The LSU football team’s four-headed-monster at running back managed to carry the Tigers to victory in the first three games of the season. LSU entered last Saturday’s game against Mississippi State averaging 226 rushing yards per game with nine touchdowns in total.
“Every game we play, we want to establish our dominance on the ground and up front,” said senior running back Terrence Magee.
But the Bulldogs held LSU’s rushing attack to a combined 89 yards on 35 rushing attempts for just 2.5 yards per carry.
“We were cutting back prematurely when we shouldn’t have and there were times that we didn’t stay with our fullback when we should have,” Magee said. “These are just the little things that we have to fine-tune and clean up.”
Senior center Elliott Porter also attributed the lack of success on the ground to himself and his counterparts on the offensive line.
“What happened last week was eye-opening,” Porter said. “I will see to it to make the improvements that we need to make.”
The Tigers’ running game will look to return to top form Saturday against New Mexico State, a team that has given up an average of 299 yards per game on the ground this season.
“We have to focus on being more physical up front, getting in the running lanes, finding the creases and getting some big runs this week,” Magee said.
fixing mistakes
The LSU defense played uncharacteristically poor this past week, giving up more than 500 yards, including 302 on the ground against Mississippi State.
“We take it to heart when an offense comes in and puts up that many yards on us,” said senior linebacker D.J. Welter. “[Not giving up a lot of yards] is definitely something that we pride ourselves in every week, either passing or especially running.”
Junior linebacker Lamar Louis said many of the Bulldogs’ long plays were because of missed tackles. Louis claimed the Tigers need to be more physical at the point of attack and focus on tackling the ball carrier.
“There’s a lot of things that could have been prevented,” Louis said.
According to Welter, the Tigers will look to think less and act more in the upcoming games.
“We need to get lined up as soon as we get the call and play our assignment instead of thinking,” Welter said. “We need to get in the right spot and get out there and play.”
Secondary rotation
LSU’s secondary has been the strong part of its defense so far this season, and sophomore cornerback Tre’Davious White said it benefits from having fresh legs on the field.
“It’s a thing that we have been doing ever since [sophomore cornerback Rashard Robinson] came back,” White said. “We will each do two series and rotate. Two series it will be me and [junior cornerback Jalen Collins], then it will be Jalen and Rashard for two series.”
The Tigers have managed to hold their opponents to 138 passing yards per game and two passing touchdowns total in four games this season.
“We are fortunate enough to have that much depth at defensive back so we can do that and everybody can stay fresh,” White said.
You can reach Jacob Hamilton on Twitter @jhamilton_TDR.