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Jayden Daniels delivered one of the most statistically elite seasons of all-time in 2023, but 2024 is a rare instance when replacing the Heisman Trophy winner is among the least of his former team’s concerns.
Even an offense operating at a pace worthy of the 2019 national championship team could not overcome a defense that got LSU relegated to the ReliaQuest Bowl. Excluding Vanderbilt (because Vandy), the Tigers finished dead last in the SEC in total defense, scoring defense, rushing defense, passing defense, and third-down defense, and near the bottom in everything else.
In 3 losses, they allowed 45, 55 and 42 points to the 3 best opponents on the schedule, while also allowing 30+ points in 5 of their 10 wins.
With Daniels, play-caller Mike Denbrock, and a pair of first-round wideouts gone, the offense is doomed to regress to the mean, no matter how well new QB Garrett Nussmeier plays. It can only pray that the defense under first-year coordinator Blake Baker is able to say the same.
Tigers at a Glance…
2023 Recap: 10-3 (6-2 SEC; Won Outback ReliaQuest Bowl; 12th AP)
Best Player: LB/DB/Edge Harold Perkins Jr.
Best Pro Prospect: OT Will Howard
Best Addition: WR CJ Daniels (Liberty)
Best Names: TE Ka’Morreun Pimpton … DB Major Burns
Most Grizzled: OL Miles Frazier (5th year; 37 career starts at LSU and Fla. International)
Emerging Dude: Sophomore Edge Da’Shawn Womack
Biggest strength: Rising QB Garrett Nussmeier is a wild card, but he will be well-protected. Four-fifths of the starting o-line is intact, including a first-round lock at one tackle (Howard) and an aspiring first-rounder at the other (third-year starter Emery Jones).
Nagging concern: The defense was set aflame in ’23 by every opposing offense with a pulse and failed to add any notable reinforcements via the portal. It’s essentially the same personnel in ’24, just one year older and with a fresh layer of scars.
Looming question: What’s the plan for Harold Perkins? He was the team’s best defender, by far, but the free-range versatility that made him an instant star as a freshman left the impression that maaaaybe he was being spread a little bit too thin in Year 2. The fact that he was arguably the most reliable playmaker on all three levels definitely didn’t help. The man can do it all, but not all at once.
The schedule: Among the friendlier conference slate in the league, if only because the 3 toughest games — Ole Miss, Alabama and Oklahoma — are in Baton Rouge. The Tigers miss Georgia and Texas altogether. The opening-day collision with USC in Las Vegas will determine whether they’re on the CFP track out of the chute or behind the 8-ball.
RELATED: Predicting every LSU game in 2024
The upshot
A lot is riding on Nussmeier, who has shown enough in spot duty over his first 3 years in the program to earn the benefit of the doubt as Daniels’ successor. Plan B behind center is a transfer from Vanderbilt with an 0-12 record as a starter in SEC play, so realistically it’s Nuss or bust. At least he can take consolation in the fact that the defense has nowhere to go but up.
RELATED: DraftKings has LSU as a 4.5-point favorite over USC for the opener in Las Vegas. Be sure to use SDS’s sports betting apps in Louisiana for the latest action.
Matt Hinton, author of 'Monday Down South' and our resident QB guru, has previously written for Dr. Saturday, CBS and Grantland.
