The LSU season opener showed a lot on Saturday. With a final of 55-3, the opener against Georgia Southern gave Tiger fans a taste of what’s to come this season. Joe Burrow was prolific in the first half. 23-of-27 for 253 yards and five touchdowns. Nine different receivers had receptions from the Tigers’ starter. The five touchdowns set an LSU record for most in a half in a season opener. Ed Orgeron said before the game that the team would come out firing. Well, they did just that and then some.
Tigers Defeat Georgia Southern 55-3
Going into the game, Orgeron and staff were hyping up the offense. Steering away from the traditional balanced offense gives the Tigers a fresh look. The ability to make the defense spread the field helped on Saturday. Rather than loading the box, the Eagles had to spread out. That caused mismatches, which in return led to big plays for LSU. The combination of the RPO and the spread with the screen passes put forth a new look for the Tigers.
LSU Season Opener Brings New Spread Offense
The new LSU spread offense was a lot of hurry-up, get the ball out type of play. The Tigers hurried to the line in the first half. Burrow did a tremendous job leading the charge. The Tigers put up 473 yards on offense for the game. The addition of passing coordinator Joe Brady was prevelant. All five Tigers running backs got touches. That’s something usually not seen from the traditional LSU offense. Typically, LSU would utilize two or three tailbacks in a game. Justin Jefferson had five receptions for 87 yards. Terrace Marshall hauled in four catches for 32 yards and three scores. Clyde Edwards-Helaire led the running backs with 45 yards on nine carries and one touchdown.
Myles Brennan came on in the second half to relieve Burrow. He looked solid, with some nice throws. The redshirt sophomore obviously isn’t as dynamic as Burrow. However, he still has time to mature while playing behind Burrow against lesser teams like this.
Defense Plays Stellar
On defense, the Tigers mauled Georgia Southern the entire game. The Eagles only gained 98 total yards through four quarters. The LSU defensive line was frequently getting into the backfield to get stops and sacks. They had to play without linebacker Michael Divinity, who was suspended internally, something Orgeron said would not be announced. K’Lavon Chaisson played for the first time since tearing his ACL in the 2018 opener against Miami. He had a solid game as well with a couple of tackles. Derek Stingley Jr. is going to be a quality positional player and punt returner as well.
Grant Delpit had himself a nice game, too. No interceptions, but a pivotal point to the LSU defense. He made Georgia Southern know he was there.
Huge Game Next Week
LSU travels to Austin,Texas to take on the Longhorns of Texas next Saturday night. If this LSU Offense can play the way they did on Saturday, that could be a game. The Tigers know what they are capable of. With one game done, the offense showed what is to come this season.
