Four plays into LSU’s spring game, wide receiver Zavion Thomas raised his hand as he sprinted down the field. He realized no one covered him on a simple go route, so he tried to get quarterback Garrett Nussmeier’s attention as he ran toward the end zone.
Nussmeier stepped up in the pocket. It looked like he might scramble for a first down, but he kept his eyes downfield, where they settled on Thomas. Then Nussmeier slung an off-platform, 45-yard dart for an easy touchdown, one of those passes coach Brian Kelly called “quintessential” for the redshirt junior.
The throw showed Nussmeier’s arm talent and the explosive plays this LSU offense may generate next season. But it also reinforced concerns about whether or not the defense has improved.
Spring games can be deceptive. Teams hide their best plays. They run basic schemes that don’t represent the variety they will use. Standout performances in a mostly empty stadium don’t always translate to real games, but the offense vs. defense scrimmage Saturday inside Tiger Stadium still offered a chance for evaluation.
“I want to see how guys handle that,” Kelly said. “There's a big difference between a practice player and a guy that comes out and performs. When you come in here, I want to see guys that can flip that switch and get into the right zone and can play this game at a high level.”
LSU’s starting offense rolled. Nussmeier finished 7-of-7 passing for 187 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He completed three passes of more than 40 yards, two of them to senior receiver Kyren Lacy. An experienced offensive line kept him clean and opened holes. Sophomore running back Kaleb Jackson ran through one of them untouched for a 32-yard touchdown.
The starters played three possessions against one another, and the offense scored three touchdowns. The first went to Thomas, a Mississippi State transfer. Kelly said LSU’s secondary played Cover 2 when it was supposed to play Cover 3. Cornerback Ashton Stamps stayed down while safety Sage Ryan followed a post route, leaving Thomas uncovered.
“We just have to be smarter in those situations," Kelly said. “We can't be playing Cover 2 when we're supposed to be playing Cover 3, and there's no safety help over the top when the corner is rolled up because he's in the middle of the field. Somebody's gonna run by him. We just can't have mental breakdowns like that.”
Another breakdown came on the first play of the second drive, when Lacy was wide open on a 42-yard completion. Two plays later, tight end Mason Taylor and left guard Garrett Dellinger pulled across the line. Dellinger blocked defensive end Da’Shawn Womack, and Taylor sealed linebacker Harold Perkins. Jackson burst through the hole on a counter, a positive sign for an offense building its new running game behind the offensive line.
“If you can't win the line of scrimmage with this offense, you will not be explosive,” Kelly said. “We cannot be finesse five wide, spread it out and do it that way. What's most satisfying is that we're gonna have to start with the offensive line controlling the line of scrimmage through the running game, and if we do that, you'll get the explosive plays. To me, that's what I saw a glimpse of today.”
Once the starting offense returned to the field, Nussmeier completed a 16-yard throw to junior receiver Chris Hilton. Then, Lacy outran Stamps down the left sideline. Nussmeier hit him in stride on his final pass of the day. LSU’s coverage was supposed to stay over the top, and as Kelly said, “we just got flat out outrun for the football.”
LSU may still have a talent deficiency in the secondary. But not wanting to show Southern Cal anything, Kelly said defensive coordinator Blake Baker ran two coverages and did not blitz much. The cornerbacks were sometimes left on islands as a result, and though Baker prefers man coverage, learning strengths and weaknesses are part of the spring. LSU may not put its cornerbacks in those spots against talented receivers.
“Sometimes you just got to take a hard look at who we have and what kind of situations we put them in against an elite receiver,” Kelly said. “We weren't game-planning against our defense today, right? If we got in that kind of situation, we may have to game-plan and help out a corner in that situation. We didn't do that today.”
There were some defensive positives. It played better in a scripted red zone period. Freshman cornerback PJ Woodland caused a pass breakup in the end zone, and Kelly thought Perkins played well at inside linebacker. LSU intentionally ran at him, and he got over the top of a block. He also burst through the flat to make a tackle on a bubble screen.
The defense also won the backups' reps. LSU's front caused havoc against the second-team offensive line. Early enrollee defensive end Gabriel Reliford finished with two sacks and 3½ tackles for loss. And redshirt freshman Kylin Jackson flashed as the backup Star.
But what remains clear is LSU needs to improve before the season opener. Though new coaches have recruited players that Kelly said he “hadn't seen in a couple of years,” they won’t arrive for the 2024 season. Over the next four months, Kelly acknowledged, LSU has to find defensive tackle transfers and figure out who plays cornerback.
“I think we answer those two, I think this defense will be a solid defense,” Kelly said. “But we've got to answer those two questions moving forward.”
