his affinity for defending the run.
Barrow said he views Auburn as a typical power team, just run at a faster pace than most. Auburn also mixes in several option and reverse plays in an attempt to catch the outside corner — something Barrow remembers seeing a few times last season as well.
“The thing I remember about those games is teams like this who have those three back sets have a lot of motion to try and get your people outside of the box and hit you with an option or a reverse or even with a power,” Barrow said. “It’s hard to read a power with so many guys moving around the backfield.”
Allen echoed his teammate in how difficult it can be to defend these types of offenses if a defensive line isn’t disciplined.
“You’ll have those plays where you’re trying to think too much,” Allen said. “You’ll get a down block from the tackle and you see the option coming to you and you’ll have a mental breakdown. … Your mind will tell you, you saw something you didn’t and that takes you out of your responsibility.”