The Ugly: LSU’s defensive performance
On Saturday night, the LSU Tigers defense wasn’t up to the task of slowing the SEC’s top rusher. This season Chris Rodriguez Jr. has averaged over 120 yards per game, against the Tigers he had 147 yards on just 16 carries. That is 9.2 yards per attempt. His teammate Kavosiey Smoke added 104 yards on 12 carries, 8.7 per attempt.
Had Kentucky continue to run the ball with quarterback Will Levis, he might have gotten 100 yards as well. He finished with 6.8 yards per attempt on 11 attempts. Simply put, the team ran the ball at will against this defense, and LSU could do nothing to stop it.
The defense had opportunities to limit the damage, but it missed 10 tackles. That amounted to 183 yards after contact. They gave up 330 yards rushing, more than half after poor tackle attempts. In the passing game, the Tigers gave up 145 yards after the catch. The defense was flat-out ugly on Saturday, which is Ed Orgeron’s calling card.
[listicle id=26953]