The Crimson Tide piled up further misery over the listless LSU Tigers with a resounding 20-9 win. The defense showed some signs of life, but the offense never got going. Even though Brian Kelly is not coaching anymore, some issues we saw under him still linger.

On the November 9 episode of Nightcap, Shannon Sharpe, Chad “Ocho” Johnson, and Johnny Manziel reviewed the game. Ocho started the discussion, and he wasn’t happy with what he saw from the LSU offense.

“It was sort of a snoozefest in a sense when no one was able to score. You know, in the first half, it was going back and forth. But then, once things opened up, Alabama ran the show.  I mean, for a team like LSU to only score nine points, only score nine points in a four-quarter game, let you know why Mr. Kelly was fired,” said Ocho.

LSU’s defense made early stops and forced Alabama into tough situations, but the Tigers’ offense couldn’t capitalize on opportunities.​ It was like an action replay from the Brian Kelly era. LSU repeatedly struggled to convert advantageous red zone positions while struggling on third downs. They ended the game with just 232 total yards, while Alabama generated 344 yards. Although the Bama defense got just three sacks, they consistently forced both LSU QBs into tough third-down situations. 

The discussion on Nightcap also featured the next head coach LSU should hire. The Alabama game showed that Frank Wilson won’t make the cut. “Not only do they have to look for a name, but a name is not going to do it alone. You know, obviously, with that name, there has to be some type of attraction to want to actually come to LSU. It has to be someone that the players and the parents of those players have a sense of comfort with,” said Sharpe.

For now, Kelly will continue to take the blame because it’s still his roster. The offensive issues are not new to any LSU fan. They’ve seen Garrett Nussmeier struggle to make plays throughout the season. The poor O-line play, combined with the lack of a balanced attack, has produced an offense that doesn’t have any LSU identity at the moment.

Frank Wilson is optimistic about the future

While LSU’s offense collapsed, Frank Wilson’s defense showed up in the Tigers’ 20-9 loss to No. 4 Alabama. The LSU defense held Alabama to just 344 total yards, including 51 rushing yards on 26 attempts (2.2 yards per rush), while limiting the Crimson Tide to only 4/13 on their third-down attempts. More impressively, LSU’s defense held Alabama to just 100 yards of offense and 3 points in the second half, demonstrating the unit’s ability to adjust and stop one of the nation’s top offenses.

“At the end of it, our best wasn’t good enough tonight, so we finished second. But I thought there were some good things that happened, and there are things we’ll continue to need to improve on. We have to score touchdowns and not just field goals. Glad to see the field goals go through, but we’ve got to be able to score touchdowns, and we’ll continue to try to remedy that issue so we can score touchdowns,” Wilson said.

In a way, the season is over for LSU. Nussmeier may see some limited action as QB1, but the Tigers can still be a thorn in the playoff hopes of Oklahoma.