LSU’s offense has been hard to pin down. It’s been inconsistent and just when it seems like an issue is solved, another one emerges.
One of the most pertinent issues was a lack of explosive plays. LSU had been decent on a down-to-down basis but had yet to really find a way to create big plays.
Against Florida, LSU finally found some. The Tigers tallied eight explosive plays against Florida, according to GameOnPaper.
[autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] looked comfortable standing in the pocket and delivering the ball down the field. He had seven passes that traveled 20 or more air yards and completed four of them.
He only has nine such completions all year, meaning nearly half of them came against Florida. It began on LSU’s opening series, with Daniels finding [autotag]Kayshon Boutte[/autotag] for a 40-yard gain on third and eight.
On the first play of the second quarter, Daniels found Boutte again, this time for a gain of 21. On LSU’s third drive of the night, Daniels connected with Kole Taylor for a gain of 26 and finished the drive with a 24-yard touchdown to [autotag]Brian Thomas Jr.[/autotag]
LSU’s fourth drive was finished with a 56-yard touchdown to [autotag]Jaray Jenkins[/autotag] after Florida jumped offsides. In the second half, [autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag] broke free for a 50-yard run and Daniels would find Boutte and Nabers a couple more times for a significant gain.
LSU’s offense looked confident and comfortable. It looked like a group that was working in sync. For the first time all year, the unit played a complete game. Daniels, who has held the ball for too long at times, had his quickest time to throw of the year against Florida, per PFF.
Jayden Daniels had his quickest average time to throw of the season yesterday with 2.59 seconds
His second-quickest was last week against Tennessee, with an average of 2.81 seconds
He's trending up. Learning to trust his receivers and get the ball out quick.
— Will (@rozenwill) October 16, 2022
He was trusting his receivers and not afraid to put the ball into tight windows. We saw some of that in the Tennessee game, but the timing looked much better in Gainesville.
Boutte finally having his breakout game helped and LSU got contributions from top to bottom, with guys like [autotag]Kole Taylor[/autotag] and [autotag]Kyren Lacy[/autotag] getting involved too.
Daniels was good under pressure, too. His passer rating under pressure was the best in the SEC in Week 7.
[autotag]Will Campbell[/autotag] and [autotag]Emery Jones[/autotag] didn’t have their best night, allowing eight combined pressures, but it never became a talking point thanks to Daniels’ ability to either get the ball out quick or scramble.
In the run game, Daniels and Williams combined to force 13 missed tackles. LSU’s explosiveness was a result of players stepping up and making plays. Receivers were winning one-on-one battles, and Daniels was trusting them to make a play.
It didn’t matter if it was first down or third down. It didn’t matter what side of the field they were on — plays were made that needed to be made.
Whether or not it will continue is to be determined, but this was a good start. LSU will need more of the same with a top-10 Ole Miss team coming to town.
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