It’s a useful changeup for the Tigers and one more thing for opponents to worry about in key situations. Burrow has the mobility and toughness to evade pressures, scramble, and run some of these types of schemes, although no one will confuse with Johnny Manziel or Cam Newton on any of it. The idea is to give the offense a plus-one numbers advantage at the point of attack in obvious run situations. In this instance, it set up a TD dive on their opening drive. The Tigers got mixed results from this concept against Auburn. LSU has also leaned on Burrow’s mobility some in the run game, utilizing a few “Bash” and single-wing-style QB runs for him. The Tigers are getting the ideal spread compromise from opponents who are playing to stop the pass first at the expense of yielding some space and favorable matchups for the run game. Brosette is about 9 yards down the field before he encounters an Auburn defender, the late-coming middle linebacker. The LSU OL and TE are against seven defenders, but one is a CB, and another is a safety 9 yards off the ball. Much like Miami, which played “three over two” against the threat of an RPO toss to the twin receivers, War Eagle is playing “four over three,” and the middle LB is taking a pass drop to prevent a quick toss to the slot. It’s a similar story here against Auburn: The result is six-on-six for the LSU OL and TE against the Miami front and an open cutback lane for RB Nick Brosette to blast through before the safeties can arrive. The Miami nickel is also staying wide to help defend any quick passes to the flats. The robber is sitting in the window for the slant route by the slot receiver before trying to close on the run. The Hurricanes are playing with a deep-half safety to one side and then a robber safety to the other. Imagine Leonard Fournette operating in space like this: Defenses seem at least a little worried about Burrow’s arm, and LSU’s running game has benefitted. It has to, so it can make the most of the spacing and stress created by its formations and talent distribution across the field. Like many spread systems, this LSU offense asks a number of different things from Burrow. Auburn plays a safety deep over the three-WR side, so Burrow works the whip-dig combination, throwing the dig for a first down. It’s a typical drop-back menu, with the receivers running a stick route and slot fade to the three-WR side and then a whip/dig combination to the boundary. Take this third-and-12 conversion against Auburn: The passing game Burrow leads is heavy on play action and RPOs designed to help or benefit from the threat of the run game, although it also has some other drop-back plays mixed in to offer options on passing downs. LSU spends some time under center and often employs spread sets to create space for the run game. Heading into the season, the perception was that LSU’s talent was really clustered here, rather than at RB, where the program has been absurdly loaded the last few years. They’re fairly deep at receiver, with Texas Tech transfer Jonathan Giles, big targets Dee Anderson (6’5, 220 pounds) and Stephen Sullivan (6’6, 235), and emerging star Justin Jefferson. ![]() The 2018 Tigers spend a lot of time in the shotgun with three receivers, stretching the defense to the hash marks and beyond. ![]() The Tigers are much more spread-oriented now than they ever were under Les Miles, or even last year under Matt Canada, who geared the offense around running the jet sweep from under center. Is he? LSU has a diverse offense that demands a lot of Burrow. Whether or not Burrow is good figures to have a substantial impact on whether the Tigers keep finding wins. LSU still has a bunch of difficult dates on its schedule. The LSU defense is playing at a high level (predictably), and thus far the Tigers have been able to get the offense they need. On the other hand, the Tigers reached 3-0 with wins over Miami and at Auburn, the latter of which snapped a 13-game home winning streak. Burrow didn’t complete 50 percent of his passes in any of the three games, and LSU’s offense finished them ranked 76th in S&P+. Adjusted for sacks, he chipped in 17 carries for 71 rushing yards and another score. In his first three games of 2018, new LSU QB Joe Burrow completed just 36 of 78 passes for 540 yards at 6.9 yards per throw, with three TDs and no interceptions. ![]() ![]() © 2023 The Cincinnati Bengals.The numbers and the team results say two different things.
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