A Dive Into the Motion Offense LSU Football Looks to Stall at Missouri
LSU’s defense will have its hands full keeping up with a Missouri offense based on misdirection. On Thursday, we attacked how the stalling the run game as well as diving into coach Eliah Drinkwitz background as an offensive mind.
As kickoff nears, we look deeper into how LSU will likely handle the shifts and motions Missouri will look to implement after a slow start to the season.
Be Ready for Various Formations and Shifts
Missouri must get running backs Larry Roundtree III and Tyler Badie going early to have a chance to pull off the upset. There’s no denying that. This is where the X’s and O’s come into play.
Leverage. College football coaches discuss this term quite often. Drinkwitz likes to use it frequently in an attempt to get a numbers advantage to one side of the formation, with unique formations and shifts being distinct possibilities. It’s something that LSU will be practicing for all week.
Because LSU possesses superior talent, look for Missouri to introduce at least a few new formations and shifts that did not take place prior to Saturday’s game. It’s not like Missouri is going to simply line up and run inside zone and overpower the LSU defensive front. The same goes with shifts that LSU will not see on tape. Here’s an example.
A simple run play with a tight end that goes in motion might be used two, perhaps three times through the first half. To open the second half, that same motion could be used to create a play-action pass off that same run action.
It’s not a novel concept, but several different passing plays can come from this otherwise run-dominant formation. Drinkwitz has so many different ways to basically run the same play via a shift and/or formational setup. LSU must be ready and mentally dialed in or Missouri can create big plays from an otherwise simple formation.
Trick Plays Stemming from Run-Action Designs
This is where Roundtree III and Badie really come into play. If they can average more than 4.0 yards per carry during first down, especially during the first half, that will really open up the opportunities for Drinkwitz and his offensive coaching staff to mix in a few trick plays that could catch LSU in tough situations.
Perhaps a flea flicker, end-a-round, halfback pass, or some other creative play design will stem from the rushing attack. Again, as stated above, Drinkwitz’s offense will use some formational looks that LSU probably did not see this season. Discipline is the key this weekend.
That’s what the LSU defense must adhere to from start to finish. If the LSU defense keeps the Missouri playmakers in front of them, there will be little chance that Missouri can sustain drives. LSU’s defense is too talented and too fast for Missouri to consistently deliver 10-play drives and punch it into the end zone.
This is game three for Drinkwitz and his staff. There will be bumps in the road -- like false start penalties and blown blocking assignments -- that stall drives. LSU simply needs to be sound. That leads to the final priority.
Gap Integrity Will Be a Must
Nothing worse than watching a long touchdown run because one player was not gap sound. It happens quite often in college football, and it’s something LSU prides itself on not allowing. This weekend, one particular LSU defender needs to play really good football to keep Missouri in tough down and distances.
Perhaps no other LSU defender will be as important as Siaki Ika. The massive interior defensive lineman must anchor the interior by staying gap sound. By doing so, Missouri fights an uphill battle on second and third down. Yes, Missouri will want to run the football between the tackles. Both Roundtree III and Badie can do that, and Missouri’s quarterback, Connor Bazelak, might be used on some read-option plays as well.
If Ika holds his ground, LSU’s tremendously talented linebacker core will be more likely to thwart the Missouri rushing game. That’s where it all starts. Right up the middle. Of course Glen Logan and every other LSU defensive lineman must step up and play gap-sound football as well.
Final Thoughts
There’s no reason to believe LSU will not come out a 10-plus point victor if the Tigers can at least slow down the Missouri rushing attack. Most of what Drinkwitz wants to do stems from his rushing attack. Formations and trick plays aside, LSU is the far superior football team. LSU needs to be mentally prepared and focused on Saturday, and those two priorities will lead to victory.
