re: Will we continue to kick the ball straight this weekend?

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One of the dumbest things Les does is to continue to put up with kicking it out of bounds.

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I'm not excusing this at all, but this isn't much different that your best pass rusher getting called for off-sides in a crucial situation, it's going to happen every now and then, but the benefits of his aggressiveness pays off much more.

In looking at kickoff coverage this year, LSU ranks 4th in the country in return average at 13.8 yards. There have been 2 penalties for kicks out of bounds, and 2 touchbacks. Of the other 10 kickoffs, the best starting field position was the 27. Average starting position is the 18.5. Factoring the penalties and touchbacks in, average is the 21-22 yard line. Given LSU's defense, this directly leads to better starting field position for the offense.

I'd also argue that the out of bounds kick vs. MSU was much more of a mistake by the kick returner, you never let a ball with that trajectory on a kickoff hit the ground inside the 10. The ball could have easily bounced the other way.