LSU lost to Florida State 24-23 in their season opener on Sunday night, and their atrocious special teams were the biggest reason for the defeat.
For starters, the Tigers had an extra point blocked that would have tied the game at 24 and sent it to overtime (video here). But LSU had several other ugly special teams errors throughout the game.
Punt returner Malik Nabers muffed two punts. The first muffed punt came with just over three minutes left in the first half and gave Florida State the ball in the red zone. Luckily FSU went for it on 4th-and-2 at the 8 and got stuffed by LSU’s defense, so Nabers’ fumble didn’t cost LSU too badly.
Then in the minutes prior to the infamous blocked extra point, Nabers screwed up again.
LSU was down 24-17 and had forced a punt to get the ball back with just over two minutes left. But Nabers fumbled the punt and gave the ball right back to FSU inside the 10. That seemed like it was going to end the game, but LSU somehow forced a fumble on 3rd-and-goal and got the ball at their 1. They then drove 99 yards for the touchdown before the blown extra point.
As if the two muffed punts and blown extra point weren’t enough, LSU also had a field goal blocked in the second quarter. To top it all off, they had an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on a kickoff.
This was the worst special teams effort we have seen since the Packers earlier this year.
