Behind the Box Score: BYU

This was a total ass kicking. There was simply not a phase of the game in which LSU did not beat BYU, and usually by a significant margin. BYU fans have to look long and hard to find any positives to cling to. This destruction was total.

-5. BYU’s net yards rushing. I don’t know what else you can do other than pointing out the number and letting it stare at you in all its glory. BYU had negative rushing yards on the game. You don’t see that too often.

1. Number of LSU punts. Not just that, it was the result of the first drive. LSU took its time shaking off the rust of the offseason, all of one drive. From that point on, every other drive ended either in the red zone or with the half ending. Speaking of which…

5 of 7. LSU’s red zone efficiency. This is one of those good news, bad news things. The good news is that LSU reached the red zone 7 times on 8 contested drives. That’s an insane ratio. The bad news is that LSU scored just five times, and reached the end zone three times. That has got to improved. If you get into the red seven times, you need to score upwards of 30 points.

10.06. When was the last time LSU averaged over 10 yards per attempt in the passing game? Seems like forever, right? It wasn’t. It was last year’s Texas A&M game. But it is a fairly uncommon occurrence around these parts and a good sign for the season going forward. Etling was accurate, efficient, and then able to drop a bomb when needed. He was, in other words, perfect. I know we haven’t said that about an LSU quarterback in a long time.

57/18. LSU’s run to pass ratio. So much for all of that talk of balance, right? There’s not much reason to pass the ball when you’re running it at a 5.2 yards per carry clip and you’re protecting a lead, but it did feel a bit misleading. There was all of this talk of a 50-50 run-pass ratio, and Canada chucked that out the window in the name of game management. Yeah, like he’s supposed to care about winning instead of optics.

3. The number of quarters in which LSU had at least 10 minutes of possession. The one quarter LSU didn’t? The third quarter, in which LSU held the ball for a scant 9:47. Time of possession can sometimes be a misleading stat. That night, it wasn’t.

2. Corey Thompson had two sacks. We hear at ATVS salute our fellow old guys and raise a glass of Metamucil in his honor.

1-0. The only numbers that matter.