The trend for LSU’s defense continued in its struggle against Jalen Milroe and the Alabama offense.
Last week’s game against Alabama was a highly anticipated matchup with SEC Championship and College Football Playoff implications.
Despite a back-and-forth first half, Alabama pulled away late after a couple of empty drives from the LSU offense, resulting in a 42-28 defeat for the Tigers.
It’s no secret that LSU’s defense has struggled all season long but, despite the losses of key players on defense such as Mekhi Wingo and Zy Alexander, there was still hope for improvement after two convincing wins against Auburn and Army and an extra week of preparation.
However, the defense still showed weakness against Alabama’s offense but not in the way many predicted. With three inactive corners for that game, many people thought the passing game would be the main problem. It wasn’t.
The inexperienced group held its own, only allowing 219 passing yards with the leading receiver having only 60 yards.
The biggest issue was the running game. Although Alabama’s running backs combined for 136 yards, Milroe dominated the LSU defense on the ground, and the Tigers had no answer for it.
Milroe finished the game with 20 carries for 155 yards and four touchdowns. Milroe came into the game recieving questions about the passing game, but Alabama head coach Nick Saban emphasized the importance of using Milroe’s speed and athleticism.
The most disappointing part of Milroe’s rushing performance was that the defense didn’t make any adjustments to stop it. At the end of the first half, he had 114 rushing yards. The Tiger defense did a better job containing him in the second half, but the damage was already done.
On crucial third downs, Milroe was able to use his legs to pick up the first down, yet no adjustments were made. LSU’s defense could have used a quarterback spy to keep Milroe in the pocket and force him to throw, but the linebackers continued to drop back and play the passing lanes.
When you look at last year’s game in Death Valley, LSU used linebacker Harold Perkins as a spy to keep Bryce Young from making any plays with his legs. Having that spy was a crucial part of LSU’s victory. Though both teams are different now, the same approach could’ve made a difference.
With injuries to the defense, the defensive backs aren’t as experienced in playing man-to-man coverage, but using a linebacker like Greg Penn III, Omar Speights, Harold Perkins or Whit Weeks to contain Milroe would have slowed down the running game significantly.
