Through five games, LSU has a clear Achilles heel that comes in the secondary.
The Tigers have been torched by the top passing offenses they’ve faced, most recently giving up 706 total yards in a loss to Ole Miss. That’s bad news as the team prepares to face a Missouri team that boasts one of the nation’s best passing offenses on Saturday morning.
Mizzou is led by former five-star receiver Luther Burden, who is having a breakout campaign. His 644 receiving yards lead the nation, and he’s the only player ahead of LSU’s [autotag]Malik Nabers[/autotag] on that list.
Burden has the potential to cause problems for this defense, and coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] said the team is certainly preparing to defend him. But he also said the Tigers can’t become preoccupied with slowing down Burden and neglect Missouri’s other weapons like receiver Theo Wease Jr. and running back Cody Schrader, who ranks second in the SEC in rushing.
“I think there’s times where you have to understand that there are some things that you have to do to minimize his effect on the game… Last week we tried to defend everything, and when you defend everything, you defend nothing,” Kelly said on Thursday. “When you talk about a guy like Luther, or you talk about a guy like Malik Nabers, if that’s all your gameplan is, sometimes you don’t defend Theo Wease, who’s an outstanding player. Or you forget about the No. 2 running back in the league.
“So, are we going to have to be aware of him in situations and do we have some things that address it? Absolutely, but you have to play the other 10 guys, too.”
The Tigers are currently allowing 260.2 yards through the air per game and 429.4 overall. They’ll need to reverse those trends if they still hope to compete for an SEC West title, and Saturday’s game will be a major test for this group.
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