LSU is set to host South Alabama on Saturday night. The Tigers are hoping to move to 4-1 after a 34-17 win over UCLA in Week 4. LSU gets a reprieve after three of LSU’s first four games were P4 opponents, but South Alabama presents a different challenge.
The Jaguars are 2-2 but have scored 135 points in their last two games. This could be a trap game for an LSU defense that’s struggled to play a complete game.
However, LSU should be able to handle business. Despite South Alabama’s recent scoring explosion, this is still a team that lost to North Texas and Ohio to open the year.
It’s a homecoming for South Alabama head coach Major Applewhite. The Baton Rouge native played quarterback for Catholic High School in the 90s, a place with several LSU connections.
Heading into the bye week at 4-1 would give LSU a week to rest up before its showdown with Ole Miss on Oct. 12. A win there, and LSU is right back in the playoff hunt. Kelly’s group needs to survive this one first, though.
Here’s what to watch for when LSU takes on South Alabama.
Life without Harold Perkins
LSU will be without Harold Perkins Jr. on Saturday after the junior linebacker tore his ACL last week. LSU’s defensive ceiling takes a hit without Perkins’ playmaking ability. He had the talent to be a disruptor on any given play.
With Perkins out, players like West Weeks and Xavier Atkins could see more action.
“We’ve made some changes,” Brian Kelly said, “We activated Xavier Atkins in the second group, we’ve got West Weeks back, so we feel really good about the linebacker rotation. If we need to play three linebackers, we certainly could do that.”
More will be put on Whit Weeks plate too.
“When you have an athlete like Whit Weeks, you have a similar player (to Perkins) in terms of his athletic ability and playing in space,” Kelly said.
Kelly highlighted Whit Weeks’ versatility, which gives LSU a similar optionality that Perkins provided.
Through four games, Whit Weeks ranks fourth among SEC linebackers with 17 stops. He’s a threat to rush the passer too, with five pressures on the year.
The defensive tackle rotation
When defensive tackle Jacobian Guillory went down for the year, it threw a wrench into LSU’s defensive line rotation. Guillory was expected to be the anchor of that group.
As far as the current rotation goes, Gio Paez is LSU’s most consistent presence on the interior defensive line. He’s the only LSU defensive tackle to surpass 100 snaps this year and has five pressures to go along with six stops. Paez isn’t a game-changer up front, but he’s been a pleasant surprise and played competent football.
Ahmad Breaux is second among LSU DTs with 94 snaps. Before the year, Brian Kelly said he was LSU’s most ready freshman and the snap count has proven that so far.
A development to keep an eye on is the emergence of Dominick McKinley and Jay’Viar Suggs.
McKinley was a five-star in the class of 2024 but didn’t arrive until the summer. He had the talent to compete for a key role, but the late arrival paired with an injury in camp slowed him down. Against UCLA, McKinley finally got out there. He played 18 snaps and notched a sack.
Expect to see McKinley get more time on Saturday.
Suggs played just eight snaps against UCLA, but was incredibly efficient, racking up five pressures.
Where does LSU turn at corner if Zy Alexander is out or limited?
LSU could be without its best and most experienced corner on Saturday. Brian Kelly spoke on Thursday and said Zy Alexander is questionable as he works his way through concussion protocol.
According to PFF, he’s been LSU’s top-graded corner so far, posting a 76.9 defensive grade. The next best-graded corner on the roster is Ashton Stamps with a 61.7 grade.
LSU’s secondary takes a step back without Alexander and the numbers back it up. LSU’s much better defending the pass when he’s out there.
If Alexander can’t go, how LSU handles CB2 opposite of Stamps will be intriguing. JK Johnson saw plenty of action last week, but LSU could opt to roll with true freshman PJ Woodland.
With Ole Miss on the horizon in two weeks, this would be a good time for LSU to find some consistency at corner.
Continue to monitor the running back spot
We’ve focused on defense today, because that’s where most of the questions are, but not everything is settled on offense.
The emergence of true freshman Caden Durham has given LSU an explosive option at running back, yet it was still Josh William getting the bulk of the carries against UCLA.
Durham ran it just six times for 14 yards last week, but 11 of those yards came after contact and he made an impact in the passing game, catching two passes for 40 yards.
Kaleb Jackson remains involved too, carrying it six times for 26 yards last week.
LSU will ride the hot hand, but there’s a chance for one of these guys to emerge if they show an ability to take over the game and create explosive plays on the ground.
Does South Alabama continue its offensive explosion?
It was noted in the intro, but South Alabama has scored 135 points in its last two games. One of those was an 87-0 win over FCS Northwestern State. The other was a 48-12 beatdown of a lost App State team.
By a wide margin, this LSU defense will have more size and speed than any unit South Alabama has seen this year.
South Alabama’s offense has worked near an elite level of efficiency this year. The Jaguars rank sixth nationally in 10+ yard pass rate and sit top 20 in rushing and passing success rate.
Running back Fluff Bothwell is PFF’s top-graded back while averaging 9.6 yards per carry and totaling six scores. LSU struggles to stop the run and could face some trouble if Bothwell gets going.
South Alabama will get some yards on the ground, which makes it even more critical for LSU to shut down the passing attack. If the defense that showed up in the second half against UCLA is here, things should be fine.
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