Another 200-yard game, another week of fawning over Fournette. And now the season has come down to four weeks for LSU.
Four weeks of preparation for an offense that still lacks balance and relies on superstar tailback Leonard Fournette. For a quarterback who still lacks confidence. For a team that still lacks a killer instinct.
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If LSU’s 34-24 victory over Syracuse told us anything, it’s that the next four games — Eastern Michigan, at South Carolina, Florida, Western Kentucky — will dictate whether a young, big-game inexperienced team, can find it before the final month of the season.
Because those four games — at Alabama, Arkansas, at Ole Miss, Texas A&M — is where it begins and ends for LSU. That means quarterback Brandon Harris has four games to make the LSU offense balanced; four games to make key throws to keep teams from zeroing in on Fournette.
It means LSU has four games to figure out how to seize the moment and close out games. Syracuse had no business hanging around in the fourth quarter with a chance to win, just like Mississippi State shouldn’t have been allowed to crawl back from a 21-3 second-half deficit in the season opener.
It means silly procedure penalties — the kind that eliminated an 87-yard touchdown run from Fournette that would’ve sealed the blowout early in the third quarter — have to be cleaned up before games against SEC heavyweights begin in November.
One full month of teams that will be inferior to LSU, that are either rebuilding or rebounding or completely overmatched. What better way for Harris and the offense to figure it out?
Look, LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron isn’t going to veer far from feeding Fournette. It’s what works now.
When LSU had elite personnel in the passing game, Cameron relied on the strong arm of Zach Mettenberger and wideout Odell Beckham. There is talent now in the passing game with wideouts Malachi Dupre and Travin Dural.
It’s now up to Harris — and Cameron — to find a way to be more consistent in the passing game. Once that happens; once teams can no longer key on Fournette, the LSU offense will be scary good.
Once that happens, closing out games won’t be an issue. Especially four critical games in November.