LSU took control in a dominant second quarter and the Miami Hurricanes were blown out 33-17 by LSU in the season opener at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sunday night.
The loss was a complete poor performance. Malik Rosier continued to be inaccurate and the Miami Hurricanes were dominated at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. LSU scored on four of its first fives drives of the game and a pick-six thrown by Rosier gave the Tigers a 27-3 lead at halftime.
Rosier often missed open receivers after the second drive. LSU got on the board first with a seven-play 22-yard drive after a 20-yard Zach Feagles punt gave the Tigers the ball at the Miami 47-yard line. Feagles’ 36.4 yard average against LSU was worse than his 38.4 yard average as a Freshman in 2017.
The Sophomore’s poor night was an oft-missed fact on social media that gave the LSU offense short fields frequently in the first half. Rosier led the Hurricanes on a six-play 55-yard drive that culminated in a 38-yard Bubba Baxa field goal. That was the first attempt of Baxa’s career.
Rosier was incomplete on consecutive passes after Miami got to the LSU 20 before Baxa’s field tied the score. The Hurricanes defense forced a three and out on the next series. Miami took over on their own 30 and had a nine-play 42-yard drive. Rosier again was two-of-four on the drive for 21 yards.
He completed his first two passes on the drive for 21-yards to DeeJay Dallas before once again missing on second and third down. Baxa missed a 45-yard field goal on fourth down that would have given Miami a six to three lead. The collapse began from there.
LSU scored on the next three drives of the half and added a pick-six to take a 27-3 lead at halftime. Nick Brosette had a 50-yard touchdown run and one-yard plunge, Cole Tracy added a 21-yard field goal and Jacob Phillips returned an ill-advised Rosier pass 45-yards for a TD 35 seconds later to close out the first-half scoring.
LSU added two third-quarter field goals by Tracy, including a 54-yarder to extend the lead to 33-3. Rosier had a three-yard run and a great catch by Freshman Brian Hightower in corner of the end zone for a 32-yard TD reception off a Rosier pass cut the final margin to 33-17. Miami moved the ball to midfield late, but LSU took over on downs.
The Tigers ran out the clock to take away any chance Miami might have had at a comeback away. The final stats will not truly show how dominant LSU was in the first half. Eleven penalties for 85 yards on the night also hurt Miami. Their lack of discipline and execution on both sides of the ball was ultimately their undoing.
Now the Miami Hurricanes will have to regroup. The game against FCS Savannah State won’t tell us anything. They were a 3-8 team a division below the Hurricanes. Mark Richt had opportunities to play Cade Weldon or Jarren Wiliams but did not do it. Rosier received a lot of blame on social media for the loss.
LSU dominated the Hurricanes on both lines, had far better special teams play especially at kicker and punter, committed too many penalties and missed too many open receivers. There is a ton to work on. It would be surprising at this point if Rosier doesn’t start against Savannah State next week.
It’s pretty clear that Richt did not want to take him out to hurt his confidence. At this level, you have to do more than what’s best for the team.