In what was an absolutely stunning outcome as Troy toppled LSU football 24-21 in Death Valley on Saturday night.
As the clock ticked away, so too did the hopes of LSU as they were losing to Troy. First-year head coach Ed Orgeron’s LSU team kept fighting but in the end, they just couldn’t bring it home.
How does this happen? I mean seriously, LSU is a team with as much talent as anyone could dream of. I can assure you any coach minus Saban would probably trade rosters in a heartbeat.
So then is it a sign of poor coaching for the Bayou Bengals in Baton Rouge? Of course, I want to say that it’s just his first year and slipups are to be expected but among Tiger faithful, buyout discussions are already starting.
Maybe, however, Troy is just a good team or at least better than LSU. In short, that is a simple truth. LSU got out coached in more ways than just on the field tonight. It was absolutely the product that each staff put on the field that showed Troy was a better team and more prepared for this game.
Tonight’s game against LSU brought Troy their best upset in program history. I may be a fan of the SEC in many cases but tonight even I was pulling for Troy because they definitely deserved it more.
There’s going to be a lot of talk in the coming week, and probably beyond, on LSU football. What went wrong? What can be salvaged? Here are my three initial takeaways from this stunning victory by Troy over LSU.
3. Troy is a good team. Period.
Normally when it comes to these big upsets, you’ll rarely read anything about the team that actually won. I know this because I have written many of them and most other writers and myself stick with the failure of a big team. Not tonight.
Troy deserves this. Troy beat Missouri in 2004 and until now, haven’t had this kind of win. It should be celebrated due to how it happened. Troy fought and they fought hard. It was clear they wanted it more and it was also clear they knew they could achieve it.
Head coach Neal Brown has done a great job with this team. “We have a lot of guys who could play in this league and they have a chip on their shoulder,” said Brown in his post-game interview on ESPN. From what I saw, he is exactly right.
Troy took LSU to the lockerrooms at half-time, 10-0. The Trojans went to Baton Rouge and out SEC’d an SEC team. Troy won the time of possession, defensively manhandled the Tigers and put up 206 yards on the ground in the stadium home to many great running backs.
Congratulations to the Trojans on a heck of a win. They definitely deserve to be discussed first for an incredible game against a 25th-ranked LSU Tiger team. They move on as a 4-1 team and take on South Alabama next.
2. LSU’s offense was horrific
I said this in the beginning of this article. LSU has a ton of talent on the team but that talent alone isn’t doing them any good. LSU went scoreless all the way until the final seconds of the 3rd quarter and by that time, it was nearly too late.
The Tigers did start to get a momentum a few times within this game, however, they could never seem to hold it. In a large part, this was due to turnovers. LSU turned the ball over four times. One of which was on a last-second drive to possibly win the game but it was cut short with an interception.
In a way, the end was only fitting for the Tigers. LSU won the battle of 1st downs against Troy with their 21 to the Trojan’s 16. As great as that is, I take a look at the next line of the stat sheet and can’t help but scratch my head. LSU went 0-8 on third down conversions.
This is a team that historically would just line up a Heisman hopeful running back and destroy you on third-downs. This raises so many questions about different aspects of this team.
The offensive line has to do better. After getting hit, quarterback Danny Etling was taken out with a possible injury but came back in late in the game. LSU will have to figure out what the issues are here and a way to overcome.
Overall though, Etling was almost the reason LSU won. On the final drive of the game, the quarterback put the team on his shoulders and tried his hardest to get them the win. It was too late at this point but I do believe there is hope. In the end, it comes down to one guy I think could be the biggest problem with LSU.
1. Is Ed Orgeron going to make it?
The title says it all, folks. It may be his first year but coach Orgeron is not making the type of splash that many expected him to make. Instead, LSU under Coach O is taking a nose dive and doesn’t look like they are gonna regain anytime soon.
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I like Coach O but I’m starting to question what is going on here. I’ll say it again, tonight showed a difference in coaching. Not only did Troy have a better game plan but they had been coached better before they ever even took the field.
LSU lost to Mississippi State for the first time in forever in Starkville. Two weeks later, they lost to Troy in Death Valley. This was the first time a non-conference team beat the Tigers at home since 2000 when UAB beat them.
Let me remind everyone why Les Miles, who won a national championship, was fired. Offense. Miles couldn’t adjust to the changing times and due to this, was ultimately fired for his inability to find wins. Nothing has changed.
Does that mean that Coach O won’t work out? That remains to be seen. The reality in this moment, however, is that it’s not working right now. With all this talent, it’s the lack of coaching that is putting LSU on fast fall from relevancy.
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It doesn’t get any easier from here for Orgeron and LSU. They take their show on the road to Florida and then face SEC opponents for six more straight weeks. Coach O has a lot to prove but as of yet, he’s only showing LSU fans that this hire may have been a mistake.