The LSU Tigers are mostly to blame for the sloppy loss to Alabama

LSU is coming off a 20-9 loss to Alabama, the team’s fourth loss in five games. Alabama and Ty Simpson dominated the game on Saturday in LSU’s first game under interim coach Frank Wilson. While the team suffered a defeat, three people were mostly to blame for the disaster.

Simpson had a solid game for the Crimson Tide, but LSU’s defense was solid overall. LSU held Alabama to just 344 yards of offense and just 56 yards rushing. They also forced a turn in the game. Further, they held Alabama to just 4-13 on third down. While LSU had chances to take control of the game early, they fell short on multiple occasions and the offense was a complete disaster.

The running game was unsuccessful

LSU hasn’t been great on offense this year. They are 108 in the nation in points per gamescoring 19.6 points per game. Meanwhile, the team is 114th in yards per game. The running game is 125th in the nation, averaging 97.9 yards per game. The offense was well below average in running. LSU ran the ball 26 times and managed just 59 yards. That’s good for just 2.3 yards per carry.

Harlem Berry led LSU in the game. He ran the ball 12 times for 66 yards in the game. Still, 37 of his 66 yards came on one play. That means he had 11 carries for 29 yards the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the rest of the game was terrible. Kaden Durham ran three times for four yards, while backup running back Michael Van Buren Jr. ran six times for just one yard. The team also lost yards due to the sack of Garrett Nussmeier.

A consistent inability to get the game going led to multiple long third downs for LSU. LSU was just five for 14 on third down. Of the 14 third-down conversion attempts, only two were under five yards.

Garrett Nussmeier continues to fight

LSU has struggled in the passing game this year. This year, they are 75th in the nation in passing yards per game, while they are 12th in passing percentage. Nussmeier struggled again against Alabama. He completed 18 of 21 passes, but for just 121 yards and no touchdowns. This led to Nussmeier is on the bench during the game. Van Buren took over but didn’t provide a spark on offense. He completed just five of 11 passes for 52 yards.

Nussmeier was the preseason favorite to win the Heisman, but has gotten progressively worse in recent weeks. In the loss to Ole Miss, he passed for just 197 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He was solid against Vanderbilt, passing for 225 yards and two scores, but it wasn’t enough for LSU to win. Then he was sacked five times while passing for just 168 yards against Texas A&M.

He passed for just 1,927 yards with 12 touchdowns this year. He also has five interceptions this year. Nussmeier hasn’t been the playmaker he needs to be, and it showed against Alabama.

Alex Atkins deserves a lot of the blame

LSU sacked Brian Kelly head into opening week after losing to Texas A&M. This led to Frank Wilson becoming the team’s interim coach. Shortly after Kelly was fired, Joe Sloan was fired as the offensive coordinator for LSU, leading to Alex Atkins being the interim OC. His play was not good in his first stint as offensive coordinator.

LSU had a solid first drive. It started with a false start, but LSU drove to the Alabama 14-yard line. They attempted a field goal, which would have given LSU the lead early in the game, but the field goal was missed. The next drive ended with an LSU fumble. After Alabama took the lead over LSU, the Tigers started driving the field again.

LSU drove down to the Alabama 20-yard line. On third down, needing nine yards, the play call didn’t send the receivers past the first down, leading to a fourth-and-two. The team decided not to go for it and settled for a field goal. In the next two halves, LSU lost three yards and punted on both.

The Tigers then opened the half solidly. They drove down to the Alabama eight-yard line, but on third-and-goal from the eight, the play call didn’t come quickly enough, and the team called the game. This led to a third-and-goal from the 13, where Nussmeier was sacked for a loss at the 14.

Down 11 in the fourth quarter, LSU drove again. Yet another LSU penalty and sack put them out of bounds to go for it on fourth down. Overall, LSU had consistently poor play that didn’t put the team in a position to win. That falls to Alex Atkins.