Expect LSU to shuffle OL again; Orgeron shifts attention to pass rush
BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU’s offensive line is bound to be shuffled once again.
After Garrett Brumfield went down with an injury for the second consecutive week, true freshman Chasen Hines was inserted into the game, again. Coach Ed Orgeron declared Brumfield out for Saturday’s home game against Ole Miss, meaning Hines is in line to make his first career start.
“Chasen has been a plus,” Orgeron said during his weekly Monday press conference. “He played well and he’ll have to start for us this week. I think he’s done a good job. He’s big, physical. He can handle the physical task and I think he’s handled the mental task so far. He’ll have to block Benito Jones in a lot of situations.”
Orgeron did not provide a timetable for Brumfield’s return.
LSU could welcome back both starting offensive tackles this week, too. Both Saahdiq Charles and Adrian Magee are questionable entering this week’s SEC tilt with the Rebels. Charles missed last week’s contest against Louisiana Tech and Magee has been out since suffering an injury in the first quarter of the season opener against Miami.
“Hopefully, we’ll get him back,” Orgeron said of Charles, who’s played in two of LSU’s four games this season, “but I’m not sure.”
From a depth standpoint, guard Donavaughn Campbell is in line to see his first action of the season. Should Magee return, Deculus and Badara Traore — who started in place of Charles at left tackle — will serve as primary backups.
Beyond that, former Rivals 4-star defensive tackle Dare Rosenthal, who switched to the offensive line leading into the Auburn game, is not expected to see action at this juncture in the season.
“He’s not ready yet,” Orgeron said of Rosenthal. “I wish he was. I wish we could have moved him (to offensive line) a lot sooner. He’s not ready right now and I would not put him in.”
“Hopefully, we get these injured guys back real soon,” he added.
Emphasis on the pass rush vs. Ole Miss
For a former defensive line coach, the lack of a pass rush is painful for Orgeron.
Through four games, LSU has 12 sacks, good for 20th in the nation along with Washington State. The team ranks fourth in the SEC in that department.
The Tigers have notched three sacks over the past two contests, which the coach deemed as a major setback for the defense, which will have to be corrected to slow down Ole Miss’ conference-leading passing attack.
“Dave (Aranda) is a man of few words, but obviously, he’s not pleased,” Orgeron said of his defensive coordinator, now in his third season with the team. “We need to work hard to do better. I’ve seen his demeanor today and I really like his demeanor.”
Sophomore Bench-linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson, a popular pick to lead the Tigers in sacks this season, suffered a season-ending injury in the opener against Miami. Andre Anthony has taken over as the team’s primary edge-rusher and recorded a half-sack in the victory at Auburn.
If LSU is going to improve in that category, the coaching staff will not only have to be more creative with Anthony but generate a stronger push from its three down-linemen, who through four games have combined for 3.5 sacks.
“Andre has a good game versus Auburn, but we didn’t use him like we should (have) against Louisiana Tech,” Orgeron detailed. “We had a different scheme and we didn’t rush a much. I think we can use him off the edge more, use his speed. We need to get better at that. We need to rush with our big men. They have not gotten pressure and we need to get better at that.”
Red-zone offense thriving; will the rest of the unit catch up?
While the Ole Miss offense sits atop the SEC in terms of a passing attack, LSU quietly owns the conference’s best mark inside the red zone.
In a four-game sample size, the Tigers have scored on each of its 16 trips inside their opponents’ 20-yard line. In contrast, the offense ranked 81st in this category a year ago. Part of the reason the team owns a perfect success rate in the red zone is the emergence of graduate transfer placekicker Cole Tracy, who’s drilled seven fields goals thus far, as well as improved play-calling from first-year coordinator Steve Ensminger and the addition of passing-game coordinator Jerry Sullivan, who Orgeron quickly distinguished as a “red-zone expert.”
“It’s something we wanted to improve upon,” the coach said. “We practice red zone on Mondays and Thursdays. Last year, we practiced it on Thursdays. We practiced red zone three times a week in camp, so we have a different offense in the red zone than we have in upfield situations. That’s different with Coach E and bringing Jerry Sullivan along, our red-zone expert. He has a bunch of great schemes against the red-zone defenses we see.
“That combination of being aggressive in the red zone and going on it on fourth-and-1, if we have a chance, the addition of Cole Tracy, coming together … our mindset is that we’re going to score when we get into the red zone and Coach Ensminger has taken on that mindset.”
While LSU has been perfect in red-zone situations, the unit remains a work in progress as a whole.
The offense is averaging 352.5 yards of total offense per game, good for 107th in the nation. The Tigers sit 75th with a rushing attack averaging 168.0 yards on the ground and a passing game that ranks 106th, averaging better than 182 yards per game.
There’s still room to improve statistically, but the unit has been hamstrung by a battered offensive line. There have been three left tackles, three right tackles and two left guards in four games, which has forced the coaches to adjust play calling based on protections and new personnel.
“We need to be more explosive,” Orgeron suggested. “We had 10 explosive plays last week, the most we’ve had this year. We need to score more points to be more efficient. The problem we’ve had is with such a change on the offensive line. Everything comes down to protection, what we can we use and the best protection to get the ball down the field. We’re limited in what we can do with all the injuries we’ve had and I think that plays a big part.
“We have some strengths and we have some weaknesses. We’ve identified our strengths and we know where our deficiencies are. We have to do a great job coaching to do what we can with those players.”
Extra details
—Grant Delpit, who missed three defensive series between the second and third quarters in the Louisiana Tech game, is “fine,” according to Orgeron.
—LSU will unveil the Billy Cannon statue on Friday night and the entire 1985 national championship team will be honored on Saturday night. “It’s a big deal to one of the all-time greats,” Orgeron said. “I thank them for setting the standard for all LSU Tigers and LSU Tigers coaches. Those guys are icons in LSU history. A lot of them are still around today and support what I’m doing. His (Cannon’s) run is very history. We watch it and talk to our recruits about it.”
—On whether he knows which freshman will or will not be redshirted, Orgeron said: “You can never tell what’s going to happen. I don’t plan on redshirting anyone, but many will redshirt. You can never tell with an injury.”
—On the influx of graduate transfers at the quarterback position, Orgeron said: “It can give you immediate help if you need it. It’s a big-time advantage. We did and it’s a perfect example of needing immediate help. Someone came in and competed for a position. It’s good when I get a good player and bad when we lose a good player. We had to have the right guy and Joe (Burrow) was the right guy with the right mindset.”
—On Dee Anderson’s career game, catching 5 passes for 80 yards against Louisiana Tech, Orgeron said: “Dee came in with a lot of accolades. I remember on junior day, my first weekend here, they said, ‘Coach, here’s one of the best wide receivers out of Texas.’ He was committed to LSU and Frank (Wilson) was high on him. Dee came here, had some good games. He’s done a phenomenal job and I’m proud of what he’s done. He goes to class, attends tutoring, is very respectful, works hard in the weight room. He garners respect from his teammate. He’s probably one of our go-to receivers. He’s worked his way up. Nothing has been given to him, and for that, we couldn’t be more proud.”