Published Sep 3, 2019
Coach O counting on Tigers' maturity for an edge in Saturday's Texas game
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Ron Higgins  •  Death Valley Insider
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LSU coach Ed Orgeron is not going to get sidetracked by the peripheral narrative attempting to permeate preparation for the No. 6 ranked Tigers’ upcoming Saturday night showdown at No. 10 Texas.

First, there’s the obvious angle that Orgeron was named LSU’s head coach on Nov. 26, 2016 just hours after the Tigers’ first choice Tom Herman chose to pursue the Texas vacancy.

“I'm happy to be the coach at LSU,” Orgeron said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “This is about our football players against their football players. None of that means anything.”

Then, there’s the DBU controversy. It’s a nickname LSU claims because of its rich history of defensive backs being drafted by the NFL. Yet Texas defensive backs wore shirts in pregame warmups of last week’s season opening win over Louisiana Tech that read “There’s Only One DBU.”

“All I know is we're LSU,” Orgeron said. “That's all I know.”

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That’s all he cares to know if the Tigers want to successfully build on last Saturday’s near-perfect 55-3 season opening win over Georgia Southern.

It’s not that Orgeron is oblivious to the hype surrounding Saturday’s game, arguably the biggest matchup of Power 5 teams this weekend besides No. 12 Texas A&M playing at No. 1 Clemson.

But he’s trusting a team with 15 upperclassmen starters has the experience to put their 52-point maiden voyage win in perspective, as well as what they’ll face in their first road trip of the year.

“This is a mature team,” Orgeron said. “The way they acted yesterday (Monday), was not giddy. We had one of our best Monday practices we ever had. They know the magnitude of this football game. We're not going to make it bigger than life. We've been in big games before. This is a big game and they know it.”

Orgeron announced that offensive tackle Saahdiq Charles and inside linebacker Michael Divinity Jr., a pair of starters who were presumably suspended for the Georgia Southern game, will be back in action for the trip to Austin.

“I do believe having Saahdiq back this week at left tackle is going to help us,” Orgeron said. “But, again, we're going to get tested. These guys are going to blitz. They're good rushers. We're going to have to win one-on-ones.”

The challenge for LSU’s offense, the ninth ranked scoring team in the FBS (Division 1-A) led by quarterback Joe Burrow who’s third nationally in passing efficiency, is handling blitzes.

Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando is all about applying pressure.

“He disguises his blitzes,” Orgeron said of Orlando. “These guys know what they're doing. They're good tacklers. They use their speed. I think the strength of their defense is in their linebackers and the DBs. They use them a bunch.”

Then there’s this from Texas senior safety Brandon Jones gushing about Orlando.

“He’s a guru,” Jones said. “He knows everything that’s going to happen. He knows the tendencies of the receivers, the quarterbacks, the linemen, what they have to offer. It’s really, really crazy to see.”

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If Jones’ comments sound similar to the way LSU defenders often describe Tigers’ defensive coordinator Dave Aranda, it’s not coincidence.

Orlando succeeded Aranda as Utah State’s defensive coordinator in 2013 when Arnanda moved to become Wisconsin’s D-coordinator. When Herman became Houston’s head coach in 2016, he hired Orlando upon the recommendation of Aranda, his former college roommate.

Last week, an almost all-new Texas defense with just two returning starters allowed 413 yards in its 45-13 win over Louisiana Tech. But Texas built a 38-0 lead before the Bulldogs finally scored on the fourth play of the fourth quarter.

Offensively, Texas has just four returning starters with returning starting quarterback Sam Ehlinger operating behind an almost all-new line.

Also, a flood of preseason injuries has resulted in the Longhorns having just two healthy running backs. Just in the last two weeks, Herman has moved a quarterback, a defensive back and a linebacker to running back.

“We’ve lost five running backs including four on scholarship,” Herman said at his Monday press conference. “This is mind-boggling.”

Yet as long Ehlinger, a junior with 20 starts, is still standing, Oregron knows his defense needs to be sharp.

Last season, Ehlinger threw for 3,292 yards and 25 TDs, and ran for 482 yards and 16 TDs (a school record for quarterback rushing TDs in a season).

“How we're going to prepare for Ehlinger?” Orgeron said. “We don't have a scrambling quarterback like that. Ehlinger is much more of a running threat than our quarterback (Burrow) is. He's a different style than Joe. This guy can beat you with his feet, can throw the football. But he's very dangerous, especially in the red zone. They're going to give him the ball run him on the zone read.”

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