LSU coach Ed Orgeron wary of game 1 foe Georgia Southern
If you somehow believe LSU’s season opener on Saturday against Georgia Southern in Tiger Stadium should be considered an easy and breezy victory, you may want to reconsider.
The Eagles, who were 10-3 last season, have tortured opponents for years with a triple option running offense used by just a handful of college teams.
Back in 2011, Georgia Southern ran for 302 yards and averaged 7.7 yards per attempt in 45-21 loss at Alabama in which the Eagles trailed by 10 points halfway through the third quarter.
It traumatized Alabama coach Nick Saban so bad that he invoked memories of that game when the Crimson Tide were preparing to play Charleston Southern and its option offense in November 2015.
“Y’all don’t remember the Georgia Southern game, do you?” Saban told the media at his weekly Monday press conference. “I don’t think we had a guy on the field that didn’t play in the NFL and about four of five of them were first-round draft picks, and I think that team won a national championship but I’m not sure.
“And they (Georgia Southern) ran through our ass like (crap) through a tin horn, man, and we could not stop them. Could not stop them.”
A few days after Saban complimented Georgia Southern, the Eagles lost 23-17 in overtime at Georgia.
Georgia Southern, a six-time Division 1-AA national champion that moved to Division 1-A (FBS) in 2014 as a Sun Belt Conference member, is 1-12 against SEC opponents.
That doesn’t matter to LSU coach Ed Orgeron. He has a healthy respect for the Eagles.
“We are playing a tough, hard-nosed football team that won 10 games last year, plus 22 in the turnover margin,” Orgeron said. “That's elite, number one in the country. That's a phenomenal stat.”
The one advantage Orgeron and the Tigers have in Saturday’s game that Alabama’s Saban and then-Georgia coach Mark Richt didn’t have is LSU plays Georgia Southern in week one instead of November.
In terms of lead time for preparation and focus for a healthy, eager team, it’s a good time for the Tigers to navigate such a challenge.
“We started breaking them down last February, started looking at them in the spring,” Orgeron said. “Analysts did a great job in recruiting, the recruiting period. We had extensive meetings on them, walk-throughs on them.”
The Tigers have several defensive minds dissecting Georgia Southern's triple option.
LSU lead defensive analyst Kevin Cosgrove was New Mexico State’s defensive coordinator last season when his defense allowed 389 rushing yards in a 48-31 loss to Georgia Southern. Also, Tigers’ defensive line coach Bill Johnson has vast experience defending the triple option.
‘We have a lot of knowledge,” Orgeron said. “We have a lot of guys that have a lot of great suggestions.”
Does that mean LSU will shut down GSU? Not necessarily.
Eagles’ junior quarterback Shai Werts has 24 career starts. Georgia Southern’s veteran offensive line has a combined 41 starts. Running back/slot receiver Wesley Kennedy III is a rusher (495 yards, three TDs last season), a pass catcher (182 receiving) and returner (100 yards in punt returns, 529 on kickoff returns).
“We need to play assignment football,” Orgeron said of LSU’s defensive game plan. “Tackle for a loss or not is not the premium, it's who got the dive, who got the quarterback, who got the pitch. We have to tackle the guy when we get there. There's going to be a lot of one-on-one tackles in space that we have to make. If we don't make them, it will be a big play.”
Here’s Orgeron on other topics:
On having a sedate preseason with no off-the-field issues: “I do believe the culture has changed. It's not all the way where we want it. In recruiting, we recruit character. We tell our team that character counts. Do the right thing, protect the team. So far it's been really good.”
On his offense: “We have several different tempos. We are strictly spread, first time LSU has been strictly spread. We have the talent to be a spread offense. We can go five receivers at any time, four receivers. We're mainly going to be out of 11 personnel. One tight end, three receivers, one back. Coach (Steve) Ensminger has a tremendous plan. Offensive line has to improve. Five-man protection a lot. Get a lot of people out. Throwing our backs the ball in the backfield, still run the ball. I do believe we're going to be great because of our quarterback (Joe Burrow). Our quarterback can handle most situations. I think he's a game changer.”
On reserve freshman running back John Emery: “John Emery is everything and more that we thought about in recruiting. He and Ty were the two best backs in the country. In our opinion, they're different. He can make you miss. He has tremendous feet, tremendous vision. There were a lot of times in practice where he broke outside, we didn't catch him. He had some explosive runs, very explosive runs. He needs to get a little bit stronger in the weight room, get more comfortable in the offense.”
On starting freshman cornerback Derek Stingley Jr: “He's special. He's special. Great character. Dad is a coach. Great mom. Doesn't say a word. Has tremendous ball skills. Has tremendous awareness. Wants to be great. Always working on Saturday and Sunday. Nothing has been too big for him yet. So, I'm sure he's going to get challenged this year. He will. Everyone does. I do believe he has a chance to be a great player. He hasn't done it yet, but he has a chance to do it.”
On freshman placekicker Cade York: “Cade York has had a great camp. Kicked two 51-yard field goals. One scrimmage he was eight out of ten, the next one close to eight out of ten, seven to nine. When the LSU band played (in Tiger Stadium during a practice), it was a little wet on Thursday night, he missed two kicks, which would be a game-type situation. We believe in Cade, but we have to put him underneath the pressure underneath the lights. I do believe he has a stronger leg than our kicker last year. The ball gets up higher. He's very fast with his kicks. I think this guy has a bigger upside. We need to see it, though.”
On depth at cornerback: “We're really, really impressed with (freshman) Cordale Flott. I think Cordale Flott has separated himself. If he had to start for us right now, we feel comfortable putting him in. (Freshman) Jay Ward is a good tackler. He's very strong. (Freshman) Raydarious (Jones) has had a couple injuries, so he's not ready to go right now. We really like those young guys. We think it's an excellent class. Kristian (Fulton) is going to be ready to go, (freshman) Derrick (Stingley Jr.) is going to be ready to go. We feel strong at corner.”
On battle for one of the starting middle linebacker spots: “It's very close between Jacob Phillips and Patrick Queen. That's going to be a game time decision. Again, Damone Clark has had an excellent camp, you're going to see him a lot. He's going to play a lot. I expect him to be an excellent LSU linebacker.”
On which coaches will be on the sideline and which coaches will be in the press box on game day: “(Defensive coordinator) Dave (Aranda) is on the sideline, obviously. (Safeties coach) Bill Busch will be on the sideline this year because we lost Dennis Johnson. Dennis did a great job on the sideline. (Defensive graduate assistant) Christian LaCouture will be signaling in. Also, Bill Busch will be helping. All our defensive coaches will be on the sideline this year. That's because of Dennis' injury. On offense, (offensive coordinator) Steve (Ensminger) and (passing game coordinator) Joe (Brady) will be up in the booth. Obviously, Steve is calling the plays. Joe is up there making suggestions. The rest of the guys on the sideline.”