re: The way-too obvious way to succeed on offense

Yes it is. He puts his arm out a little. Again not the full play action that you want but it stalls defenders a little considering that LSU runs out of that formation the majority of the time. Defenders are already thinking run from the formation which mean something as subtle as running towards a RB freezes the defense for a second. The fact that only 2 receivers are running the pass pattern has much to do with the lack of separation. If the OL could pass block then more receivers would be out on a pattern and separation success rate would be higher, especially after a quick play action.

Btw, the full play action takes a little longer and our OL can't be depended on for pass blocking.