Green Bay, Wisc. — LSU couldn’t hear anything.
LSU coach Les Miles was talking into his headset and heard nothing from the other end.
Brandon Harris was attempting to direct and align his offensive comrades who couldn’t hear him either.
Wisconsin linebacker T.J. Watt ran to Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst and said he “didn’t think” LSU could hear its offensive cadences.
“I mean, it was loud,” Chryst said. “T.J. Watt came to me, and he made a comment about how fun it was and he goes, ‘I don’t think they can hear the cadence.’ It was a great atmosphere.”
Frankly, LSU couldn’t hear anything. Lambeau Field’s 77,823 spectators — 50,000-plus of which donned the Badgers’ cardinal red — didn’t help the Tigers’ cause, either.
“It was a first-game communication issue,” Miles said.
At one point, Miles had to use a timeout to address the headphone situation.
“Our headphones dropped, and the guy that was doing the signaling did not have headphones,” Miles said. “We were communicating, and the guy with his headphones off did not get the signal because he wasn’t getting any feed.”
Harris, the man receiving the signals, wasn’t all to blame, although he was a part of the issue due to his spotty passing accuracy, Miles said.
Wisconsin continuously pressured Harris and junior tailback Leonard Fournette. Senior center Ethan Pocic agreed, blaming the offensive line for poor protection.
“He’s Leonard, it’s on us. As the [offensive] line,” Pocic said “Everyone who is blocking has to execute.”
Even with offensive line’s inconsistency, Fournette gained 138 yards on 23 carries, boosting his career total to 3,125 — the fourth most in program history. On Saturday, Fournette became the fastest Tiger to ever reach 3,000 or more career yards, which he did in 26 games.