re: Does Clemson even score 20 on this stingy defense?

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Baker's two LSU defenses have ranked 11th (24) and 5th (25) in total defense in the SEC. That (at least last year) is good, but not dominant. From the outside looking in there are reasonable questions that need to be answered re: the DL, LB depth, and CB depth.

The minimal reports out of camp are LSU is going to rely on some true freshmen to be a big part of the DT rotation. Hopefully they are great, but that can be a really tough ask of true freshmen. Especially now where OLs are older and more experienced than ever before. At DE there is one player, Umanmielen, that seems to be a potential star. Outside of him though the rest of the guys have been more or less (at best) average players throughout their college careers. LSU has also been proactive in trying to bring in NFL cuts at DL. It's hard to think that is just a coincidence.

Weeks and Dottery should be a very good LB duo. Maybe the best in the SEC. Beyond that there is more uncertainty in terms of great quality. Kind of the same at CB with Woodland and Pickett.

On the flip side there are many more new faces on offense. However, in six years Lane never had an offense that ranked lower than 3rd in the SEC. Most years, including last year, that was with several new transfers playing key roles. So there is no reason to think he won't be able to keep that level of success going at LSU immediately.

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There is so much wrong with this that it's almost hard to pick where to start. Lets start with DL depth. Depth isn't an issue at all at DL We have plenty of bodies with plently of power 4 experience as well as stud 5 star freshman. You will play at minimum 11 guys on the defensive line. You can argue that we maybe don't elite playes on that unit but depth is not a concern in the least. The ND Edge will be eligible to play with no special wavier because he didn't sign a NFL contract. So you now have Princwill/'Ross/Brown/Carpenter and you add Junior Tuihalamaka whos played in 30 career games. You have plenty or talent and depth in that room now.


LB. You said outside of Dottery and Weeks there is "uncertainty" which is completely false. Davhon Keys had 88 tackles last year. He finished 3rd in the SEC in totat tackles last year and didn't play against Clemson. It's obvious you don't really know our roster if you don't know about Keys.

CB depth is a real concert. Hopefully Raymond has done a good job developing Jackson/Turner/ect.

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There is so much wrong with this that it's almost hard to pick where to start. Lets start with DL depth. Depth isn't an issue at all at DL We have plenty of bodies with plently of power 4 experience as well as stud 5 star freshman. You will play at minimum 11 guys on the defensive line. You can argue that we maybe don't elite playes on that unit but depth is not a concern in the least. The ND Edge will be eligible to play with no special wavier because he didn't sign a NFL contract. So you now have Princwill/'Ross/Brown/Carpenter and you add Junior Tuihalamaka whos played in 30 career games. You have plenty or talent and depth in that room now.

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I didn't specifically state DL "depth" as a concern like I did with LB and CB. It was a quality argument. Yes, LSU has a lot of guys. But the vets have been average throughout their careers and the true freshmen are still true freshmen. That's a big adjustment playing against, now, 23, 24, 25 year old multi-year college players to expect them to be really good right out of the gate.

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LB. You said outside of Dottery and Weeks there is "uncertainty" which is completely false. Davhon Keys had 88 tackles last year. He finished 3rd in the SEC in totat tackles last year and didn't play against Clemson. It's obvious you don't really know our roster if you don't know about Keys.

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Keys has never been an impact player. Yes, the tackle numbers are nice. But someone has to make the tackle. If you are not making plays behind the LOS, forcing TOs, you are just an average player. Weeks, from game one showed flashes of making impact plays. For example, West Weeks had double the amount of TFLs and sacks, and just about as many solo tackles per game as Keys last year. I don't know if a lot of people would say West was an impact player. He was just an average LB...same as Keys. The point is that based upon what we know at the moment there appears to be a big drop off in quality from the 1st two LBs and the guys behind them.

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That's a big adjustment playing against, now, 23, 24, 25 year old multi-year college players to expect them to be really good right out of the gate.

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Clemson rebuilt almost their entire offensive line. They are replacing 4 starters, with only their center returning. Sadler their RT has experience as well but the LT, LG and RG are all pretty green.

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If you are not making plays behind the LOS, forcing TOs, you are just an average player.

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This is just stupid. A LB's job is to make tackles. Forcing TO's or getting a TFL is just extra. You said there was "uncertainty" behind Dottery and Weeks butKeys is the opposite of that. You didn't say "we don't have an impact player" behind them. You said uncertainty and that's flat out wrong. We have a top 3 tackler in the SEC from last year as our backup.

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The point is that based upon what we know at the moment there appears to be a big drop off in quality from the 1st two LBs and the guys behind them.

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No the dropoff is after the 3rd guy. An average LB doesn't finish top 3 in tackles in the SEC. LSU has by far the best first backup at that position of anybody in the SEC. Also Blake Baker did not go in the portal outside of Dottery to go get a LB. That means he feels really good about the other guys he has.

10 Clemson gets 10 points.

42-10

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With Kiffin's teams' ability to score, takeaways are just huge. We can put games out of reach or make the other team start taking risky shots to get back in the game pretty quickly.

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This. Kiffin and Baker are a match make in heaven.

Baker loves to create havoc. If his defenses are playing with a lead and can pin those ears back and get after the QB we are in good shape. This isn't a John Chavis sit back with a lead type DC. Baker is going for the neck.

Example: LSU opens the game with a 5 play 75 yard TD drive. Defense creates a TO and we get the ball back on the opponents 37 yard line. 6 play 37 yard TD drive and we are 14-0 before they can blink. Obviously this won't happen every game but the combination of Kiffin/Weiss/Baker coudn't fit any better.