Cody Slovensky
LSU Writer
Since the 2019 season, LSU fans have simply been on a roller coaster. While many good things have happened, the one thing missing is balance. After #9 LSU defeated #4 Clemson on the road Saturday night, everything felt balanced.
There are many areas that can be improved on, the coaches and the players will tell you that. But one thing that is not an issue is the unity of the team.
Everyone wrote LSU off, and basically said that “Brian Kelly can’t win opening games.” “Brian Kelly can’t win big games.” “LSU has no defense.” “LSU will not make the College Football Playoff.”
Well………. everyone was wrong. As a fan of the sport and the LSU Tigers, something felt different. The athletics department just has this new vibe that can’t be described. Baseball has won two national championships in the last three years. Women’s basketball has won a national championship. Gymnastics has won a national championship. All three teams have remained extremely competitive even when they do not win a championship. But what about Football?
2019 was the greatest Football team that LSU has ever assembled and arguably the greatest team of all time. Since that moment, that special feeling has been missing. The defense that most fans grew up watching was a thing of the past and was sorely missed.
Brian Kelly proved the doubters wrong and was able to get that opening-season win. For the first time in his LSU tenure, he is not coaching from behind. He has a great staff around him that have helped in bringing in elite recruits whether through high school recruiting or the transfer portal. The right players joined the program and the feeling in the LSU locker room is different.
From start to finish, the LSU defense was dominant against Clemson. The defensive line played like one of the best in the country. They imposed their will and were unstoppable. Harold Perkins Jr. is back, and he is back with a vengeance. Against Clemson, everyone saw the version of Harold Perkins Jr. that we all love and remember from his freshman year.
The secondary, wow. Corey Raymond has worked wonders with his crew, and it felt like DBU was back Saturday night. Mansoor Delane, remember that name. Delane is a huge piece to this defense and was all over the field against Clemson. It is now clear as to why he was LSU’s top portal target.
Offensively, LSU had a very conservative game plan. It was clear that the offensive line was better than what people thought. Replacing a Will Campbell and Emory Jones is not an easy task, but last night the offensive line played their tails off against one of the top defensive fronts in the nation.
Caden Durham is and was a stud. He was everything that fans had hoped he would be and then some.
The offense focused heavily on the tight end position. Newcomer Bauer Sharp, as a whole, impressed and showed that he can be a consistent target for Garrett Nussmeier. Trey’Dez Green is going to be a star, and with his size at 6-feet-7-inches, his ability to draw flags for pass interference was quite impressive. To be fair, the fact that he is a basketball player and has that type of range definitely helps.
Barion Brown was robbed. Plain and simple that was a touchdown. If you disagree, argue with a wall. He made the catch, he had possession, and he crossed the goal line. Touchdown. But instead, it was somehow ruled an incomplete pass, costing LSU 7 points.
Aaron Anderson was himself. The speedy playmaker was unstoppable and showed that he is going to be a dangerous threat going forward.
We can’t forget about Garrett Nussmeier. He took some hard hits, but never quit. Nussmeier came out and showed the leader that he is. He showed why he is number 18, why he is a captain. The toughness and precision that Nussmeier showed against Clemson was extremely similar to what we witnessed from Joe Burrow. Once they set Nussmeier fully loose with the extremely talented receiver room, this offense has the potential to be in the conversation of the best in school history.
The game Saturday night was not as close as the score showed. LSU won 17-10, but in all honesty, the score could have been 30-7. While Clemson was very physical, LSU looked extremely comfortable out there. They actually looked exactly the way that I imagined them to look in this game.
The ceiling is extremely high for LSU this year, and as the year goes on the playbook on offense will open up. LSU played and coached a smart game.
Brian Kelly now has the chance to do something special. Can this team stay on course and impose its will as the season goes on? Or is there a classic slip up? There are 11-15 more games for this team and a lot will be learned as the season goes on, but one thing is for sure, this team is special. Geaux Tigers!
TJ Chapman
Lead Columnist, Editor
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