LSU football ranks dead last in the SEC in points per game. That’s not a sentence anyone expected to utter in 2025. With quarterback Garrett Nussmeier returning with an elite group of wide receivers, LSU was projected to light up the scoreboard.
That’s not what’s happened.
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Through three games, LSU has just five touchdowns. LSU can’t establish the run game and Nussmeier has been inconsistent.
The assumption is that LSU will figure it out. The offensive line is still learning how to play together and Nussmeier is dealing with a lingering torso injury from fall camp. When LSU gels up front and Nussmeier gets healthy, it could suddenly click. But there’s some real issues with this unit right now.
LSU plays Southeastern on Friday. LSU has a massive talent edge vs. an FCS opponent and it shouldn’t take much for LSU to score points. But SEC play will ramp up in Week 5 when LSU travels to Ole Miss. LSU needs to have the offense figured out soon.
Today, we’ll take a look at what is wrong with LSU’s offense and how the Tigers can fix it.
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Why has LSU struggled to run the ball?
LSU’s run game fell flat vs. Louisiana Tech and Florida. The Tigers had the occasional explosive run, but there was no down-to-down consistency. With 3.2 yards per carry, LSU ranks No. 15 in the SEC. It’s hard to pinpoint a single issue that’s prevented LSU from establishing the ground game — scheme, playcalling, and a lack of execution all have something to do with it.
LSU’s go-to run play is wide zone, but LSU hasn’t executed it
Wide zone is LSU’s run play of choice thus far, but it hasn’t worked. LSU ran some wide zone in 2024 to mixed results. The concept has been even less efficient in 2025.
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When wide zone works, it really works. Some of the best offenses in the history of the NFL were built around the play. But it’s not an easy one to execute. It takes a certain personnel and a heavy amount of practice. The play intends to create horizontal movement, leading to vertical running lanes.
The horizontal stretch starts with the tackles. LSU isn’t getting what it needs from Davis at right tackle. Here’s a play from the Louisiana Tech game where Davis gets beat and Zavion Thomas gets tackled in the backfield.
Here’s a clip where LSU gets bailed out by Thomas making a play, but the blocking issues are still there. Davis gets beat again. Louisiana Tech threw a lot at LSU with different linebacker alignments and movement on the defensive line, but a Group of Five team shouldn’t win vs. LSU up front like Tech did.
The interior offensive line is still finding its way, too. LSU’s guards struggled to block Florida. The Gators have some good players, but Florida’s Caleb Banks completely sheds Josh Thompson here. This happened quite a few times vs. LSU’s entire interior offensive line in Week 3.
How does LSU fix the run game?
We can take the glass half full of half empty approach. Let’s start with the optimistic view.
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The glass-half-full narrative goes like this. LSU’s offensive line is young with five new starters. These players are talented, but they’re still figuring out how to play together. With some more reps, we’ll see the line create more effective double teams and get better at communicating vs. exotic alignments and defensive line movement.
Braelin Moore is a decent center and left tackle Tyree Adams has shown flashes. Redshirt freshman Coen Echols is still developing and could be good enough to claim a starting spot by late October.
Here’s the glass-half-empty view.
Adams, Davis, and Paul Mubenga are all struggling with fundamentals. It’s not a scheme or design issue — LSU just can’t execute the blocks vs. SEC defenders. Josh Thompson was highly touted as a transfer, but has yet to meet the hype. Moore managed to play vs. Florida, but he didn’t look nearly as good as he did vs. Clemson. It’s hard to fix this many execution issues during the season, especially with a line this young.
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LSU has two options: Fix wide zone or find something else to run. At this point, LSU seems committed to making wide zone work. For better or worse.
When LSU hired Alex Atkins as run game coordinator, some thought LSU would make counter its featured run. Atkins built his Florida State offense around counter runs. LSU has looked OK running counter thus far, but the sample size is small. If wide zone continues to be a problem, expect to see more counter mixed in.
The passing game isn’t there yet either
LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier is averaging just 6.5 yards per attempt, ranking near the bottom of the SEC. Not great considering LSU entered the year with Heisman hopes for its quarterback.
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The struggles vs. Clemson were understandable. Clemson has NFL-level corners and covered LSU on the outside. It was LSU’s first game with a new offensive line and LSU played it safe, asking Nussmeier to get the ball out quick rather than searching for the downfield shot.
But the aerial attack didn’t open up vs. Louisiana Tech either. The Bulldogs found success dropping eight defenders into coverage, taking away passing windows. Nussmeier was inaccurate, which didn’t help.
22.5% of Nussmeier’s attempts have been screen passes. The only SEC QB who throws screens at a higher rate is Georgia’s Gunner Stockton. But LSU is only averaging 5.6 yards per attempt on screens — not efficient enough to be throwing them at that high a rate. LSU hasn’t found much success on play action either, with Nussmeier ranking No. 16 among SEC QBs in play action yards per attempt.
LSU needs to find a way to stretch the field on the outside. Aaron Anderson and Zavion Thomas have been productive in the slot, but LSU’s offense won’t take the next step until Barion Brown and Chris Hilton Jr. are creating big plays down the field.
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Brown got behind the defense on the first play vs. Louisiana Tech, but Nussmeier’s throw was off and the ball was intercepted. We’re yet to see the offense sync up.
Brian Kelly revealed Nussmeier was dealing with a torso injury suffered in training camp, which could help to explain some of Nussmeier’s struggles. Kelly said Nussmeier is trending in the right direction.
There’s a chance Nussmeier gets healthy and starts lighting it up again, but the issues are probably a bit deeper than that. LSU needs the run game to get going before space opens up down the field. If LSU can’t run the ball vs. five and six-man boxes, defenses will keep two safeties back and take away the deep ball.
LSU’s offense lacks an identity right now. Until that gets figured out, LSU won’t hit the explosive plays its looking for.
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This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: Breakdown: What is wrong with LSU football’s offense?
