Why do people think that passing the football is the key?

That is not true. Pretty sure a running game has been established very well the past threee years without a passing game

ROFL! How far did this get us? Any chips? How far did this get us against Bama? If we cannot pass and keep them honest, Guice will do no better than Fournette did.
We are like the Cavs man. The only team worth preparing for is Golden State. You have to build a team to beat them. Its no different than us with Alabama.

We have to be able to pass the ball, period. Come out and hit bama with 2-3 solid play action plays for medium to big gains and there is no more 8-9 in the box.

It's more about a balanced attack being needed. We haven't had that for a while. We already have, and have had, a good running game for a long time, and it by itself can only get us so far. Have you watched the Bama games of the last 5 years, especially the last 2 with probably the best RB in LSU history? We had great backs that had their worst games of the season because teams like Bama can stop the run. If we don't have a passing game, then beating them is nearly impossible unless our defense can stop them every time.

I understand the need to pass, but we cannot just step on to the field and throw the ball and do nothing else. We need a BALANCED attack. Obviously throwing the ball is important when needed.

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You HAVE to run the ball to establish the passing game

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Kind of depends on the teams strengths and weaknesses, but for LSU this has been what we are constructed for.

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Especially when you don't have an absolute stud at QB.

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I'm not convinced this is correct, but I would agree if you instead said when you have average to mediocre QB play.

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People think that if we start passing the ball all game that we will magically become more successful.

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I don't think many people think that and certainly not a reasonable people.

Back to the original question

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Why do people think that passing the football is the key?

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people think this because the lack of consistently good (not great, just the good side of average) has been a large part of the reason LSU has not been able to get over the hump in recent years.

Balance and predictability. We've won most of our games by outmuscling opponents but can't do that to everyone.

you need the pass to set up the run in modern CFB

we have to play bama every year. trying to establish the run first will not work against Bama, and we have to have a passing game to allow a consistent and dangerous rushing attack. smashmouth alone does not work. learn the lesson of 2011

I think people know that we can and must do both with a great mix to keep one or the other most effective.

In a game like we are about to play this week, I would create a short pass game to take the pressure off of the run to start, then work into the run game, knowing how aggressive State will be against the run. I might even start the game with a nice fake to Guice and hit them with a deep out or dig route, right on time.

The point is to keep the other team, hell bent on stopping your run game, from feeling so confident in what you're actually trying to do. Break tendencies so that what they saw on tape is completely different then what they actually get in the game. It's pretty simple if you ask me. You must do both BUT be smart about both as well. GT

Bama doesn't lose much but if we want to win the SEC, we have to beat them. The last four teams to do so all passed for 405, 341, 251 and 243 and threw 4, 3, 3 and 2 TD passes.

You have to go back to the miracle at the Iron Bowl in 2013 to find someone who beat Bama with less than 240 yards passing. And even then, Auburn threw 2 TD passes.

The last seven national champions all averaged at least 214 yards per game passing, with two of them averaging > 300 yards per game (Clemson 16 and FSU 13).

In contrast, only one LSU team averaged > 214 yards per game and that was 2013 with Mett, OBJ and Landry. That team averaged 251. Was that 2013 offense not our most successful over the past 7 years? Do you not agree that if we had that offensive production (remember Hill rushed for 1,000 yards too) with our 2016 defense that we would have toppled Bama finally and made the playoffs?

No one is begging for air raid. We want to see an offense that is capable of winning by running or by throwing. We haven't seen that in a long time. And we haven't beaten Bama or sniffed a major bowl/playoffs in five years.

This really isn't hard to comprehend