Orgeron: Etling to remain starting QB against Arkansas

LSU coach Ed Orgeron said Monday that Danny Etling remains the Tigers’ starting quarterback despite a fourth-quarter change in Saturday night’s 24-10 loss at top-ranked Alabama.

“We’re gonna play Danny, but if Danny doesn’t do the things we want him to do, we’ll play Myles (Brennan),” Orgeron said at his weekly news conference. “Myles would have to beat Danny out on a play-by-play basis at practice.”

Orgeron would not rule out Brennan getting some time in the game, particularly in the first half, but that would be based on not only what happens in practice, but how Etling is playing.

Orgeron said the Wildcat look with former John Ehret standout Darrel Williams was a new wrinkle introduced for the Alabama game.

“That’s something (offensive coordinator) Matt (Canada) came up with during the open date,” Orgeron said. “Darrel’s been one of our most valuable players.”

Last year, after a hard-fought loss against Alabama, LSU responded with a resounding 38-10 win in Fayetteville.

“Our goal this year (has been) to take one game at a time,” Orgeron said. “We don’t put more emphasis on one game than another. I think we’re about to bounce back well and with some confidence.”

The Alabama game won’t go down as a moral victory, Orgeron said, but his team can draw some confidence from how it played against the Tide.

“I believe we gave it everything they had,” Orgeron said. “We fell short. There’s no moral victories. We’ll identify the positives, identify the negatives, fix the things we can fix and move on.

“We went toe-to-toe, and in a lot of situations, we won. We had more yards than they did. We just didn’t make the plays at opportune times and they did.

“Are we where we need to be? No. Are we getting there? Yes. A couple more recruiting classes, and we’ll be able to compete with them and anyone else in the SEC on a toe-to-toe basis.”

Arkansas, with Lafayette native Cole Kelley at quarterback, still has many of the same features as the Razorbacks have shown under Bret Bielema.

“The offense is big and physical like it’s always been,” Orgeron said. “They know how to run the football.”

The 11 a.m. kickoff at Tiger Stadium this Saturday will be something different for both players and fans.

“It’s early for both teams,” Orgeron said. “It obviously helps us with a sold-out crowd.”

Orgeron’s challenge to his fan base? “Get up early, drink some coffee and put a little somethin’ in it,” he said with a smile.