LSU looking for health, protection to catch up to chemistry, enthusiasm

Ed Orgeron left Tiger Stadium with an initial assessment of "an outstanding day" by an LSU team that sounded very much still a work in progress.

And rightfully so.

The Tigers have seen more key absences thus far in August than total practice days — Saturday marking the eighth — in a long month leading up to the season opener Sept. 4 at UCLA.

Orgeron has been consistently pleased with the chemistry and energy around the program compared to a tense and disjointed lead up to an uncertain 2020 campaign.

"Totally different," the coach said of the atmosphere, which he pointed to as his biggest impression or takeaway of camp thus far. "A sense of normalcy. Leadership. Eighteen of 22 starters coming back. Guys came back. They made a decision to come back. We've got a great freshman class, a great class. Coaches that are hungry. I think it's completely different than the atmosphere last year.

"There was a lot of outside influences that caused negativity, and there's some stuff that we couldn't control. So I think none of that stuff has happened now. COVID seems to be — for us, we still have our standards that we need to follow, but you know it's not that we're thinking are we gonna play or are we not gonna play? We're feeling we're gonna play. We're feeling that the stands are gonna be full. So we're excited about that."

LSU just needs its health and execution — particularly in pass protection — to catch up to those good vibes.

But Orgeron and company have seen enough flashes to be optimistic.

"Overall, I thought that it was a great scrimmage," he said. "Mostly dominated by the defense and the quickness of the defensive line. We had Ali Gaye back. Joe Evans had a good day. Andre Anthony had a good day. Neil Farrell had a good day. Our guys ran around and played well."

That veteran group up front managed that type of success despite the defense playing with just two available cornerbacks: former walk-on Lloyd Cole and Nicholls State transfer Darren Evans.

"I've gotta give Corey Raymond maybe the 'Coach of the Day," Orgeron said. "We only had two corners out and put a couple of other guys at corner, and we didn't blink."

The Tigers hope sophomore starter Elias Ricks can return next week "in some capacity," but, Orgeron said, may give junior Derek Stingley Jr. more time to be precautious.

That duo, junior running back Tyrion Davis-Price and senior right guard Chasen Hines were among the starters expected to miss Saturday's scrimmage with respective injuries.

Other key players such as Gaye or sophomore offensive lineman Charles Turner had missed time this past week, but returned to action prior to the weekend.

And others, such as junior running back John Emery Jr. or freshman tight end Jack Bech, had spent time in limited-contact gold jerseys.

Orgeron admitted the number of injuries already despite just tackling for the first time Saturday to be "unusual."

But he remained positive that those issues were all small and, with one exception, shouldn't sideline players for extended periods of time.

"That is a concern," the coach said. "I talked to (Director of Sports Medicine) Beau (Lowery) about it today. I think a lot of it is just the running, and the guys are, although they're not hitting, they're going full-speed. They're working hard. And I think these are all just little camp injuries that are gonna get healed. Nothing's major.

"And somebody like Glen (Logan). Glen broke a foot doing a drill and just bending his foot. So some of these things you can't prevent. Some of these things are football injuries."

Orgeron was impressed with many of the players who were available.

Sophomore quarterback Max Johnson completed 11 of 19 passes for 127 and one touchdown, the coach said, and freshman Garrett Nussmeier finished 11-for-17 for 225 yards and three scores.

Each of the freshman receivers made big catches, he added, and freshman running backs Corey Kiner and Armoni Goodwin also provided some highlights working behind Emery.

And, as more Tigers return to full health, Orgeron hopes to see continuity and execution continue to progress during the three weeks remaining until visiting the Bruins.

"I thought overall it was a great scrimmage," he said. "We've got a lot of things to do. We've got a week left (before classes start). Short-yardage, goal-line, two-minute — all those things are going in. Another week of camp. But we need to make a big improvement, especially in the area of protection."