The LSU Tigers struggled out of the gate, but ended up winning 45-14 over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs on Saturday night.
It wasn't pretty for the first couple of quarters, but the LSU Tigers eventually wore down the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs en route to a 45-14 win at home on Saturday night.
This was a bit of a comedown moment for the Tigers, who had been riding the momentum of the opening weekend win over the Clemson Tigers, which could actually be a bit of a good thing. A reality check ahead of next weekend's must-have game against the Ole Miss Rebels.
LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt saw just about every possible result to a play tonight. He completed 25 of his 28 passes for 344 yards and a touchdown, with three interceptions. He added 11 carries for 22 yards and three more scores on the ground, which was a career high.
All three of the interceptions were on throws that Leavitt would like to have back. He tends to play a little bit of hero ball at times, which has both gifted and taken away from this offense early in the year. If the placement on the throws gets a bit more consistent, the Tigers will be fine with taking some more of these gambles through the air.
Leavitt also faced consistent pressure in this game, which didn't help him out. The Bulldogs picked up five sacks in this game. Credit where credit's due for this Louisiana Tech defense. Their athletes were moving with purpose and intensity, it was clearly a well-coached group that made the night as hard on LSU as possible.
The Tigers' rushing attack was also much less effective in this game, picking up just 3.3 yards per carry. Dilin Jones did break off a 46-yard run, but he finished with just 66 yards on 18 carries. The offensive line will have a lot of tape to look at this week.
Enough of the negative, though, as this Blake Baker defense once again lived up to all lofty expectations. No matter the level of competition, LSU once again showed that they may have the most dangerous unit in the country.
Princewill Umanmielen had three more sacks, bringing his season total up to five. That's one more than Harold Perkins had last year, leading the defense. The added pass rush on top of violent linebacker play and stellar coverage makes this group a headache for anyone to face.
Heralded freshman Deuce Geralds had a much better showing than last week, as he was one of the few who received low marks. In this game, he picked up his first career sack and forced a fumble on a play where he wasn't initially involved in the contact. He just ran over and ripped the ball out. The folks in Baton Rouge are very excited about his future.
The Bulldogs didn't really have anything of note on offense until some of the backups started to cycle in on defense. Baker will have a lot to be happy about once again. His group finished with seven sacks, 11 TFLs, three forced fumbles and an interception.
