LSU had an open date last week, giving it extra time to regroup after a 24-19 loss at Ole Miss two weeks ago.
The No. 11 Tigers (4-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) squandered much of their margin for error in trying to reach the CFP. Now they begin a challenging stretch of five consecutive games against SEC opponents when they face South Carolina (3-2, 1-2) on Saturday night in Baton Rouge, La.
“I think we’ve all realized that each and every week, if you do not play your best against an SEC opponent, you leave yourself vulnerable,” LSU head coach Brian Kelly said. “We know that. We know what’s in front of us.”
The open date enabled several banged-up Tigers to heal, most notably quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who has been playing through what Kelly has called a “torso” injury.
“He’s feeling better, and we didn’t do a lot with him last week,” Kelly said. “We wanted to use that as a recovery week. He stayed involved in everything that we’re doing. … We just cut him down from the throwing.”
Kelly said leading rusher Caden Durham, who missed the last game because of an ankle injury, is expected to return Saturday. The performances of Nussmeier and Durham will be key if the Tigers are to find the offensive productivity that they have been lacking.
“We have to be more efficient in our passing game,” Kelly said. “We’ve got to hit shots down the field, and then we have to be much more efficient with the run game. … An efficient four quarters of offense is what’s needed.”
The Tigers rank 12th in the SEC in total offense (364.2 yards per game) and 13th in scoring offense (27.0 points per game) as well as 15th in rushing offense (104.8 yards per game).
“This is the part of the season now where teams begin to show what they’re made of, and for us what we’re looking for is a complete game where our offense complements our defense and special teams,” Kelly said. “That hasn’t shown itself yet, but it will.”
South Carolina, which is also coming off an open date, has had offensive struggles similar to those of LSU. The Gamecocks rank 14th in scoring (24.8) and 16th (last) in rushing (99.8) and total offense (308.6)
“We’re not running the ball consistently enough right now,” South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer said. “We haven’t been as effective running the ball as we need to be. … We have to be able to throw more consistently than we have.”
Beamer noted that in the Gamecocks’ 35-13 victory against Kentucky two weeks ago, the offense ran the ball on every down of a 16-play, 68-yard drive that used up 9:28 of the fourth quarter.
“To line up and run the ball (that many plays in a row) is a pretty strong identity that we put on tape against Kentucky,” Beamer said. “We want to continue to put that on tape, the ability to run the football and make explosives in the passing game. We’ve shown signs of that. … We just haven’t done it consistently enough.”
