Compared to the dream of 147 minutes and 24 seconds of dominance for the LSU football team’s defense in its first three games, Saturday’s 60 minutes against Mississippi State was a nightmare.
LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis’ defense had its worst performance of the season in the Tigers’ 34-29 loss Saturday.
The Tigers’ defense gave up 570 total yards of offense against the Bulldogs, the most an LSU team coached by Les Miles has ever given up. The Bulldogs, led by junior quarterback Dak Prescott, shredded a Tiger defense that hadn’t allowed a point for 31 straight possessions coming into Saturday’s game.
On its first possession of the game, Mississippi State drove the ball 51 yards, putting the ball in the end zone when Prescott threw the first of his two touchdowns, connecting with sophomore wide receiver De’Runnya Wilson.
The drive took only two minutes, and the touchdown pass was the first the LSU defense allowed all season.
The Tigers had no answer for the Bulldogs’ spread offense as it ran through and around LSU defenders on its way to gaining 302 yards rushing. The Bulldogs’ diverse playbook spread open the LSU defense, allowing Prescott to pick and choose his best options at will.
“[Mississippi State] spread the ball down the field, and it spread our defense a little wider than we wanted it to be,” Miles said. “There were so many big plays that if you play some of those plays differently, the outcome would be completely different.”
Prescott finished the game 15-of-24 for 268 yards and two touchdowns through the air, paired with 105 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
The Tigers’ secondary had given up a total of 283 yards passing in the first three games. On Saturday, Prescott and the Bulldogs nearly matched that total, exploiting holes throughout the LSU secondary.
Prescott said a big reason for his success was his ability to read the Tigers’ defense pre-snap.
“I pretty much knew everything they were coming with before the snap of the ball, so it paid off,” Prescott said.
It boded well for the Bulldogs, as Prescott drove the offense down the field with ease. The Bulldogs’ offense had four scoring drives of 75 yards or more, including a 98-yard drive that resulted in a Mississippi State touchdown.
Sophomore cornerback Dwayne Thomas said it was Mississippi State’s ability to spread the Tigers’ defense that gave it the upper hand.
“They gave us a lot of different looks,” Thomas said. “We were prepared for it, but they just came out and executed their plays a little bit better.”
Thomas and junior safety Jalen Mills said a lot of the Tigers’ struggles in the secondary could be attributed to miscues and missed tackles among the defensive backs.
The elusiveness of Mississippi State junior running back Josh Robinson was at the foundation of many of LSU’s missed tackles. Robinson abused the LSU front seven for 197 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, averaging 12.3 yards per rush.
“He has good vision,” said senior linebacker D.J. Welter. “When he sees you coming, he’ll duck and dip and get around you and make you miss … I felt like he really extended runs, and that hurt us in the long run.”
Welter said some of Mississippi State’s motions caught the defense off guard, making it difficult for the unit to execute defensive shifts.
The poor play and miscues on defense ultimately doomed the Tigers, and Mills challenged the unit to put work in at practice to ensure a performance like Saturday’s doesn’t happen again.
“We didn’t play the style of defense that we usually do, but that just comes with practice,” Mills said. “And going into practice — just from the loss, even if we would have won the game — if you’re coming to practice and you don’t want to practice, don’t come out of the locker room. When we come to practice, you have to set the tempo at practice, and that makes the game easier. Practice like it’s a game.”