Though TJ Finley’s play was abysmal, he shares the blame with a lot of other players for the loss against Auburn on Saturday. The offensive line struggled to protect him, the run game was nowhere to be found and the second-half defense could not stop anyone.
The main thing that separates Finley’s first and second starts, besides stiffer competition, was the collapse of the run game that was so dominant against South Carolina. John Emery Jr. and Tyrion Davis-Price, who combined for 223 yards and two touchdowns against the Gamecocks and are the current leading rushers on the team, totaled a meager 23 yards on 12 carries against Auburn.
It is impossible to establish offensive balance when your entire run offense is getting stuffed, especially with someone so inexperienced at the helm. Once Auburn shut down LSU’s running backs, all it had to do was force Finley to start making mistakes to take control of the game.
And it did just that.
With the Tigers failing to run the ball, Finley was a lot more involved than he should have been, throwing more passes in the first half against Auburn (23) than the entire game versus South Carolina (21). More passes and stronger defense make for a dangerous combination.
The two mistakes he made in the first half were especially important given the context and results of those mistakes. At the moment of Finley’s first mistake, the team was driving down the field after forcing a turnover in its own red zone and had the momentum.
Finley threw a near pick-six and had an ugly fumble, each resulting in Auburn touchdowns in the second quarter. He threw another interception on LSU’s first offensive play of the second half that resulted in another Auburn touchdown and the end of his day.
In all, Finley’s mistakes resulted in 21 easy points for Auburn, and considering the complete shift in momentum they caused, probably more. If he hadn’t made those mistakes or someone else had been playing, the result of the game could’ve been different, or at least closer than it was.
But, even if Myles Brennan had miraculously played, LSU’s second-half defense would have still lost the game for the Tigers. Auburn scored on four drives in a row in the last two quarters, capping off its scoring with a 91-yard bomb that made it look as if Bo Nix was in practice, working on throwing go routes.
Even for a team that was likely emotionally drained due to a lack of positives, it was embarrassing to watch. Auburn may be a tough team, but it only gets tougher from here.
On the plus side, the other backup, Max Johnson, played efficiently, throwing for 172 yards on a 62.5% completion percentage. With Brennan questionable for next weekend’s game against Alabama, it’ll be worth keeping an eye on who Ed Orgeron ends up going with as the starter.
Whatever happens, the team needs to bring more to the table come Saturday if it doesn’t want to get embarrassed again. LSU can’t make as many mistakes as it did against Auburn and expect to win against SEC talent and coaching.
