Three Key Areas Where the LSU Tigers Have Struggled in 2024

The Bayou Bengals sit at 6-4 on the season after a three-game losing skid, reach rock bottom with two games to go.

Oct 26, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; LSU Tigers quarterback Garrett Nussmeier (13) gets ready to take the field in the first half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images. / Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

The LSU Tigers (6-4, 3-3) have reached rock bottom after a three-game losing streak with losses to to Texas A&M, Alabama and Florida.

It's become a stretch where the program has looked defeated, lacked heart and found no areas of success over the last 10 quarters specifically.

The challenges started in the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies and have now carried into the program's last two games against both the Crimson Tide and Gators.

LSU has been outscored 100-35 over the last 10 quarters with seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel with a pair of SEC games left on the 2024 schedule.

Now, it raises the question: What has gone wrong over the last three weeks for the LSU Tigers?

A look into three key areas where the Bayou Bengals have struggled.

The Key Areas of Struggle:

The Woes on Offense: Miscue after Miscue

The LSU Tigers' offense came into the 2024 season clicking on all cylinders, and despite a hiccup in Week 1, the program bounced back with Garrett Nussmeier at the helm.

Nussmeier and Co. rode a six-game winning streak after the season opening loss to Southern Cal with the Tigers flourishing through the air.

The Bayou Bengals averaged a whopping 36.5 points per game during the winning streak, but over the course of the last three games, the script has been flipped.

LSU has managed only 17.3 points per game over the last three contests against Texas A&M, Alabama and Florida.

The run game has been a struggle all year, but Nussmeier and the receiving corps picked up the slack in with the passing attack. Now, with the weight on the passing game's shoulders, the lack of rushing attack has been felt drastically.

Over the past three games, the Tigers rank 92nd in sacks per dropback (7.1%), 113th in turnover rate (3.0%), 120th in success rate (35.5%) and 122nd in percentage of plays gaining zero or negative yards (39.0%). All statistics according to ESPN.

Nussmeier, who has been well-known for his ability to push the ball down the field with impressive deep shots, is almost exclusively throwing short passes.

The average air yards per completion: 3.3 (100th) - which has crushed the explosive play ability of the LSU offense.

Against the Florida Gators on Saturday afternoon, the Bayou Bengals' success rate was as low as it was against Ole Miss (34.8%), but unlike against the Rebels, the explosive plays couldn't bail them out down the stretch. LSU averaged just 4.3 yards per play, easily their lowest mark of the season.

"Everybody is working and putting in the time and the head coach has to be part of that as well. Whether it’s a business or football coaching, you can’t sit there and say it’s the coordinators. The head coach is ultimately responsible for the success of his football team and we’re not successful these last three weeks. You got to get involved.

"Obviously, I wasn’t good enough [in Week 12]. We’re going to go back to work and look at the things we need to get better at. We’re going to keep swinging. We’re going to have 22 guys out there that are going to fight for LSU and play hard these last two weeks at home.”

LSU came out the gate firing on all cylinders through the first seven weeks of the season, but over the last three games, it's been an entirely different team.

LSU has been outscored 100-35 over the last 10 quarters with the program scoring only three touchdowns on their last 27 drives.

A few numbers from #LSU’s last 3 games.

- LSU has been outscored 100-35 over the last 10 quarters.
- LSU has scored 3 touchdowns on their last 27 drives.
- LSU has allowed 11 sacks over the last 3 games.
- LSU has allowed 22 (!) TFLs over the last 3 games.

A complete disaster. pic.twitter.com/xDGH9Pe1Q7

— Zack Nagy (@znagy20) November 17, 2024

The Offensive Line's Implosion

LSU entered the 2024 season with an offensive line headlined by the "best tackle duo in America" with Will Campbell and Emery Jones leading the unit.

A group that chirped during the preseason that their rushing attack would be a critical piece to the offense's success, it's been far from that this fall.

It's been a rotation of: LT Will Campbell, LG Garrett Dellinger, C DJ Chester, RG Miles Frazier and RT Emery Jones.

Now, with Dellinger out due to an ankle injury, the Tigers have fallen back on redshirt-freshman Paul Mubenga to pick up the slack. Dellinger got hurt against Texas A&M with Mubenga in the mix ever since (the last 10 quarters).

It's been a horrific start to the youngster's career after giving up several sacks while allowing defenders in the backfield over the last 10 quarters.

Mubenga graded out as the Tigers' second worst offensive player on Saturday night in Gainesville with a PFF grade of 47.3. Only wide receiver Chris Hilton had a worse grade (46.2).

The interior offensive line has statistically been the worst of the Brian Kelly Era by a large margin with redshirt-freshman DJ Chester playing a role as well as the starting center.

On Saturday DJ Chester had the fourth worst offensive grade with a 58.0. It's a recipe for disaster when two of your offensive linemen are two of the bottom five graded players offensively.

It showed against the Florida Gators.

"We're concerned about keeping our quarterback clean. We have to look at it in its entirety. Did the ball come out when it needed to? Did we protect the way we needed to? Anytime the quarterback gets knocked down, everyone is going to have to look at what we did and what we can do better," Kelly said on Saturday in Gainesville.

The LSU offensive line has given up 11 sacks over the last three games while also allowing 22 tackles for loss. Opposing defenses are getting in the backfield at will with no protection in either the pass or run game.

Personnel Issues on Defense

LSU has rolled with a myriad of rotations on defense in 2024 with the most consistent unit coming in the form of: EDGE Bradyn Swinson, DT Paris Shand, DT Gio Paez, EDGE Sai'vion Jones, LB Whit Weeks, LB Greg Penn III, STAR Major Burns, CB Ashton Stamps, CB Zy Alexander, S Jardin Gilbert and S Sage Ryan.

The word "consistent" refers to the players receiving the most run in the rotation. LSU has also given significant playing time to true freshmen Ahmad Breaux (DT), Dashawn Spears (S) and other youngsters this season.

It's been a rough outing this season from the defense with Kelly and Co. seeing a lack of talent in the rotation. Kelly has alluded to that on numerous occasions.

"We have to be able to get our players -- we're not trading any of them. There's no waiver wire. We're not bringing anybody up from the demo squad. We've got to come up with the right answers on what works best for the guys that we have, and it hasn't worked very well these last couple of games."

On Saturday night, pivotal pieces to the defense folded like a house of cards. A look into the five worst graded players on defense, per PFF:

Whit Weeks: 35.9
Paris Shand: 45.3
Ashton Stamps: 47.0
Greg Penn III: 48.4
Jardin Gilbert: 49.4

The struggles started in the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies and carried into the Tigers' showdown against Jalen Milroe and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Milroe torched LSU on the ground with LSU once again struggling to defend a running quarterback after the Crimson Tide signal-caller tallied 185 rushing yards on 12 carries.

"If you're watching the game, you're like, 'What did these guys do for two weeks?'" Kelly said after the Alabama game. "We have a scheme to stop the quarterback. We did not get that done, so I take responsibility for it. But we also have to put our players in the right position too to take advantage of what they're capable of doing. So we own it together, and we've got to get it fixed, because it's been a couple of weeks now."

LSU's personnel defensively has been a struggle all season with the coaching staff challenged in finding the rotation that gets the best out of the players.

Now, with two games to go against the Vanderbilt Commodores and Oklahoma Sooners, it's too late to piece it together with the Tigers sitting at 6-4 and all postseason opportunities out the window.

LSU will return to action on Nov. 23 against the Vanderbilt Commodores in Tiger Stadium with kickoff set for 6:45 p.m. CT.

More LSU News:

Paul Finebaum: LSU, Brian Kelly in a "Really Bad Spot" Moving Forward

LSU Dishes Out Offer to No. 1 Quarterback in America

Nick Saban Calls LSU Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier a "Sleeper" Ahead of 2024 Season

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