{"id":50597,"date":"2023-09-08T19:00:44","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T23:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=50597"},"modified":"2023-09-08T09:58:25","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T13:58:25","slug":"lsu-looks-to-bounce-back-against-grambling-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2023\/09\/08\/lsu-looks-to-bounce-back-against-grambling-state\/","title":{"rendered":"LSU Looks to Bounce Back Against Grambling State"},"content":{"rendered":"

LSU is looking to break into the win column as they\u2019re set to face the Grambling State University Tigers for the first time ever. Although Grambling is an FCS opponent, it is a proud program with a rich tradition. Grambling is the home of the late, legendary coach Eddie Robinson<\/strong>. Grambling, an HBCU, has four former players in the NFL Hall of Fame. The significance of this game shouldn\u2019t be lost from a historical standpoint.<\/span><\/p>\n

As far as the action on the field, LSU will be eager to improve in several aspects after a disappointing loss. Coaching adjustments can fix some issues, like the misuse of\u00a0<\/span>Harold Perkins<\/span><\/a>. It\u2019s unclear if the team can resolve other issues, like the play of the secondary. There is a possibility that the Tigers entered the season with unrealistic expectations. It\u2019s also conceivable that a few unsuccessful plays against a great team changed the momentum of a game that slowly\u00a0<\/span>got out of hand<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reality likely lies somewhere in the middle, and Saturday will be LSU\u2019s first chance to grow where they were exposed. LSU will face five consecutive SEC opponents after Grambling. The coaching staff and players must quickly figure out where and how they can improve.<\/span><\/p>\n

LSU Looks to Bounce Back Against Grambling State<\/h2>\n

Offensive Line<\/span><\/h3>\n

The offensive line\u2019s performance is different than other deficiencies in that LSU knows they have physically capable help on the sideline. This starts with the former five-star freshman\u00a0<\/span>Lance Heard<\/span><\/a>. The Tigers took the unenviable position of starting two true freshmen on the line in 2022, so they were in no rush to do more of the same. It looks as though\u00a0<\/span>Brian Kelly<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0is now ready to work Heard into the rotation, as he explained in his weekly press conference.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe plan is to get him in with the first unit, see how that mix goes as well,\u201d Kelly stated. He went on to speak to the challenges of throwing Heard into the fire against Florida State, and went further, \u201cThis is a good opportunity to get him in and give him an opportunity to play a little bit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With Heard entering the lineup at right tackle, expect sophomore\u00a0<\/span>Emery Jones<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to move inside to right guard. Jones is more of a natural guard than a tackle, so the transition should come seamlessly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wide Receivers<\/span><\/h3>\n

The staff expected the wide receiver group to be one of the deeper positions on the team before the season started. After a few costly drops, the lack of rotation at the position in the first game was shocking. Kelly seems to regret not playing more receivers, especially\u00a0<\/span>Chris Hilton<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Hilton, Kelly said, \u201cHe\u2019s shown enough to me in the way he\u2019s handled himself that he deserves to get in there.\u201d Hilton is one of the team\u2019s more dangerous deep threats and is finally healthy after battling injuries for two years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kyren Lacy<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0seemed to entrench himself as a starter during the offseason. However, LSU started the game with<\/span>\u00a0Malik Nabers<\/span><\/strong>,\u00a0<\/span>Brian Thomas<\/span><\/a>, and\u00a0<\/span>Aaron Anderson<\/span><\/a>. Fans will remember the drops, but Lacy also made some positive plays. He\u2019ll have to continue to do so to keep players like Hilton and\u00a0<\/span>Shelton Sampson<\/span><\/strong>, another talented true freshman, off the field.<\/span><\/p>\n

Running Back<\/span><\/h3>\n

Tre Bradford<\/span><\/a>\u00a0started in the position last week. Part of that was due to the unavailability of\u00a0<\/span>Logan Diggs<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Armoni Goodwin<\/span><\/strong>, and\u00a0<\/span>John Emery<\/span><\/strong>. The Tigers will get help on Saturday with the return of Diggs and Goodwin. Diggs apparently had a nagging injury that ultimately discouraged running back\u2019s coach\u00a0<\/span>Frank Wilson<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0from playing him in Week One. He\u2019s now healthy and looking to return to action. Diggs ran for 820 yards and averaged five yards per carry in 2022. After LSU\u2019s recent struggles at the position, that level of production in 2023 would almost certainly earn him a statue on campus.<\/span><\/p>\n

Goodwin is one of the fastest backs on LSU\u2019s roster, but he can effectively run between the tackles. He doesn\u2019t need much space to make a play, which is exactly what the offensive line currently needs. The explosive element that he brings to the offense can add valuable balance that it did not have in the first game.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo Credit: Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LSU is looking to break into the win column as they\u2019re set to face the Grambling State University Tigers for the first time ever. Although Grambling is an FCS opponent, it is a proud program with a rich tradition. Grambling is the home of the late, legendary coach Eddie Robinson. Grambling, an HBCU, has four […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4690,"featured_media":50603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[7783,729,79,451,7622,5528,8758,86,8241,20,10598],"class_list":["post-50597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sec","category-featured","tag-armoni-goodwin","tag-brian-kelly","tag-college-football","tag-frank-wilson","tag-grambling","tag-john-emery","tag-kyren-lacy","tag-lsu-tigers","tag-malik-nabers","tag-sec","tag-shelton-sampson"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4690"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}