A person stands at a roulette desk, coronary heart pounding as he pushes a stack of chips onto his chosen quantity.
The Vegas on line casino is bustling and loud, however he’s solely centered on the clicking of the ball in opposition to the spinning wheel.
At Allegiant Stadium, LSU followers’ hearts race equally as USC snaps the ball from the 13-yard line, the sport tied at 20 with 13 seconds remaining.
The roulette ball spins and spins, and the gambler’s nervousness heightens with every passing second. May this be his second?
With the identical depth, USC quarterback Miller Moss palms off the ball to operating again Woody Marks. The rusher powers by means of the center.
The gambler’s face drops when the ball settles, and it’s not on what he wager. All his hope and pleasure is gone.
LSU followers, who traveled miles to lastly see their group win a season opener, are left devastated when Marks enters the tip zone, securing the Trojans 27-20 win.
For the fifth season in a row, the Tigers begin the yr at 0-1. However, what makes this time really feel so totally different?
Hope.
There was hope LSU would win this nail-biting, back-and-forth sport. There was hope quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who racked up 304 passing yards, would get the Tigers the victory.
However, like many who come to Vegas, LSU left unfortunate. Listed below are three takeaways from the week one loss.
Secondary droop
After LSU kicker Damian Ramos’ area objective tied the sport at 20-20, solely a minute and 47 seconds remained. All LSU’s protection needed to do was maintain off the Trojans. Then, the Tiger’s offense might have an opportunity to come back out and win in additional time.
Nevertheless, the secondary allowed USC to drive down the sector, giving up 5, 10 and 20-yard passes alongside the best way.
Moss averaged 14 yards per cross, and LSU’s defensive backs gave up 378 passing yards.
Tiger followers know this story all too properly.
The offense retains the sport aggressive, however the cross protection falters, resulting in straightforward performs and touchdowns for opponents.
LSU was up 17-13 with 5 minutes left within the sport, however Moss threw a 28-yard landing cross to large receiver Ja’Kobi Lane. Cornerback Ashton Stamps left room for Lane to make the catch.
With the highlight on the secondary this season, LSU should alter its protection to forestall receivers from beating defensive backs.
Purple-zone inefficiency
A number of occasions LSU was within the pink zone. A number of occasions it settled for area objectives or turned over the ball on downs.
Of LSU’s 5 journeys to the pink zone, solely two had been touchdowns. The Tigers settled for area objectives twice, which in the end left them behind when USC scored a landing on its closing drive.
In solely his second begin, Nussmeier had an incredible sport with 29 of 38 passes accomplished. Nevertheless, the 2 landing passes weren’t sufficient. The Tigers wanted to observe by means of after robust drives, which was powerful in opposition to USC’s red-zone protection.
The Tigers left a possible 11 factors on the sector, which suggests every little thing in an in depth battle.
On the opposite facet, LSU’s red-zone protection gave up quick runs, which allowed USC to strike first within the second quarter. However, the goal-line protection additionally compelled USC to area objectives twice on this sport.
Lack of massive performs
The Nussmeier to large receiver Kyren Lacy connection was stable from the beginning of the sport. They created two 15-yard passes within the first two performs of the sport.
However, Nussmeier stayed away from the lengthy ball most of this sport. He solely accomplished two deep passes, one for 26 yards and his longest of the evening for 41 yards.
USC’s protection capitalized, retaining seven guys close to the road always since Nussmeier was sticking to quick passes.
As a result of the Trojan protection was robust within the trenches, LSU wasn’t in a position to create many explosive runs.
John Emery Jr. had a 39-yard run, which was the Tigers solely huge speeding play of the evening. Apart from that run, LSU’s operating backs averaged 3.04 yards per rush.
The Trojans snatched huge performs from LSU by placing strain on cross makes an attempt and stuffing most operating performs.
With areas to refine and penalties to cut back, the Tigers nonetheless have a stable basis to construct on from these classes and hopefully can come again stronger for his or her dwelling opener in opposition to Nicholls on Sept. 7.