As far as yards are concerned, the then-No. 9 LSU football team’s defense was mostly effective against a pesky Syracuse University offense on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers (3-0, 2-0 SEC) gave up 281 total yards — an average of four yards per play.
But yards allowed and penalties aren’t mutually exclusive. Hence, the defense, much like the offense at times, played below its set standard through many self-inflicted miscues.
Most of the mental errors came in the second half, preventing the defense from getting off the field and making the contest much tighter than LSU anticipated.
“We had a lack of focus toward the end,” said sophomore safety Jamal Adams. “Just not knowing our assignment and not handling our business the right way, like we should. It has to get better, and it starts in practice.”
While Adams gave credit to Syracuse, which scored all three of its touchdowns in the second half, the Orange recorded scoring drives of 67, 56 and 75 yards after halftime. Through some subpar LSU special teams play, the Orange started beyond its own 35-yard line on four of its six drives in the first half, including once in Tiger territory. The result was just three points.
On the other hand, Syracuse started behind the 35-yard line on one drive in the second half, leading to a touchdown, but was aided by a handful of costly penalties on all three touchdowns. Of the defense’s six penalties, five occurred in the second half, all on scoring drives.
The only first-half penalty would have resulted in points, but Syracuse sophomore kicker Cole Murphy missed a 31-yard chip shot as the second quarter expired.
“If we hadn’t given them extended drives based on multiple penalties within the drive, I think they would’ve had a very difficult time going the length of field,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “Again, we just need to stop those penalties. They would not have converted on six third downs if we don’t extend drives on penalties versus when the defense was on the field and their offense was on the field.”
Ironically, the LSU defense was statistically solid on third down through the first three games, ranking top 25 nationally with a 12-for-42 clip on the “money down.” As Miles noted, six of those conversions belong to Syracuse, which faced 17 third-down attempts, and the Orange was also 3-for-4 on fourth-down conversions.
While the penalties made a difference in Syracuse’s drives, junior safety Rickey Jefferson said forcing punts and turnovers on downs are as valuable as an interception or fumble.
“You can relate that to us getting good field position for the offense, creating good situations for them whenever the time they’re in the game,” Jefferson said. “You can kill momentum like that. Say they do get a third down, you can get the next stop. It’s a big thing.”
In junior defensive end Lewis Neal’s opinion, the Tiger defenders could have walked away with a zero on the scoreboard if not for the fixable mistakes.
“To be honest with you, we gave them everything that they had,” Neal said. “All those penalties led to touchdowns, if you really realize that … If you take those away, we probably shut them out. Like I said, we got to fix those, better our technique to prevent those penalties and control our mind set instead of being out of control. We just got to play within the game and play our game.”