LSU Defensive Stars Talk Preparing for Unique Missouri Offensive Approach

When safety JaCoby Stevens is watching tape of Missouri, he can't help but draw comparisons to another SEC program LSU will face later this season. Much like Missouri, Auburn will have a very similar style in the way its offense is run.

Stevens said both offenses will try to trick the defense by getting them out of position with motions and splits meant to divert eye direction. It's why coach Ed Orgeron has preached all week that the Tigers must play gap sound football and not be forced out of their assignments.

"They show you a lot of eye candy stuff so the big thing, especially with the young guys is eye discipline," Stevens said. "You don't wanna be looking at the motions and in the backfield because they run orbit motions just to run a simple outside or inside zone play."

An "orbit motion" as Stevens described is when the quarterback sets a slot receiver in pre snap motion from one side of the offensive line to the other. The purpose of the motion is when the ball is snapped, the receiver and running back are perfectly aligned in the backfield to throw off the defense.

Just take a look at how the New Orleans Saints utilized the "orbit motion" a few years ago against the Buffalo Bills.

The play design was a just a simple handoff to Mark Ingram but the defense also had to respect the slot receiver running behind Ingram on a potential pitch from Drew Brees.

"What those motions do is get you out of your gaps, they get you out of position to run something kind of basic," Stevens said. "It kind of reminds me of what Auburn does."

Missouri tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Casey Woods spent three years under Auburn coach Gus Malzahn as Director of Player Personnel and three years as an Offensive Quality Control assistant when Malzahn was the offensive coordinator at Auburn from 2009-11. As a result, the Missouri offense will look similar in style as Stevens alluded to.

If the style of offense is as similar as Stevens says, that bodes well for the purple and gold. LSU hasn't allowed more than 23 points to Auburn since 2015. Stevens said that a lot of what Missouri likes to do comes from a "numbers and leverage game."

"They're gonna try to out leverage you and they're gonna try to outnumber you in certain situations," Stevens said. "Their quarterback has the option to throw it out to a screen and let their athletes get in space and make a play. That plays to their strengths so as a defender it's our job to take that stuff away."

It'll be important for the defensive line in particular to not get sucked into the motions and various movements the Missouri offense will try and get away with. Senior defensive end Andre Anthony said the most critical part for the Tigers is to stick to their assignments.

"Just do our jobs and get to the quarterback," Anthony said. "Bo's gonna scheme it up and we've just gotta stick to our assignments."

There was speculation earlier in the week as to who Missouri would start at quarterback and freshman Connor Bazelak will draw the start according to coach Eliah Drinkwitz. LSU has just one game of film to watch on Bazelak but Orgeron gave his thoughts on the freshman during the SEC teleconference on Wednesday.

"Good pocket passer. I think they're gonna use him, he's smart, he can see the field and he's a really good player," Orgeron said.

Orgeron said Monday that the Missouri offense is extremely complicated, echoing what Stevens said about preparing for an offense with so many shifts and motions in an era of college football largely dictated by the spread offense.

"First time I've seen a pitch in a while off of a dive, a quarterback in a pitch with a lot of different formations," Orgeron said. "So we have to play assignment football. Boot and waggle team. They run a lot of nakeds. Offensive line, good zone blocking team will cut you, and also run some gap plays."