Once again it is starting to look like LSU and Alabama are headed on a collision course to see who will be crowned King of the SEC West. But, this week LSU is taking on Mississippi State and not looking past their opponent. Head coach Ed Orgeron said in his press conference earlier this week “We walked into a hornets nest two years ago, and I didn’t have them ready. We are going to expect their best game, they always have a target for one game and it seems to be LSU. I will have us prepared this year.” Coach Orgeron went on to talk about the loss in Davis Wade again today during his teleconference saying “that loss is still in the back of our mind.”
Coming off a very big win at home, against a very tough Florida opponent, the Tigers are looking to keep their momentum going as they travel to Starkville to take on the Bulldogs in what will most likely be a very lopsided affair. LSU is heavily favored in this matchup by nearly 20 points. However, the Bulldogs do have a playmaker in running back Kylin Hill, who Orgeron has said is “one of the best backs we’ve seen so far this year.”
Keeping Hill in front of them will be the job of the defense, and with the entirety of the defense getting healthy at just the right time expect more tackles for losses and sacks then in previous games. Rashard Lawrence and Glen Logan were in the game versus the Gators. Tyler Shelvin, who has missed some practice this week, “will be fine, he’s going to practice today” according to Ed Orgeron. Look for the Tigers to keep up the rotation along the defensive line heading into Starkville.
The Tigers defensive secondary has some really great individual players, Coach Orgeron thinks they need to play better as a unit, as a total unit on defense. “We have done some really good things, we could have a better pass rush, better coverage. I do believe we have improved our tackling since the beginning of the season to where we are now. I expect to have a very strong end to the season.” he says. “We don’t want to give up the points we’re giving up we want to get better.”
The wide out position has drastically improved in such a short amount of time for the Tigers. After having multiple dropped balls per game last season to nearly perfect games this season, Coach Orgeron gives a brief break down of why that is. “Obviously the emphasis all summer, they were catching 100 something balls a day by themselves, on the jugs machine. At the end of every drill, everybody catches the football. There is three, four, and five receivers catching footballs at the same time. I couldn’t believe the teaching ability of Joe Brady.”
With their new offense, LSU has been lighting up score boards and is currently No. 1 in most offensive categories. Coach Orgeron spoke about bringing in this system and what it could mean for LSU and the future. “We needed to score more points to bring a championship to Baton Rouge, and that’s the reason we did it. Obviously it helps us in recruiting, it’s working right now. It’s an offense that I really like, it’s an offense that some of us grew up in. The passing game is very familiar, but you can also run the ball. We’re 50/50 running the football right now. So it’s the offense to stay here in Baton Rouge. We are going to keep the same coaches, and get great quarterbacks, get great receivers and our offensive line is going to play well.”
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