LSU not sharp early but good enough to down Arkansas, 33-10

This was all about taking care of business.

Forget about the morning blues. That aspect is overrated. Good football teams will play when assigned and do their jobs. That is exactly what LSU did Saturday.

The task at hand for LSU was to forget about the tough, physical effort and loss at Alabama and to move forward and take care of business against an Arkansas team whose coach is on life support. The Tigers were huge favorites.

After a shaky first half, LSU responded in huge fashion in the second half of a 33-10 victory. LSU took over down the stretch, scoring the final 20 points of the game to break open a close game. The feeling going in was that LSU would eventually wear the Razorbacks down. The script played out as written.

Before accentuating the positive, let’s get the bad out of the way.

The biggest negative was that Connor Culp missed a pair of extra points and a field goal, resulting in Ed Orgeron switching back to Jack Gonsoulin, who had the job earlier this season. You cannot afford to leave points on the field and not on the scoreboard against good competition.

While LSU’s quarterback play has been less than stellar, it was solid on this day.

Despite many (myself included) wanted to see a little more of Myles Brennan, Orgeron stuck with Danny Etling and the senior rewarded him.

Etling was 11-of-16 for 217 yards and two touchdowns. While he started slowly, he came on strong in the second half. He finally connected with D.J. Chark on a long ball after several near misses in recent weeks. In fact, they had a pair of long touchdown passes, 45 and 68 yards, respectively.

Still, the focal point was Derrius Guice, who rushed 21 times for 147 yards and three touchdowns.

What you had to like was the fact that LSU did not turn the ball over.

The Boot remains in Louisiana.

Now 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the SEC, LSU moves on to play at Tennessee next Saturday before closing at home against Texas A&M. Like Arkansas, both have coaches on life support with uncertain futures. Once again, it will be all about LSU taking care of business.

The future of LSU football is bright. Forced to play a host of young players this season, those young players will be even better next year. If Orgeron can recruit as we know he can, the Tigers can become a contender for SEC honors as early as next season.

Orgeron did an excellent job getting LSU to focus quickly after a disappointing loss to Alabama a year ago. He has done so again. That is the sign of a mature coach and a mature program.

First things first. LSU has a chance at a 10-win season. I would not have felt that was possible prior to the start of the season. I picked the Tigers to go 8-4. For Orgeron to foster a 10-win season, given the injuries, suspensions and average quarterback play he has dealt with, it will have been a job well done, by any measure.