As tame as the Tigers’ offense seems to be, it has been accumulating yards at a frantic pace this season.
Despite the Tigers’ struggles in a 12-point outing at Auburn on Saturday, the LSU offense is already outpacing its own recent standard.
The Tigers are averaging 442 yards per game, a 26 percent increase from its 350-yard average at this point last year.
So where is the increase coming from? New starting quarterback Zach Mettenberger would be the obvious catalyst — especially after the erratic quarterback play of recent memory.
But LSU’s already-potent running game has picked up the slack to extreme levels.
The 2012 Tigers have racked up 247.5 yards per game on the ground, up 76 yards from this date last year and still a full 45 yards above the 2011 total average.
“We’re moving the ball well, and you can feel it,” said senior wide receiver Russell Shepard. “Even against Auburn, we still got some big plays when we needed it and should have scored more.”
The stats support his case.
LSU posted 351 yards at Auburn, a seemingly pedestrian number. Compared to LSU’s offensive struggles during the last three years, it’s a bright spot.
That total nearly matches LSU’s 2011 season average of 355.1 yards per game and would outpace the 2010 mean of 341 yards.
The Tigers won three games last year in which they failed to reach the 300-yard mark offensively, scoring a combined 90 points in those contests.
The Auburn escape marked an inverse of sorts for this year’s crew.
Instead of forced turnovers and special teams’ prowess handing points to a plodding LSU offense, it was the offense that couldn’t get out of its own way in Auburn, losing two turnovers, dropping two passes and accounting for five penalties.
Despite that performance, LSU coach Les Miles was optimistic about the unit during his weekly Monday luncheon.
“The offense put 350 yards on an opponent of quality,” Miles said. “If you let them play with a longer field, they’re still capable. There were key plays.”
Although the yards are coming in droves and the Tigers are still averaging 39 points per game, LSU’s red-zone efficiency has plummeted this fall.
Scoring at a 16-for-21 rate, LSU has already missed more scoring chances inside the opponent’s 20-yard line than it did all of 2011, when it converted 57 of 61 attempts.
LSU is tied for 87th in the nation in red-zone efficiency at 76 percent and failed to score on three out of four trips inside Auburn’s 20.
“Capitalizing on the opportunities is what hurt us against Auburn,” Shepard said. “It’s not going to matter how many drives you sustain if you don’t finish or get sloppy. You saw that on Saturday. But it was encouraging to kind of struggle and still move the ball.”
Senior offensive lineman Josh Dworaczyk said the 2012 offense is barely scratching its potential, even as its performance in Jordan-Hare Stadium gave some fans flashbacks of recent woes.
“There’s nothing wrong with the offense,” he said. “If anything, it was just execution in a tough environment. The line still pushed people around at times and ran it, which is our strength. Execution issues can be fixed, but we’re not making up yards on offense as we go.”
Even as several green LSU wideouts struggled with drops and Mettenberger dealt with some early turnover issues, the passing game isn’t thankless for LSU’s yardage burst.
Shepard — who also has six rushes this season — said the stat sheet may indicate even more of a disparity between run and pass in 2012, but the passing game is still pulling its weight.
“That’s kept some of these defenses honest,” Shepard said. “We’re definitely more explosive, and that involves trying to run wider routes and give our backs room. It’s a balance thing, just from a reputation standpoint.”
Right now, the LSU offense doesn’t need reputation. The stats have its back.
LSU junior quarterback Zach Mettenberger (8) winds up to throw a pass downfield in the Tigers' 12-10 victory over Auburn Saturday Sept. 22, 2012 in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
