Will we be incapable of playing defense if we open up the offense?

You are correct. It's complete nonsense. It only makes sense if you are playing the TOP game and extending drives and shortening the game, which we are completely unable to do anyway. Going 3-and-out is not a viable strategy under any circumstance

You guys must play Madden with fatigue turned off

I mean we are undefeated. No other team played 3 straight good defenses like us.

2019 we let 8-5 Texas & Vandy score 38 on us in september. I think this board understands the Offense has a lot of room to grow and they will. I rather be happy with a two-score win over our rival who came in with nothing to lose

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So if we start to score in the 30’s and 40’s are we afraid that our defense will play worse? Maybe I’m old school but “playing to win the game” is as simple as putting as much point differential up on the score board as efficiently as possible.

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Given BK's announcement this morning that Nuss has been playing with an oblique injury all season then I'm not sure your point is germane.

Playing to win, in this case, may also include playing to protect our injured players while still winning the game.

If Nuss was truly hamstrung with an oblique (which definitely affects his ability to torque his trunk when throwing) then I can understand not putting him in a position to fail, or where he's asked to make throws that aren't needed to win.

The biggest change, though (at least IMO) was when Moore went out against Tech. Now you had a shaky OL in front of a QB that was already playing with some hesitancy. Tech's 3-3-5 was a great way to maximize pressure on a QB that was having trouble pushing the ball down the field and an OL that couldn't keep rushers out of the backfield. So, yeah, Nuss probably turtled up a bit after that.

Then throw in Sloan who (regardless of his ability as an OC) sees a shaky OL, an injury-restricted QB and a defense playing like Hell's own demons and now the playcalling itself gets pared down to the bare minimum.

Then follow that up against Florida. QB is still limited, Moore is back but playing on a high-ankle sprain and your best red-zone threat (Green) is out. Your defense is still balling out like a boss, so yeah, you play within what you can do and lean on your defense to pick up the slack.

It's not pretty, it's not exciting, but we did win both games. And I'd rather play to win in unsexy ways while protecting my injured QB than throw him out there to get crushed under pressure. That's what happened to Lee.

Is this what actually happened? Who the heck knows, but it's the most plausible thing I can come up with. if I'm right then, hopefully, things will get better on offense after the bye.

All fair points, and I agree Nuss dealing with an injury makes you more conscious of how you play offense.

But I don’t think it justifies “taking what you can get” to the fullest extent of only throwing to the perimeter and running zone reads when on our only TD drive we attacked the middle of the field and essentially walked UF to the end zone.

Not to mention we lined up under center for one play and it was the most explosive of the night.. would love to see more of that in short yardage situations as opposed to running a receiver out to the flat on a -1 yard route when it’s 3rd & 4.

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I think you are missing the second part of the decision to play conservative: Nuss has a torso injury that is limiting his ability to push the ball down the field.

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Does it limit his ability to throw it 7-15 yards between the hashes? Because that is where Nuss and the passing game has thrived. Anderson is a tough matchup to cover in the slot. Thomas is too. Yet, almost like clockwork, Sloan avoids the middle of the field/seams until he's certain, for the 16th game in a row, LSU is not efficient working the boundaries. Does it also hinder Nuss' ability hand off? Because it's not his torso injury that is preventing the running game from having success. It's the predictable approach that either defenses know what is coming or LSU's personnel can't execute well.

Go watch any LSU game under Sloan. The passing game thrives when they attack the middle of the field. It did so again Saturday. But just like every Saturday before, it's as if he will forget what LSU does best to start the game vs Ole Miss.

look what happened to Fla w/ a pretty good defense. 5 interceptions won the game

I’m kinda believing Kelly in that we are purposely conservative. Reminds me of 03 when it seemed like we were conservative with the lead and as soon as the other team scored we marched down the field and answered. Might just be wishful thinking.

His logic is not turn the ball over and play field position battle, but at some point you’ll have to score points. You have to show other looks and extend drives. The defense will be tired if they’re constantly on the field after constant 3 and outs. Look at the 2011 team in the national championship game. The defense played great for 3 quarters, but after the offenses struggling and them constantly being on the field against a strong physical team they got tired.

I’m okay with being on the more conservative side, but at least make it a balanced attack and put the odds in your favor. For example don’t line up and do a shotgun handoff up the middle with a stacked box, or run a “read” option with a qb that’s obviously not going to run it.