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LSU’s high-octane attack awaits test

BATON ROUGE, La. — The grin on LSU quarterback Joe Burrow’s face broadened as he was asked to consider how much the fifth-ranked Tiger’s passing game had evolved since they lost at Florida one year ago.

“How long do you have? It’s not the same offense,” Burrow began. “We’ve put up the most points through five games in SEC history. We have explosive play makers all over the field.”

If Burrow has any doubters, they apparently don’t set odds in Las Vegas. LSU (5-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) opened as a two-touchdown favorite over No. 7 Florida (6-0, 3-0), despite the fact that the Gators will enter Death Valley tonight leading the nation in interceptions with 12 and leading the SEC in sacks with 26.

“They’re the best defense we’ve played. It’s not even close,” Burrow said of the Gators. “They have first-round guys all around the field.”

The game presents a compelling test for the Tigers’ new, up-tempo spread offense. While LSU averages SEC highs of 571 yards and 54.6 points, only one of its previous opponents — Texas — has been ranked this season.

Then again, LSU has played football for 126 years and its offense never has looked like this .

“They’re looking at the players they have … and what fits that talent,” Florida second-year coach Dan Mullen said. “They have a veteran quarterback that can really throw it. They have great skill players in the perimeter and they have a veteran offensive line. In that case, why not spread her out and try to go score some points?”

LSU coach Ed Orgeron has talked of transforming the Tigers’ attack since taking over in 2016. They’d begun passing more by last season, but Burrow said losses of 27-19 at Florida and 29-0 against Alabama “probably” raised the urgency to move toward a more cutting-edge attack. Now running backs are as likely to catch a short pass out of the backfield as get a handoff and Burrow routinely has four receiving targets on the line of scrimmage.

“Watching all the offenses around the country, we needed to make a change,” Burrow said. “We weren’t going to be able to compete for SEC titles, national championships, if we didn’t.”

It helped that LSU had a tall, athletic, accurate passer with tons of experience. Burrow spent three years at Ohio State before moving to LSU as a graduate transfer in 2018. Burrow’s leadership and advanced understanding of football schemes as a college defensive coordinator’s son made him an ideal candidate to drive the transformation.

“They trust me enough to put my ideas in the game plan,” Burrow said. “They trust me enough to make checks at the line. So I’ve kind of evolved into a line-of-scrimmage quarterback.”

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