Brian Kelly admitted Monday that the LSU staff has considered an offensive line adjustment that would bump right tackle Weston Davis from the starting group.
But the Tigers remain committed to the redshirt freshman, the former blue-chip prospect in whom the coach said the staff sees both progress and potential.
A move of Northwestern transfer Josh Thompson out from right guard to right tackle has been discussed, but does not appear on the horizon.
“We did, but we’re willing to live with some mistakes out at right tackle, because we think his future’s so bright,” Kelly said. “So when you go into that whole process of thinking about it, do you thwart his growth of what he needs to see every day? He was really good against (Dylan Stewart) in pass protection, really good. That guy (Stewart) is outstanding. He’s as good as I’ve seen. He’s so quick. He’s got a power move. He’s got an edge move. And (Davis) did a great job.
“We’ve got to get him better in the run game, and that’s where at times you want to put Josh out there, but we’re gonna live with him. And I’m proud of him. He’s growing. He’s learning this game. And that’s a big part of this. O-line awareness, O-line instincts — some have it, some don’t, some you’ve gotta really give ’em reps, and that’s what this is about. He needs to play.”
LSU finished Saturday’s game with a season-high 166 yards — on a season-best 5.53 yards per attempt — and 420 total yards, which marked its most against an FBS opponent. And, for the second time this season, the Tigers didn’t allow a single sack.
Those yardage totals were both the second-most allowed by South Carolina thus far this season, with the yard-per-carry average marking the most efficient ground game by any opponent thus far. And the game was the first time this season the Gamecocks’ defense did not record a sack.
“We ran off the ball for the first time with the offensive line,” Kelly said. “We got off the ball. Now, we’ve got to sustain, and sustainability is will and want-to, and we’ve got to get more of that. I thought we did a great job of protecting our quarterback. No sacks against one of the elite pass-rushers in Stewart. He is an outstanding athlete, and I was proud of our guys in keeping our quarterback clean. So some of the real foundational principles of being successful are in place.”
Another redshirt freshman, Coen Echols, earned his first career start Saturday at left guard in place of an injured Paul Mubenga, whom he’d also spelled heavily in the previous two games against Southeastern Louisiana and at Ole Miss.
Kelly was complimentary of the former four-star signee’s performance in his biggest opportunity thus far.
“I thought he was really solid for us,” the coach said. “He gets off the ball, he gets hands on you and he moves you. You get a dent, and he did a really, really good job. Now, he made some mistakes, but that’s gonna happen because he doesn’t have a huge résumé of work. But I liked his effort. It was really, really solid. Our guard and center play was the best it’s been all year, and it happens in the triangle. That’s where it has to happen. That group right there has got to get off the ball and get you some initial movement, and that’s where we were better.”
But Kelly pointed to the biggest factor of the potential progress of the offensive line being time together this season and mentality.
“I think it’s just been an evolution,” he said. “I think it starts with getting off the ball. I think it starts with aiming parts for our offensive line. A lot of the things that take time to come together is starting to come to fruition, and so the run game as I’ve said has got to be central to our overall offensive efficiency, but it’s gotta show itself in other areas as well, so we’ve got some work to do.”
For all the positive statistics, there were clear moments — including the goal-line fumble in the first quarter — in which Gamecocks defenders were 2 or 3 yards into the backfield at the time a running back was taking a handoff or a play was just beginning to develop.
PFF (Pro Football Focus) graded the game as LSU’s worst week of pass-blocking thus far, just shy of the loss at Ole Miss as its second-best run-blocking performance and just its fourth-best running and fourth-best passing effort overall.
—— LSU OFFENSIVE LINE GRADES VS. SOUTH CAROLINA ——
Player (Position) Snaps Off. Ovr. Run Blkg. Pass Blkg.
Josh Thompson (RG) 66 70.1 (2nd) 72.5 (1st) 62.0 (5th)
Braelin Moore (C) 66 67.8 (3rd) 62.3 (4th) 80.8 (2nd)
Tyree Adams (LT) 66 56.2 (5th) 53.7 (4th) 57.7 (5th)
Coen Echols (LG) 66 56.0 (3rd) 62.4 (1st) 24.6 (6th)
Weston Davis (RT) 66 44.4 (4th) 51.4 (2nd) 29.2 (5th)
(Parentheses represent ranking among player’s games)