BYU football: Three things we learned from the LSU game

BYU football took on LSU on Saturday in the Superdome. Here’s what we learned from the Cougars’  27-0 loss to the No. 13 Tigers.

BYU football got walloped by the LSU Tigers on Saturday night. It was a rough game to watch, with the Cougar offense being a complete mess.

However, before we get started, let’s get some things out of the way early.

Firstly, the season is far from over. The sky isn’t falling because one of the best teams in the nation shut out the Cougars. Secondly, we have a nasty offseason habit of buying into all the practice hype – this game helped fans learn just what the Cougars are. Thirdly, there’s a ton of room to improve.

Fourthly, and most importantly, BYU still has a talented football team.

But, we did learn some things from the Cougars’ shutout loss.

Here’s what they were.

No. 1: The BYU offense needs (more) work

Last year, BYU football sputtered on offense early and often. So I called for Tanner Mangum to replace Taysom Hill.

Now, through two games, we have the same situation. The Cougars look like a mess offensively.

Granted, LSU is a great defense – so it is too early to enter full-fledged panic mode – but it’s troubling to put up fewer than 100 total yards and average just 2.6 yards per play.

LSU is one of the best teams in the nation, but BYU football couldn’t run the ball at all against the Tigers, and the quarterback/wide receiver play was the same we got last year.

Bad throws, missed throws, poorly run routes and bad hands.

It wasn’t often that wide receivers got open, but when they did, Tanner Mangum couldn’t hit them. In fact, Mangum didn’t look good at all. He averaged just 4.3 yards per attempt and turned the ball over once.

Of course, it didn’t help that BYU’s running backs amassed just 14 yards.

There was no rhythm to his play. He looked uncomfortable every time he dropped back and missed his receivers frequently. I’m not sure if it was all on him, or the receivers, or the offensive line. It was probably a mixture of the three, but it all adds up to the same result:

BYU football has a long way to go offensively.

I mean, things got so ugly that the ESPN broadcast spent most of the last five minutes doing Ed Orgeron impressions… ugh.