PHOENIX — LSU finally landed in Phoenix late Thursday — delayed about three hours by the heavy storms that began hitting Louisiana that afternoon — with some key faces in attendance and others absent.
Sophomore running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire and walk-on linebacker Jared Small made the trip, just five days removed from a robbery that ended in a fatal shooting of another 18-year-old.
Sophomore cornerback Kary Vincent Jr. traveled just a day after losing his father Kary Sr. and, Orgeron says figures to start.
Freshman cornerback Kelvin Joseph and freshman lineman Dare Rosenthal both missed the trip after violating team rules.
Junior linebacker Travez Moore remained home to focus on some personal issues at hand, the coach said.
Opening statements...
Thank you. On behalf of our football team at LSU and our coaching staff, I want to thank the Fiesta Bowl for inviting us to come to this very prestigious bowl. What an honor for our football team to finish up in the desert. We're looking forward to a great matchup against Central Florida.
Before we start, our thoughts and our prayers go out to Kary Vincent Sr. Kary Vincent obviously is hurting right now. He made the trip. Thoughts go out to his mother and his whole family. We're very proud of Kary and very proud of his family.
We're looking forward to this matchup against Central Florida. A lot of speed. Those guys have won 25 games. They're a very good football team, but so are we. We're looking forward to being here in the desert.
Several players did not make the trip. Kelvin Joseph did not make the trip. Dare Rosenthal did not make the trip for violation of team rules. They're suspended for the game. Also Travez Moore did not make the trip. He has some personal issues, and he had to take personal time off to be able to rectify those personal issues. Other than that, our team is here. We're ready to go.
I saw Clyde Edwards made the trip with the team. How important is it for him to be with the team? Do you expect him to play this weekend? What has his mentality and mindset been? Have you had a chance to talk to him?
Let me address his situation. It's a legal matter that's been taken care of. Clyde (Edwards-Helaire) and Jared (Small) are two of the best young men on our football team. We believe in Clyde and Jared, and we're supporting them. Clyde and Jared have received counseling. They've practiced. They seem to be okay. As of right now, they are cleared to play in the game and they will play the game.
You talked about Kelvin (Joseph) not being here. You're already thin at corner. Has the bowl time been an advantage in that area?
Yeah, John [Battle] obviously has gotten more rest at corner. We have to go with those guys. They have to do good things for us. I think they'll be ready to play. We have some emergency guys that will practice this week in case two or three guys get hurt, but we should be fine.
With the Kary Vincent's father, it seems like it has been a dramatic week or two for the program going across the holidays. What has it been like around the program?
This team was built with great character. There's tremendous leadership on this team. There's tremendous — we support each other. One team, one heartbeat. We've been through adversity before. We know how to handle adversity. Obviously an extreme situation. It seems like the team has handled it very well.
You have two defensive guys. Again, does the game time preparation help, having weeks to prepare?
Yes, it does, especially with the amount of plays that Central Florida is going to run against us and the speed in which they run. We have to rotate our defensive line. We have some young guys that have not burned their redshirt year up. They're able to still play and get redshirted. We're going to have to rotate our defensive line and have several guys playing who probably haven't played made much. They'll have to do it.
Just kind of bounce off that, guys like Tyler Shelvin, some other guys, do you think they're ready for larger bowls and play full-time minutes?
We're fixing to find out. I think Shelvin has had a tremendous bowl practice, bowl preparation. Glen Logan will play some stacking. Those guys can play if we need them. Also we could use Davin Cotton. Those are four guys will be playing tackle, if needed.
Has there been any decision on Jacob Phillips spot in the first spot?
Not yet.
You mentioned the pace at which UCF plays and you're preparing your team. We're going to talk to (Steve) Ensminger tomorrow. You talked about fixing issues with the offense that you saw in the A&M game. Do you feel comfortable with the bowl practices?
We put in some things on offense. We worked hard on our pass protection, things we needed to improve. Worked hard on our passing game, short passing game. And we continue to expound on our own game. Those are the things that we felt we need to improve our screen game. We worked on that extensively throughout the bowl practice. We're going to find out January 1.
You mentioned corners over there. Just with Kelvin (Joseph) out, what's kind of the depth situation there and how you guys have kind of gone around there in preparing for a game like that?
Kary Vincent is obviously going to start. Obviously he just went through a tragedy. We're going to have -- he's going to be a back-up there, and we've got (Jontre) Kirklin moved over at corner. Those guys will be working the corner primarily and a couple of the guys that have played for us.
