LSU special teams were a mess last year.
We saw it in the opener against Florida State and issues persisted through the SEC title loss to Georgia.
LSU will handle this unit differently this year. [autotag]Bill Polian[/autotag] is out as special teams coordinator and the staff will take a committee approach.
LSU was good enough to overcome some of the issues on its way to a 10-win season. But the struggles kept LSU from reaching its ceiling.
Bad special teams put the entire team in a rough spot. Field position is worsened and momentum is stifled. LSU’s average starting field position ranked 105th in college football last year.
LSU still managed to average 34.5 points per game, which is more than any other team ranked outside the top 100 in field position. Teams outside the top 100 averaged 24.6 points per game. On the flipside, teams in the top 25 percentile averaged 32.6 points per game.
Based on expected points and points per game, only four offenses overperformed their field position expectation more than LSU.
That’s good news. LSU sustained drives and was one of the most efficient teams in the country. But you don’t want the offense to be in that position every week. You can win 10 games doing that, but you won’t make the playoff.
LSU’s average yards to go mark on a drive that ended in a touchdown was 69.6 yards. On drives that resulted in just a field goal, that number rose to 75.2 yards. And on punts and missed field goals, the average yards to go was at 77.04.
This is an area of the game where the smallest margins matter.
If LSU even manages to improve its average starting field position by a yard, its expected points per drive rise about half a point. Over the course of a season, that’s enough to swing one or two games.
LSU expects to have an improved return game. Transfer [autotag]Aaron Anderson[/autotag] can be a playmaker back there. He’s the type of player LSU missed last year. And again, he doesn’t need to rip off a big return every week. But a few yards here and a few yards there add up.
In a year where LSU expects to be strong on offense and defense, it can’t afford to give games away on special teams.
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