By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
LSU travel to Missouri for what could turn out to be yet another wild shootout, as LSU's defense face the country's #1 receiver in Luther Burden, a quarterback who hasn't thrown an INT in 348 consecutive passing attempts (5th all time in FBS history), and a team that ranks 5-0, feeling good about where they are.
The Tigers are dealing with a variety of issues simultaneously hitting them, from their 2nd loss in 5 games, historically bad defense vs Ole Miss, the ousting of Duce Chestnutt off the team, and of course, the terrible news about their cancer-stricken brother Greg Brooks Jr; If the Tigers are to have any success on Saturday, a foxhole mentality will be needed.
The truth is, Mizzou haven't covered themselves in glory with their wins, beating South Dakota 35-10, Middle Tennessee 23-19, surviving then-ranked #15 K-State 30-27, beating Memphis by only a score (34-27), and mostly recently, a more commanding 38-21 win over Vandy.
They may know how to navigate a close game, but Eli Drinkwitz's team definitely haven't had to keep pace with an offense like LSU's 2023 wondersquad.
This should be an angry LSU, pissed about what's happening to their captain Greg Brooks Jr, a defense that is disgusted by their performances last Saturday and ready to make more plays to give Daniels & Co multiple chances to seal this thing.
But are they capable of doing that from a talent perspective?
They could be with a re-shuffling of personnel, a stronger pass rush up front, and less zone coverage....
I expect Luther Burden to go off for 150+ yards against us, I expect Mizzou QB Brady Cook to get his numbere, however their offensive line hasn't faced a front seven featuring the brand of killers that LSU could finally play all at once: Womack, Wingo, Smith/Jefferson and Swinson, rotating in Saivion Jones, Paris Shand, among others.
That said, I expect our defensive front to eat vs Missouri, not only against a hapless offensive trench, but their QB's hobbled knee is cancelling a lot of his mobility, causing havoc in their backfield which forces an early 1st quarter turnover through a Mekhi Wingo strip sack, the ball recovered by Whit Weeks.
Playing in front of his hometown crowd and against his former school for the first time, 2021 Missouri All-SEC Freshman and 2022 LSU All-American DL Mekhi Wingo will produce the game of his career, forcing a fumble, sacking Cook twice, batting a pass, and constantly destroying their running game up front.
Lined up as a 3 tech DT, Maason Smith will also be freed up more to attack the backfield, clinching his own sack and polishing off 1.5 TFLs.
While Missouri and Burden put up points through the air, they're kept behind the 8 ball by the key turnover and random yet costly 3rd down issues, LSU's defense coming up big to supply Daniels with the early impetus.
Daniels continues his hot streak, tossing 355 yards alongside 3 scores, 2 for Malik Nabers and another to freshman TE Mac Markway, catching a red zone score inside his home state.
Logan Diggs dictates terms to the Mizzou defense for most of the night, tacking on his third 100+ yard game (149, 1 TD), bulldozing the Tigers' path down the field for scoring drives after scoring drive.
Playing with passion and intensity for 4 quarters, riding the wave of both good and bad stretches, LSU come out on top, 44-31, receiving standout contributions from their defensive linemen (Wingo, Smith, Womack all producing sacks), Whit Weeks (11 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 PBUs), Sage Ryan and Ryan Yaites playing the best of anyone within our secondary, freshman tight end Markway and freshman WRs (Jalen Brown 2 catches, 41 yards), plus another magical game from Daniels, Nabers and Logan Diggs supplies the Tigers their 4th win of the year, keeping their Atlanta hopes alive.
STARTING DEFENSE
WOMACK
WINGO
SMITH
SWINSON
WEEKS
PERKINS
SAM (NB)
BURNS (S)
YAITES (S)
RYAN (CB)
ALEXANDER (CB)
By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
©️ 2023 Uninterrupted Writings Inc
Comments