What LSU Needs to Do to Shut Down Auburn's Rushing Attack
Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn is college football's most unique offensive mind.
Malzahn's offensive genius can take over football games. His use of formations, fakes and pre-snap motion all at a rapid pace is unlike any other coach in college football.
Malzahn's only defeat to SEC opposition has been LSU. The Bayou Bengals jumped out to a 21-0 lead before halftime last season, which was an uphill battle too steep for his team to climb.
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It is highly unlikely for LSU to have the same fast start against Auburn on Saturday. Malzahn's quarterback, Nick Marshall, was rattled early, as it was his first road SEC start. He committed three turnovers in the game, two of which were interceptions.
Since that performance in Tiger Stadium, Marshall has only thrown three interceptions in Auburn's last 14 games. He became an asset to the Malzahn's system, instead of just an athletic facilitator. The offense has morphed into one of college football's most feared rushing attacks.
LSU's rushing defense has disintegrated from what it has been in years past. The Tigers have allowed 570 combined rushing yards against Mississippi State and Wisconsin, the only two power-five conference teams they have faced.
LSU head coach Les Miles was fortunate to come back and beat the Badgers. Miles did not have enough magic to do the same against the Bulldogs. If the rushing defense continues to be as horrid as it has been, the Bayou Bengals will not defeat a team from the SEC West this season.
Things do not look good for LSU's defense. The defensive tackle play has been the worst under the Miles era, which does not bode well against a gifted Auburn offensive line.
The best defense is a good offense. LSU true freshman quarterback Brandon Harris will be making his first start on Saturday. Harris must have success to give his defense much-needed rest.
But what the LSU offense does is out of the defense's control. Here are three keys for defensive coordinator John Chavis' unit to focus on against Auburn.
Efficient Tackling
Auburn has a multitude of playmakers. Marshall is often flanked by either Cameron Artis-Payne or Corey Grant, both of whom are dangerous ball-carriers.
LSU must not miss tackles in the open field, which has happened far too often this season.
Play Recognition
Diagnosing Malzahn's plays can be as tough as reading Egyptian hieroglyphics. Auburn will bust open some big gains, so LSU needs to not get discouraged.
The key will be limiting explosive plays. Chavis and his staff must make adjustments throughout the game for all of Malzahn's play variations.
Crisp Technique
LSU's technique has been inconsistent this season. Blown assignments have been the norm, as has individual technique. It was alarming against Mississippi State, but things could be even worse against Auburn.
Malzahn's center, Reese Dismukes, anchors an offensive line that washes defensive linemen out of the play. Chavis' defense must be concerned about doing their assignment only. If not, gaping holes will open.
Film Study
LSU's only touchdown allowed against New Mexico State was a 79-yard touchdown run. The play is a perfect example of what Malzahn loves to do with his offense.
Here is how LSU's shutout was prevented.
New Mexico State is in shotgun formation with three receivers to the left of the formation. After an unsuccessful run on first down, it is likely to think the Aggies will pass. Yet backup quarterback Andrew Allen is in the game, who is more mobile than the starter.
Defensive tackle Lewis Neal (LN), middle linebacker D.J. Welter (DJ) and weak-side linebacker Debo Jones (Debo) are the players to watch. Because of three receivers to the left, Jones is stretched out wide. This means Welter is responsible for a wide space to the left of the formation.
As the ball is snapped, it is clear New Mexico State is running the read-option. To pull Jones further out of the box, the inside slot receiver runs toward the sideline as if he is running a screen. Notice how Jones' first step is toward the sideline. This also essentially pulls the safety, Ronald Martin, to that side, out of the play as well.
Here is another angle of the play from the end zone. Now that we know Jones is pulled out of the play, this leaves Welter and Neal responsible to cover space on the backside of the formation.
After the snap, Welter sees what New Mexico State is trying to do. Neal, a recently converted defensive tackle, fires off the ball wildly. The defensive end, Tashawn Bower (DE), is stood up and pushed out wide. This leaves a massive hole on the backside of the formation.
Welter guesses the running back has the football and runs in that direction. Neal is out of control and takes himself out of the play. Bower is stretched out, which makes the hole even bigger.
Because Jones and Martin respected the wide receiver screen, there is no safety or linebacker help to cover the hole left by Welter and Neal. It is now a foot race to the end zone.
Bower gives a valiant effort to shoestring tackle Allen. Welter recovers and is now chasing Allen.
The gap between Allen and Welter increases. Allen eventually reaches paydirt for New Mexico State's only score of the game.
Miles addressed this play at his weekly Monday press conference.
"The linebacker should have fallen back in that seam and made that tackle. It was a pretty effective play call. Just, again, a mistake, based on not getting the call or based on the player not understanding the call, but we felt like we made improvement in that on the week," said Miles.
Miles did not clarify if that linebacker should have been Welter or Jones. From this vantage point, it looks to have been Welter's responsibility. Either way, Neal's over-penetration and inability to stay under control also contributed to the touchdown.
These kinds of touchdowns are the ones Auburn usually capitalizes on and against even the sharpest of defenses. Auburn faced Alabama in last year's Iron Bowl and was victorious. This is how the Tigers struck first against the Crimson Tide with a 45-yard touchdown run by Marshall.
Auburn is facing a 3rd-and-2. Despite being in a four-wide receiver set with no tight ends, the Crimson Tide know the Tigers are likely to run the football. Running back Tre Mason (TM) is lined up to the left of Marshall (NM), with Ricardo Louis (RL) running in motion from right to left.
Middle linebacker C.J. Mosley, outside linebacker Adrian Hubbard (AH) and safety Landon Collins (LS) are the key players to watch as this play unfolds. Picture Mosley and LSU's Welter as playing similar roles.
The first thing to notice after the snap is the impeccable timing of this play. Notice how Louis is directly in front of Marshall and behind the left guard and tackle. This blocks Collins and Mosley's vision to see where exactly the ball is heading.
Hubbard's job is to keep contain, which means, on this play, to key on the widest player to his side of the formation. Because of Louis' speed, Hubbard is forced to stay even wider than normal. Auburn's offensive line technique is phenomenal everywhere, especially the double team on Jeoffrey Pagan (No. 8) from the left guard and tackle.
The play has now progressed to the "mesh point," which is where the quarterback must now decide whether to hand the ball off to the running back or keep it. Marshall is a magician at fakes, as he holds the ball to the last second to deceive the defense. Right now, it looks as if Mason will get the ball.
Mosley has taken a wide step to the left just to see around the double team of Pagan, which leaves a massive hole on the backside of the formation. Marshall saw the outside linebacker, Hubbard, stretched out in the last slide. He now sees a wide lane to run through, which is why he kept the ball.
Because of the deceptiveness of the fake, Mosley continues his pursuit of an empty-handed Mason. The jet-sweep motion of Louis took Collins out of the frame. Hubbard successfully kept contain, but at the expense of a massive hole and getting sealed off by a receiver.
It is now a foot race to the end zone for Marshall.
The play design was for Collins to be unblocked. Dangerous ball-carriers such as Marshall should be able to make defenders miss in the open field. But because Collins was wrong-footed by the chance that Louis would get the ball, he must now recover and chase.
Marshall's elite speed is too much for Collins. The touchdown ignited Jordan-Hare Stadium. Unfortunately, nothing else happened in this game for the Tigers to be excited about.
Conclusion
The two plays diagrammed above have slightly different variations, but the objective was the same: stretch out the defense with motion to the outside and then fool the defense with read-option.
Alabama's Mosley suffered the same fate of LSU's Welter. It is impossible to know if either blew an assignment. Coaches instruct players to do different things. Yet the same result happened, which was a massive gap for a quarterback to run for a long touchdown.
Mosley, Collins and Pagan are all NFL-caliber players. Welter, Neal and Jones are not. They were whipped by a less athletic, freshman quarterback from New Mexico State. Marshall is not only faster than him but more deceptive.
Welter's supposed error, which he has made in the past, likely prevented LSU from its third shutout of the season, but that is ultimately meaningless. This could turn into a vital teaching tool for the Tigers. Chavis will show the tape of this play to his unit and show why these assignments cannot be blown against Auburn.
LSU's first-team defensive ends of Jermauria Rasco and Danielle Hunter will need to play big. The Tigers will also need Kwon Alexander, their best linebacker, to make as many tackles as possible. Do not be surprised if Chavis eventually switches to Kendell Beckwith if Welter is overwhelmed by Auburn's athleticism.
Malzahn's rushing offense has been somewhat stagnant in the past few weeks, but expect them to be focused and ready to go on Saturday. He will use plenty of pre-snap, jet-sweep motion with his receivers, as the Tigers struggled to stop that against Wisconsin. Artis-Payne and Grant will also get plenty of reps between the tackles to wear down LSU's thin defensive tackle unit.
What makes Auburn scary is the improvement at wide receiver from a year ago. Junior college transfer D'haquille Williams is a matchup nightmare. Louis, Quan Bray, Melvin Ray, Sammie Coates and tight end C.J. Uzomah are also tough covers for the talented LSU secondary. Chavis may not have the luxury to committing extra defensive backs to help stop the run.
This matchup against Auburn could be even worse for LSU than Mississippi State. Miles must hope his team tackles efficiently, reads plays quickly and keeps their technique sharp. The Bayou Bengals will get tired, but they must fight through and execute those three keys.
If not, Malzahn and Marshall could beat them worse than Dan Mullen and Dak Prescott did weeks ago. And another beatdown from a conference foe will not go over easy LSU fans.
Stats, rankings and additional information provided by cfbstats.com and LSU Sports Information. Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Follow me on Twitter @CarterthePower.
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