SEC Football: Three Things We Watched for in Week Five

2. How Will LSU Perform Without Les Miles?

Exceptionally well. Not only were the Tigers without their former head coach, they were also mostly without superstar running back Leonard Fournette. It didn’t matter.

Derrius Guice and Darrel Williams both ran wild on the Missouri defense. Both totaled over 100 yards rushing and scored three touchdowns apiece. That is an encouraging sign for the Tigers, who have long been considered a one-man offense.

Perhaps even more encouragingly, Danny Etling had an efficient, albeit unspectacular, night at the quarterback position. He went 19 of 30 for 216 yards and no touchdowns. And, most importantly, no interceptions. Etling is not a star, but he doesn’t have to be. All he needs to do is keep the defense honest so that they can’t stack the box. If he can do that, the LSU offense will be tough to stop.

In addition to the LSU offensive explosion, the Tiger defense also had a great game. Drew Lock was sacked twice, hurried twice, and threw an interception. Even more impressive, the LSU defense held lock to just 167 yards on 37 pass attempts. He completed 17 of those attempts, also known as less than half of them.

Missouri did have a little bit of success on the ground early in the game, but they fell behind early and never really had a chance to establish it. All in all it was a great performance by LSU. If they can continue to play at a high level they may still be a factor in the SEC West race.