So When does LSU Play a Complete Game? (Passing Game Stats Inside)

Anyone who acts like people are worried or anxious over simply last night is ignoring the rest of the season. We have a close game against a mediocre MSU team, which was OK because it was our first full game and was on the road. Luckily MSU melted down at the very end and then missed that FG

Then we play pretty well against a terrible Auburn team, but even though we are at home and playing a very bad team, we don't work on the passing game. But it was an SEC team and a hated rival (as well as Fournette's coming out party) so fans can give that a pass.However, that trend of lackluster play and the inability to pass continued. We had a lackluster effort with a horrible passing game against Syracuse? Oh we didn't take them serious. When do we stop looking ahead? Next week of course.

Well, we follow that up with a lackluster effort against one of the worse teams in D1A? Oh we didn't take them serious, either.

USCe isn't very good so I'm anticipating another incomplete game, likely sloppy play, a solid win, and then the same excuses.

We've played 4 games but in terms of the year we're 5 games in. We only have 7 left. We are 41.7% through the regular season and we are averaging fewer than 100 yards per game. We tried to work on passing against an absolutely terrible EMU team and were so bad Miles had to order the code red and we only ran in the 2nd half (I actually would like some historical context on the last time a top-10 team didn't complete a pass in the 2nd half of a live game).

There are legitimate worries about this team, and the most obvious is the complete inability of our team to develop a passing game. The QB, OL, and WRs are all at fault (QB being the least at fault), so this isn't a thread about Harris or a particular WR. ALL phases are playing at one of the worst levels in all of college football.

Our team passing (yard per game) currently ranks 124 out of 128 teams in D1A. Who ranks below us? 4 teams who all run the option only (AF, Navy, Army) and Georgia Southern (the team where Paul Johnson came from and a team who just entered 1A a few years ago).

Passing Rankings (out of 128):

Passing Yards/Game: 123 (LSU)
Total Attempts: 124-T (LSU)

Yards/Completion: 74 (LSU)
Yards/Attempt: 108 (LSU)
QB Rating (ESPN): 108 (LSU)
NCAA Efficiency: 105 (Brandon Harris)

So after looking at the stats, our passing game is clearly horrible. For people who want to ignorantly claim that our passing is bad in total simply because we don't pass the ball many times, I suggest that you look at the rates/efficiency stats. 108th in YPA is possibly our most telling stat, but 74th in YPC is very telling as well. Why? Well guess who ranks 1-2-3 in yards/completion?

Army, Air Force, and Navy. (Remember them from earlier?)

So we are combining the passing game of a talent-less option team WITH the inability to use passing opportunities when presented (like an option team). This is a recipe for disaster. Yes, we are running the ball VERY well but we are doing it against weaker competition. We still face very talented teams, 2 of which are very likely to slow our rushing game (Bama, Ole Miss). We also face 2 teams with very powerful offenses that may gash our defense (Bama, TAMU).

Like I posted last week. Only one team in the BCS era won a title without throwing for 2500 yards as a team (OSU in 2002 had like 2425 or so passing yards). We are on pace for 1393 passing yards (over 14 games). LSU would literally have to have a once in a lifetime team to win a title with that sort of terrible passing offense. I think that team was 2011 (with that defense and special teams, both of which are VERY weak this year), 2015.

Do I think we can turn our passing game around? Maybe. Cam has to lessen his grip on the offense. Miles has to allow screens, throws to backs, and throws over the middle. Nobody is asking for an Air Raid offense (mind you those teams have thrown 5-6x the times that LSU has, so even if we double our passing attempts, we'd have to MORE THAN DOUBLE that number to become "air raid"). People who are upset are worried that our completely inept, inefficient, and unproductive passing game will prevent this team from winning a national title. Our inability to even work on the passing game against a terrible team last night is legitimately scary.

Anyone who isn't scared I pose a question: do you think we're going to magically just have a good passing offense when we need it against Bama or Ole miss or TAMU? Will it just appear out of nowhere and all of the issues we displayed against MSU, Auburn, Cuse, and EMU just go away instantly?