LSU’s 2014 season was fraught with issues, inconsistencies and frustrations. The Tigers were young after losing an inordinate amount of talent from the previous two year, but LSU under Les Miles has competed at the top of the SEC West on an annual basis.

The Tigers have more than enough talent to bounce back in 2015, especially if they can find a way to improve in the following areas.

  1. Generate a pass rush: LSU was far below par when it came to getting to the quarterback in 2014. The Tigers only ranked ahead of South Carolina in the SEC in sacks in 2014 and sat behind some pitiful defensive teams. Under Ed Orgeron, the defensive line should have more of an edge to it in 2015. While LSU is losing its top two pass rushers in Danielle Hunter and Jermauria Rasco, Orgeron and new defensive coordinator Kevin Steele are already on the hunt for some top-flight high school DEs to replace them, while there’s young talent on the roster to be molded.
  2. Maximize the quarterbacks’ abilities: While Anthony Jennings was certainly subpar and Brandon Harris didn’t get a true chance to prove his worth, there’s no doubt that offensive coordinator Cam Cameron didn’t much help his passers’ cases. For the passing game to improve, Cameron has to change his ways. That means fewer straight drop backs and deep throws and more opportunities for the quarterbacks to get out in space and maybe even some read-option work thrown in. Of course, feeding Leonard Fournette to take the pressure off will help matters, too.
  3. Create turnovers: After ranking in the national top 20 for turnovers forced each year from 2010-12, LSU backslid in 2013 and 2014, ranking 81st and 65th, respectively. While LSU’s defense was tops in the SEC in total defense, you can’t help but wonder how much better it could have been, and how much easier life would have been for the offense, if there were a few more turnovers created and short fields to work with.
  4. Get the playmakers involved: As usual, LSU will be teeming with talent at the skill positions come 2015. Travin Dural showed what he can do in stretches of 2014, while freshmen Malachi Dupre, John Diarse and Trey Quinn all gave glimpses as to their potential. Five-star receiver Tyron Johnson is slated to join them come fall, giving LSU one of the best collections of young receivers in the SEC. As the Tigers did with a variety of jet sweeps late in the year, they’ll have to find ways to get the ball to their talent, especially if the quarterback situation doesn’t improve drastically.
  5. Straighten out the kicking game: After a red-hot start to the season, LSU kicker Colby Delahoussaye appeared to catch a case of the yips at the end of the year. Les Miles said he wasn’t hurt, so we can only assume his issues, hitting just 1-of-4 to end the season before being benched in the bowl game, came from confidence issues. His replacement Trent Domingue was only slight better, hitting 2-of-4 over the final two games. LSU needs to have one of those kickers kick reliably in 2015.