re: I've had time to reflect on this miserable game

As shaky as Ramos has been, I don’t recall any misses from 35 yards or less, maybe 1

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Hard to really judge much given the opponent. It would be weird if we didn't have a fairly vanilla gameplan. You don't want to give away anything for future opponents if you don't have to.

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Last season LSU was (nationally) No. 19 in total yards per game. They were 4th in 3rd down conversion %...and they are 47th in points per game and 60th in TDs per game. Compare that to the ppg rankings for these teams: Indiana (2), Notre Dame (5), Boise St. (7), Oregon (8), Ohio State (9), SMU (13), Clemson (19), Penn St (22), Texas (24), Arizona St (25), Tennessee (26). If you are keeping score at home that is 11 of the 12 CFP teams...and LSU was 20+ spots worse than that.

What that means is LSU moved the ball. They kept drives alive. Yet, they were inefficient in turning that production into points. Unfortunately, you don't get extra credit on the scoreboard for how many yards you gain.

Two games into this year you are seeing the same issues. LSU's is moving the ball (though the rankings are skewed because many P4 teams haven't played an equal opponent yet), yet they aren't turning that in to TDs. This, despite the fact LSU has 5th year returning starter QB, a better receiver group, and an experienced RB. People want to blame the OL. However, the OL is completely different from last year. The results are the same. When that happens you look at the constants between the two seasons.

That constant is Sloan. His offenses are inefficient when it comes to putting points on the board. Sure the handful of misdirection plays my look "pretty", but they are gaining a lot of empty yards with the primary objective is to score TDs. Again, while it's only two games, it's hard to see how Sloan and his offensive approach has progressed at all from last season. In fact, it may be slightly worse.

LSU's defense is leaps and bounds better than the last two seasons. That's, for the fans than just want to ignore them, masking the glaring underlying issues with the offense. We've already watched one LSU team be championship caliber on one side of the ball, and woefully deficient on the other, thus costing the team as a whole a CFP chance. No one wants to see that happen again. And, quite frankly, it shouldn't given what LSU has on offense. That's not going to kill you against La Tech. But just like in 2023 when it was unrealistic to put such a heavy burden on the offense to overcome a poor defense, that's the concern here if the goal is the CFP and beyond.

Whatever. So going forward any 3-3 defense will stonewall the running game. Got it.

As I see it, the offense is what it is. Nuss is what he is and that may be about average. With no running game, that spells serious problems down the road and more likely than not-no playoffs.

I agree with what you said. For 1, I am ok with the vanilla gameplan against Tech. What was exceptionally frustrating was watching our O-Line get absolutely no push for the run game. I lost count of how many runs up the middle or off tackle that netted either 0 or less than 2 yards. It was really unbelievable. 2. Something I don't like is how often we substitute multiple players. It felt like we substituted 3-4 players every single play and I think that causes the game to slow down and also allows for the opposing defense to get set. I would like to see us go much faster and keep some guys in for more than 1 play. 3. Completely agree about the Defense. If not for a dropped INT and a complete brain fart, we shut out Tech and go 6 quarters with no points scored. The D looks outstanding! 4. Agreed about confidence level at home/away. I think we win this game but would feel very worried if this were at Florida. 5. Agreed about Ole Miss. We thankfully get Southeastern the week before Ole Miss. Who knows about the playoffs as we still will have 1/2 of our season left to play after Ole Miss. What I do like is that we have a bye week in-between the Ole Miss/South Carolina games! We also get a bye between A&M and Bama. This should help us getting prepared for those games!

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Nuss is what he is and that may be about average.

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Nuss is one of the best QB's in the country. He and a few of the WRs had an off night. He still made some crazy good throws and did some good things.

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As soon as we get inside the 10, i just expect a fieldgoal

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that needs to change!

Nuss is the key plus good play call

we have the advantage with QB and skill players, stupid we can't score

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 I think Sloan gets too predictable with his playcalling

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Based on what? This narrative that they always run inside zone on 2nd down, which is easily debunked?

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My biggest issue with coaching is that we are still having trouble lining up correctly, getting the play called and getting everyone set in a timely fashion. We have way too many pre-snap penalties and we unnecessarily burn timeouts because of it and that is a major indictment on the coaching.
It became a problem under Miles and O's tenures here, and that is something that should have been nipped in the bud during the offseason.

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Everyone is having issues with this right now. It's typical early in a season, especially with all the transfers these days.

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Last week, if we go for it and get it instead of kicking it, we are tied at the half. People were furious because we went, DIDN'T get it, and scored nothing. This week, we dial it back and take the points, and people are pissed we did that too.

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Last week was at the end of the half with very little time from just inside the 20. This week was first and goal. Different scenarios.