Orgeron expects healthy team when Tigers face LA Tech

Despite a long injury report after Saturday’s 22-21 victory at Auburn, LSU coach Ed Orgeron said Monday he doesn’t expect any of his players who left Saturday’s game to miss the sixth-ranked Tigers’ Saturday night matchup with Louisiana Tech at Tiger Stadium.

“It was a war,” Orgeron said at his weekly news conference. “We have a lot of bumps and bruises, but I don’t expect anybody totally out for the game.”

The Tigers will be without safety John Battle for the first half of the LA Tech game after a targeting call in the second half against Auburn.

Orgeron characterized Saturday’s victory in three words: “Character, leadership, poise.”

“We talked about having poise all week, we talked about 60 minutes, and we needed every second,” Orgeron said. “I thought we had a great scheme. We spread it around. Our wide receivers made big plays. Derrick Dillon’s big play gave us a chance to win the game. I thought Joe Burrow played outstanding. He’s 3-0 as our quarterback; that’s the biggest stat.

“On defense, we played tough, physical football against a tough, physical offense. We gave up one big play. The interception by Greedy (Williams) really helped. Our guys fought through the heat. We talked all week about rotating our guys, and we felt we were fresh in the fourth quarter.”

LSU allowed only one sack against a highly touted Auburn defensive front, a week after the Tigers’ offensive line struggled against Southeastern Louisiana.

“We went four wide (receivers), we slid (the protection on) the offensive line and we cut the defensive ends,” Orgeron said. “We thought that was the best way to protect our quarterback.”

Three weeks into the season, LSU is the only FBS team in the country without a turnover, one year after committing only eight turnovers, the fewest in the country.

“It’s something we work on very hard,” Orgeron said. “It takes all 11 to protect the football. It’s an overall team effort.”

After two wins over top-10 teams in the first three weeks of the season that has vaulted LSU 19 spots in the national rankings, the next task for Orgeron and his staff is to keep his team grounded and eliminate distractions.

“It starts with me,” he said. “We (have to) control our emotions inside the room. We’re not going to talk about all the things that are out there; it does not matter. Being a top 10 team is not going to win a football game for us.

“We have to block out the noise. Whether it’s way up there or way down there, we can’t let it affect us. We’re going to stay humble. We’re not going to say anything but focusing on the task at hand, which is Louisiana Tech.”

Despite the start, Orgeron knows his team has room to grow.

“I think we’re an improving team,” he said. “We’re not where we want to be in a lot of areas. We’re going to play some tougher teams. I’m very pleased that we’re 3-0, but we’ve got to take it one week at a time and get better every week.”

Orgeron briefly addressed wide receiver Drake Davis, who was arrested Sunday and has reportedly resigned as a student from LSU.

“That’s in the hands of the university,” he said. “It’s a legal matter, and that’s all I’m going to say about it.”

LSU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
For Immediate Release September 17, 2018

LSU COACH ED ORGERON PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT – Louisiana Tech week

Opening statement…
“Obviously, a great team win for our guys on the road at Auburn. Tough environment, very good football team, very well coached. Some of the things that came out of the game was character, leadership, poise. We talked about having poise all week, we talked about it was going to take 60 minutes and it took every second of the game and we talked about finish and we finished. This is a team win and I want to credit the team and our assistant coaches for a great job all week preparing our team.

On offense, zero turnovers again. Outstanding job. I thought our line played outstanding and only gave up one sack against possibly one of the best defensive lines in the country, those guys were really on target. I thought we had a great scheme. We sprinted around and we switched out protections around and coach (Steve) Ensminger and coach (James) Cregg did a tremendous job. Our wide receivers made big plays. Dee Anderson I thought had his best game as a Tiger. (Justin) Jefferson had a good game. Obviously, Derrick Dillon’s big play gave us a chance to win the game and then Stephen Sullivan’s fourth down slant was a tremendous catch and a tremendous call. I thought Joe Burrow played outstanding, he’s 3-0 as our quarterback, that’s the biggest stat and his leadership, the tough runs, good decisions, and then held the ball for five minutes and 49 seconds or so on the last drive. I thought it was a tremendous job of clock management and poise.

On defense, we played tough, physical football against a tough, physical offense that gives you problems with formations and adjustments and stuff like that. Dave (Aranda) did a tremendous job of staying with it the whole game. Plus two in the turnover margin, two picks, we are plus seven for the year and we’re very proud of that. Zero points in the fourth quarter. We played hard from my observations. Greedy (Williams) had a great game. We had a lot of guys that played great, but those guys stood out in some key moments and I just talked to Andre Anthony out there and I thought he played a fantastic game stepping in for Ray Thornton who got hurt on the first kickoff.

Special teams, punting, field position guys did a tremendous job. Obviously, Cole Tracy on the 42-yard field goal for the win at the end. Just a tremendous job.

Our biggest challenge this week is going to be prepare each week the same for every team. We had a 24-hour rule today, our guys are going to watch the film, we’re going to talk about the things that we did well. There’s a lot of things we have to improve and then we have to forget about it, move on towards Louisiana Tech. Starting on Louisiana Tech, we are plus 7 in turnover ratio, they’re even. They’re spread on offense. Skip Holtz is a good friend of mine, we did some satellite camps together. I think he’s an outstanding coach. I know a lot of coaches on their coaching staff. Louisiana Tech is an outstanding place to go to school and they have a lot of good players there. On offense, they are scoring 42 points per game and over 500 yards per game. They have some outstanding players in quarterback J’Mar Smith, running back Israel Tucker, who is a very good back, wide receivers Adrian Hardy, who transferred from Oklahoma and Teddy Veal, transfer from Tulane. On defense, I know a lot of their coaches, I know their defensive line coach and he’s a very good coach. Defensive end Jaylon Ferguson, the brother of Jazz Ferguson, holds the Louisiana Tech sack record. We have to know where he is at all times. On special teams, they have some athletes that are probably going to come after us. We have to be ready, but it’s going to be about us this week, about moving on to Louisiana Tech and having a great preparation this week to play a home game Saturday night in Tiger Stadium. We can’t wait for the game.

On the status of any guys who suffered injuries on Saturday…
“Yeah, we had a lot, to be honest with you, it was a war. We have some bumps and bruises. The list was a little bit bigger today than it usually is. I don’t think we’ll have anybody totally out for the game that I know of yet.”

On having a more ‘wide open’ game plan against Auburn…
“First of all, we always wanted to open things up. We did not do very well against Southeastern Louisiana in max protection. We went four-wide, we slid the linemen down and we cut the defensive end. We threw the ball, not all our throws, but most of our throws were under 2.5 seconds so we didn’t give them time to get there. Quick throws. Quick decisive throws and we thought that was the best way to protect our quarterback and it worked. We only allowed one sack.”

On the offensive line’s performance against Saturday…
“Austin (Deculus) did fine. He had those two penalties. One in the beginning, but beside that, I thought he did very well. Obviously he didn’t do perfect; he has some things he can get better about. I thought Chasen (Hines) did excellent, to come in. He didn’t know he was going to play that much. Garrett (Brumfield) went down. We are very pleased with him. We think he’s going to be an excellent player for us.”

On continuing to block out the noise after two Top 10 victories to start the season…
“It starts with me. Block out the noise, good, bad or indifferent. Block out the noise inside the room. Today is going to be a good day. We’re going to celebrate the win. We’re not going to talk about all the things that are out there. That doesn’t matter. We played two Top 10 teams so far. Being a Top 10 team did not help them so that’s not going to win a football game for us. Winning a football game is to go to practice, prepare, be humble, be hungry, take care of the football and play LSU football.”

On Garrett Brumfield returning to the game after being injured…
“He went through a rough spell, but we have one of the best trainers in the world in Jack (Marucci). Jack did some work on him and gave him some confidence that he can go back in. Garrett is an experienced player. He’s a vet. He knows when he can and can’t go back in. We would never put a player back in if he wasn’t ready. He thought he was ready, so we let him go back in.”

On being the only team in to country to have not allowed a single turnover…
“It’s something that we work on. Work on very hard. It’s all about the ball. I’m proud of coach (Steve) Ensminger. It takes all 11 to protect the football. Obviously some great decisions. Good ball security by our backs. It’s an overall team effort.”

On defensive adjustments that were made throughout the Auburn game…
“It was a combination. First of all, we won third down, which really helped. They couldn’t keep the drives alive. We had good field position. We didn’t give up many good plays. We gave up one big play. We had a busted coverage on the wheel route. We had the interception by Greedy (Williams) that really helped. We didn’t give any explosive plays. They were doing a lot of tackle over stuff. They were doing a lot of end over slot with their wide receivers. They were very difficult formations to defend. Dave (Aranda) kept on grinding at it and finally nailed it in the fourth quarter. You’ve got to give our whole defensive staff credit and our players. I’ll tell you another thing, our players fought through the heat. It was hot. Felt that the sun went down in the fourth quarter and it gave them a little relief. We talked all week about rotating our guys. We thought we were fresh in the fourth quarter, as fresh as we can be, by rotation, especially up front. We played a lot of guys.”

On if this LSU team is better than most people believe…
“I think that we are an improving team. We have a lot of character. We’re not where we want to be in a lot of areas. We’re going to play some tougher teams down the road. We need to get better fast, but we are improving. I’m very pleased that we’re 3-0, but there are some things that we need to be better at to get where we want to go. We’ve got to take it one week at a time and get better every week. This is a big week of improvement for us.”

On if Nick Brossette has cemented himself as the go to running back…
“Yeah. No question. He waited his turn. He’s tough, he’s physical and he’s running the ball well and he knows the offense. He’s a premiere back right now and he’s earned that right.”

On wanting to take more shots downfield…
“The shot to number two (Justin Jefferson) on the sideline, it could have been a better ball and that probably would have been a touchdown. Then we took a shot with Derrick Dillon that opened the game up. I’m pleased with those shots, but we need to take more. Again, that’s going to be about who we play, protection what the coverage is. We want more shots down field. We want two a quarter.”

On what the message to the team is after a huge win on ‘Tell the truth Monday’…
“We have to block out the noise. We have to be strong. Whether it’s way up there or whether it’s way down there. We can’t let it affect us. Right now, it hasn’t. I think all the negative stuff going on, if it affected us, it affected us in a positive way. We’re playing with a chip on our shoulder. We’re going to stay humble and it starts with me. We are not going to mention rankings. We are not going to mention anything, but focusing in on the task at hand which is Louisiana Tech. That’s the way we’re going to approach it. I’ve been with Pete Carroll when we won two national championships. Those things were never mentioned. It’s the next game ahead. It’s the next day ahead. Today’s ‘Tell the Truth Monday’ and that’s all we talk about.”

On balancing taking shots downfield and limiting the risk of turnovers…
“You’ve got to be smart. You’ve got to trust your quarterback. That throw was on the money (Joe Burrow to Derrick Dillon). You’ve seen it. The defender was right underneath him and Joe threw it over him and it was right on the money. It’s something we practice all the time. I think it’d be easier for a big receiver to make that catch. Dillon made a tremendous catch. Joe is smart with the ball. Obviously he hasn’t thrown a pick yet. I think the plays that we call will be according to the coverage we see and when we want to take chances.”

On the defensive line’s performance against Auburn…
“I thought they played tremendous against a good scheme. I thought (Rashard) Lawrence had his best game of the year. He was attacking. He was in the backfield. This wasn’t a pass rush game. This was a stop the run game, a physical game. There were a lot of tackle over, a lot of powers, a lot of combination blocks. We had to take on double teams. I thought Ed Alexander had his best game. Glen Logan played good. (Breiden) Fehoko played a lot of nose, a lot of end. He played good. We didn’t’ play great, but I thought those guys played good and they held their own on those blocks.”

On putting in the work in the offseason…
“Give it to Tommy Moffitt. Any morning at six o’clock in the summer you could go there and they were running. He’s like a head coach out there. The guy is tremendous. He’s a motivator and he got them in shape. On the last day they ran the levy out there (at Mississippi River). They had a big circuit and it was a competition and you could just see the energy coming. They were building a team together.”