| Hello, Tiger fans. We're back from Las Vegas and ready to launch into a new game week as LSU tries to recover from its season-opening 27-20 loss to USC and get into the win column Saturday against Nicholls State. It's late, or very early, and I've had a long day's travel back from Vegas, so let's get right to this newsletter business. Our Wilson Alexander, also fresh from the desert, focuses on what happened to LSU's offense in that critical fourth quarter as the Trojans mounted a pair of drives to take the lead and secure the victory over the Tigers. Here's his report: -------------------------------------- LAS VEGAS — Late in the fourth quarter against Southern Cal with the game on the line, LSU called a rub route. The concept had already resulted in one red zone touchdown, and LSU needed another to retake the lead. Wide receiver Aaron Anderson motioned across the formation on second and 8 from USC’s 14-yard line. As he leaked into the flat, wide receiver Kyren Lacy created space with a pick. The play was unfolding as designed. Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier ran to his right. He flicked a throw toward Anderson — and the ball skidded across the turf behind his target, a missed opportunity in a critical moment. “I'll be thinking about that play for a long time,” Nussmeier said. Multiple times Sunday night, LSU’s offense had chances to take control in a 27-20 season-opening loss. That side of the ball is expected to carry the team at times this year while the Tigers rebuild their defense. But after taking a four-point lead in the second half, LSU was outscored 14-3 in the fourth quarter. “There were a number of different things, and they were based solely on the inability to execute at a high level,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said. “When our best was needed offensively, we were not able to deliver.” We rewatched the game to understand what went wrong for LSU’s offense in the second half. Let’s dive in. Inconsistent run game After halftime, LSU tried to exert its will on the line of scrimmage to establish the run. The approach worked for a moment in the third quarter. Sixth-year senior running back John Emery rushed for 55 yards on LSU’s only touchdown drive of the second half, the majority coming on a 39-yard counter up the middle. Otherwise, LSU’s running game was ineffective. The Tigers rushed for 16 yards on their four other drives in the second half. They had 3 yards rushing on six carries in the fourth quarter. An offensive line with four returning starters never pushed USC off the line of scrimmage. “In the second half, we knew we had to establish the line of scrimmage,” Nussmeier said. “I thought (the offensive line) did a good job. Obviously, there's learning experiences in there. I think we'll only continue to get better.” LSU kept trying to run the ball anyway, especially on first down. It handed the ball off on eight of its 12 first-down plays in the second half, and one of those first downs was at the end of the game when LSU had to throw with eight seconds left. "This is much more about being a much better and efficient offense in the red zone than it is the failings of the inability to run," Kelly said. "We ran the ball well enough to set up everything else that we needed to do. Do I wanna run the ball better? Absolutely. There's no doubt, I think our execution needs to get better. But having said that, we ran the ball well enough to win this game." Overall, LSU finished with 117 yards on 26 carries, an average of 4.5 yards per rush. But the inconsistency stalled drives. LSU went 5 of 13 on third down. Two drives in the second half were three-and-outs. One of those came after the defense forced a turnover on downs, giving LSU its best chance to take control with a 17-13 lead. Instead, Emery lost 5 yards on a run up the middle on first down. Nussmeier completed a 14-yard pass on second down. On third and 1, LSU hurried to the line and gave Emery an inside handoff. USC stuffed the play with a loaded box. It retook the lead three plays later. “We got a really good team, a really deep team,” Nussmeier said. “We just gotta play clean. We had opportunities to step on their throat. We had an opportunity to put the game away. We didn't do it.” Issues in the red zone Nussmeier threw two red zone touchdowns, but the three other drives that went deep into USC territory resulted in just six points. “We left a lot of points out there,” Kelly said. “We went up and down the field, but if you don't score points when you're down inside the red zone, like we did not do tonight, you're gonna lose a one-possession game. “We put way too much pressure on our defense to be something that they're not ready to be. They battled, but we have warts and they're not going away overnight.” When LSU reached the red zone on its opening possession, Kelly went for it on fourth and goal from the 3-yard line. LSU wasn’t able to pick up a blitz up the middle, and Nussmeier had to throw the ball away under pressure. Later, the Tigers stalled in the red zone trailing 20-17 in the fourth quarter. Emery gained 2 yards on first down. Second down was the previously mentioned incompletion to Anderson. The offense looked out of sorts on third down, and Nussmeier rushed an incompletion. USC declined a pre-snap penalty anyway, and LSU settled for a field goal. “Our offense needed to be better because we needed to score in those situations, and that's just the way it needed to be,” Kelly said. “Coming up with six points with three possessions inside the 15 is just not good enough. What about Garrett Nussmeier? The offense was efficient going through Nussmeier. In his first regular season start, he finished 29-of-38 for 304 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He looked in command, completing passes to 10 different players. “He did enough for us to win the football game, but we needed a couple of plays,” Kelly said. “I think there's a couple of things he'd like to do better. He's gonna be really good for us, and he'll get better from today.” It wasn’t an explosive performance — Nussmeier averaged 4.7 air yards per completion in the first half, according to ESPN — but that might have been because of USC’s approach. The Trojans played soft coverage in an effort to limit explosive plays, especially in the first half. Nussmeier had to take checkdowns, and USC tackled well. LSU also might have missed Chris Hilton’s speed. Nussmeier went 20-of-24 for 191 yards and one touchdown in the first half. The problem was he had fewer attempts as the offense struggled to sustain those drives, going 9-of-14 for 113 yards after halftime. A lot of that came on a late third down when Nussmeier shuffled to his left and hit Anderson for a 41-yard gain. The passing offense just didn’t have as much success in the second half. Perhaps that was tied to the ineffective running game. But there were apparent miscommunications on two deep incompletions. Lacy and tight end Mason Taylor combined for one catch in the second half. And then Nussmeier threw back-to-back incompletions on LSU’s final trip to the red zone. Moving forward, every part of the offense has to improve its execution. “As long as we can stick together and move in the right direction,” Nussmeier said, “I think this is a learning experience that will only help us the rest of the season.” ----------------------------------------------- Koki Riley has a word or three about Bill Franques, the long-time LSU baseball spokesman and Alex Box Stadium PA announcer who will be stepping into the Tiger Stadium PA booth Saturday for Dan Borne. As far as this writer knows, there have been only three men to handle PA duties in Tiger Stadium: Sid Crocker, Borne and Franques. During that same time, LSU has had 12 football coaches. The current LSU football coach is drawing fire from critics for his fiery postgame newsconference after the loss to USC. Those critics include ESPN's Paul Finebaum, who wants fire from Kelly during the game, not after. Thanks for reading and subscribing, everyone. Stay tuned for news from Kelly's weekly news conference on Tuesday, and all our LSU coverage throughout the week. Scott Rabalais | 