By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
The LSU offense fell to No. 84 in the nation in red zone offense after coming away with three field goals and no touchdowns after four trips inside the opponent’s 20-yard line in a 20-9 loss at No. 4 Alabama on Saturday.
It has been a major issue all season. LSU has scored 27 times out of 33 trips inside opponents’ 20-yard-line. But of the 27 scores, only 17 have been touchdowns.
Against Alabama, the first trip ended in a missed field goal with the other three made field goals. LSU did not score a touchdown in a game for the first time since a 29-0 loss to No. 1 Alabama on Nov. 3, 2018, in Tiger Stadium.
“The difference in my opinion in the game,” LSU interim coach Frank Wilson said Monday. “We kicked field goals. They scored touchdowns.”
LSU (5-4, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) faces Arkansas (2-7, 0-5 SEC) on Saturday (11:45 a.m., SEC Network). But the Razorbacks are dangerous, because they have the No. 8 total offense in the nation in with 484.4 yards per game and No. 21 scoring offense with 35.4 points a game.
And LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker’s unit must face its own personal Kryptonite – a mobile quarterback in the very talented Taylen Green. So, Wilson knows his offense is going to have to do a better job moving from its dead zone to the end zone, if the Tigers want any shot of winning their last SEC home game of the season.
“We’ll have to score touchdowns in this game,” Wilson said. “That’ll have to happen. That’s a non-negotiable because they can score. The difference is we have to find a way to be better from the 20 in, and so that is our charge.”
LSU’s best red zone target, tight end Trey’Dez Green, did not record a single reception in loss to Alabama. It didn’t help that the sophomore tight end dropped two passes and was overthrown in the end zone.
“He was targeted. He was schemed a couple of times, and we didn’t get it to him,” Wilson said. “A couple of times, we didn’t get the reception. But he is a strength for us that we recognize and that we need. “We need Trey’Dez to be involved in the game. We’ll try to get him going again this week. We will get him going this week. But we had him figured in the gameplan last week as well.”
Wilson also said backup quarterback Michael Van Buren may be used more in the red zone than starter Garrett Nussmeier because of his running ability.
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