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First Impressions: LSU 7, Auburn 41

The meltdown cometh

I don't know, either
I don't know, either
Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports

There isn't a whole lot positive to take from this game. This was one of the worst losses in Les Miles' tenure, and maybe in LSU history. LSU was non-competitive from the outset, and it didn't get a whole lot better from there.

Part of having a successful game as a freshman making his first start in a hostile environment is not digging yourself an early hole. Get some first downs, stay close, get a sense of normalcy. You want him to feel that this is just like playing at home, and you don't need any heroics. Play within yourself and let the game come to you.

Or you could fall behind 17-0 as quickly as possible, and allow nearly 250 yards of offense in the first half while going three and out as many times as you can. The offense is a mess right now, but a lot of that was a young team getting caught staring at the bright lights of an opposing stadium. Freshmen played like freshmen, and once in a deep hole, they couldn't get out of it.

The defense, on the other hand, put forth a master class of ineptitude. Auburn moved that ball at will and had 365 yards of offense in the first half. Yeah, the pace slowed a bit in the second half as Malzahn ran what was essentially a 30 minute victory formation.

Six of Auburn's seven 1st half drives went for at least 30 yards. Four went for at least 50. The pace slowed in the second, but that was more the situation than LSU's defense suddenly stiffening up. They added a touchdown in the fourth quarter for good measure, but it could have been a lot more had they really put their minds to it.

There's no sugar coating it: LSU got their asses kicked. This game wasn't remotely close and the worst thing is, it could have been worse. Had Auburn decided to run its offense at all in the third quarter, this game could have been in the conversation with 1993 Florida.

I don't know if this is rock bottom, but it sure feels like it. I have no idea where we go from here, but it seems the only way to go is up. Time to play the kids and just build for next year. This is a bad team right now, and all that's left to do is get better. A lot better. And hopefully, do it quickly.

Let's not call out individuals here. Everyone sucked. The quarterbacks sucked, the running backs sucked, the wide receivers sucked, the tight end sucked, and the offensive line found new dimensions to their sucking. The defensive line sucked, the secondary sucked, and oh my God, do our linebackers suck. The playcaling sucked, the clock management sucked as it always does, and the adjustments would have sucked had we made any. This was a complete total team loss. No one comes out of this looking good.

This game sucked.

At least Bama lost, so today wasn't a total loss.