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9/28/2020
By: Terrill J. Weil Da Boot Sports! "We need to coach better and its gotta start with me." Coach O said during his 'Tell the Truth Monday' press conference. "We gotta play with more energy. We gotta play with more desire. We gotta make plays. We gotta coach better...... Hey, the championship is over. This is a new season, a new team. We knew that. Now we definitely know that." The 44-34 loss to Mississippi was the first time LSU has dropped their season opener since 2016. A very frustrating day for all who bleed purple and gold. However, there is still a lot for this team to play for with nine games remaining. We all need to stay positive and have faith that Coach Orgeron and the coaching staff can make the necessary adjustments needed to turn things around quickly. This is still a good football team, just young and inexperienced in some key areas. The talent will begin to show with more game experience. LSU's next opponent is Vanderbilt who lost a close game on Saturday at Texas A&M, 17-12. It will be the Tigers first road contest of the season this weekend. Kickoff is set for a 6:30pm with the game being carried by SEC Network. Below is Coach O's press conference release from today. LSU COACH ED ORGERON ZOOM PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT – VANDERBILT GAME WEEK Opening Statement ED ORGERON: All right, Guys. Tell-the-truth Monday. We spent all day yesterday analyzing the film and the truth is we gotta coach better, gotta start with me, gotta prepare our team better, gotta coach our coaches better. We gotta execute better, and we gotta make better in-game adjustments during the game, during halftime. Could have had a better plan on both sides of the football first game. One of the things that we're going to do today is we're going to talk about substance lineman assignment, get back to fundamentals, get back to playing the LSU standard of performance which was not there Saturday night. And I take all responsibility. But we're going to get it fixed and get it going. I believe in this coaching staff. I believe in this team. I know they're hurting today, but I know that we're going to come back and have a great practice. On defense, you know, they had 383 yards after the catch. Obviously that's tackling, that's assignments to any guys running free. We gotta work on our coverage. We had some mistakes in our coverage in leverage and technique and assignments. Some of the positives, we had five sacks. We caused four turnovers and we scored on defense. That was very positive. I thought the pressure on the quarterback was there at times, could get better. On offense, we gotta protect the quarterback better. We gave up seven sacks. Some of that was scheme, some of that was technique. And we gotta protect the quarterback better, and then we gotta make better decisions in the pocket. We had some guys open, we didn't hit them. Could have set up in the pocket and made the decisions. I think that's going to come with more experience and with Myles. We gotta eliminate the drops. We had too many drops, especially in the beginning of the game we had some critical drops that hurt our drives, and we gotta run the ball better. On special teams, I thought we played very well on special teams, 49.5 yards per punt, five inside the 20, two for two in field goals. Seven kicks and all touchbacks. I'm looking forward to today. I'm looking forward to seeing the team. I'm looking forward to coaches identifying the things that we can do better, coming up with solutions and have a great day of practice. Onto Vanderbilt, Derek Mason has done an outstanding job. He's an outstanding coach. I have a lot of respect for him. He was an outstanding defensive coach at Stanford. I know Derek very well. Kenechi Udeze is on that staff. They have a defensive line playing very well, and I thought they played pretty darn good against -- their defense played pretty good against Texas A&M. We're plus two in the turnover ratio. They're plus one. They have what we call a pro spread on offense, four returning starters. Only had 12 points against A&M. Ken Seals is their quarterback. Amir Abdur-Rahman is a long and ranging receiver, pretty good athlete. On defense, I think is what their strong point is right now. They have an excellent defensive line. Dayo (Odeyingbo) is one of the top players that we see. He had seven tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, quarterback hurry against Texas A&M and Andre Mintze, defensive end. I think their defensive line is very good at Vanderbilt. But this is going to be about us, about this week, about us getting back on the winning track and about playing the LSU standard performance. Any questions? Q. Good afternoon. Can you give us an update on Derek Stingley and Glen Logan, and to whatever degree you can, what happened with Derek on Friday? ED ORGERON: Yeah. I think Derek is going to be back. I talked to Jack. We're waiting for all the medical exams to clear. But I expect him back as early as maybe tomorrow. I'm not sure. Glen Logan will not be available for this week and he will be available for Missouri. Q. Coach, good morning. Taking a look at the running back rotation, how do you think that worked out, and is it -- I know you want to work all three guys in, but is it kind of a debate to get a guy warm and get him going in the game? ED ORGERON: Yeah. You know, that's what we want to do. Obviously Chris is our lead back right now, in our opinion, but Tyrion and John -- I thought John did some good stuff on short yardage. You would think that Chris and Tyrion would be there with short yardage, but Kevin played with short yardage. He had some good runs. So I'm pleased with our backs. I think we need to run the football more, get them more carries and give them more touches out of the back field. They didn't catch the ball enough out of the back field. Q. You mentioned about on Saturday that maybe you guys would need to play more zone. I know you said Derek Stingley may be back here. After watching the tape, what prevented some of those in-game adjustments there, and do you expect any changes against Vanderbilt there? ED ORGERON: Yeah. You know, all those are Bo's decisions. We talked about it. And they were hitting us on some pick routes, some over routes. Some of it was scheme. Some of it there was some kind of adjustments that we can do, not necessarily play zone, but you can do some adjustments in man and passing guys off, not passing guys off. We may do that, may not do that at all. It depends. You know, having Derek not there really hurt us, obviously, but I'm glad that he's healthy. His safety is of foremost importance to us, so I'm glad that he's healthy and he's okay, number one. Jay Ward was out for practice two weeks. We didn't even know he could play. He played a lot of snaps. I thought he did a fairly good job, but obviously was a little rusty there. So I think there's some combination of things. We were short on corners. Not having Derek hurt us. We had a game plan that we were going to play man and man them up, and we thought we could man up with the receivers. We should have made a couple of more adjustments during the game. Q. You were talking a little bit about pass rush, Ali Gaye seemed to step in well in that regard. You liked his range, but do you anticipate that kind of performance from him in his first SEC game? ED ORGERON: We have seen it in practice, and Ali came and just started making improvements every day, and I remember during the COVID he didn't go home at all. He stayed here and learned and studied and worked out on his own. And we just saw at camp, he just kept on coming and coming and coming. And I didn't know he was going to have that type of game. I thought he had an excellent game. He beat that tackle pretty good. He had a lot of pressures, some batted balls. He's tall. He played the run very well. I think he's going to have an excellent year for us. Q. You mentioned on Saturday how after the game the next couple of days were going to be pretty important for you guys in terms of leadership and trying to move on to the next game. I'm wondering if you can kind of take us inside those meetings yesterday and today and just kind of how the team is responding after your first loss really in two years? ED ORGERON: Yeah. First of all, stick together, don't panic and believe in each other, number one. That comes from me. We're not going to change anything drastic, but you know what, we gotta tighten up on some stuff. We gotta play with more energy. We gotta play with more desire. We gotta make plays. We gotta coach better. All those things that slip up on you when you're winning. Hey, the championship is over. This is a new season, new team, and we new that. Now definitely we know that. Hopefully our guys can start from day one today, focus that one game at a time with Vanderbilt. Here's my job, to get this team as well as we possibly can, and to play to the LSU standard performance, and obviously Saturday night was a big disappointment to me and everybody else, and I understand that. Q. To kind of bounce off that, it's your first post-game week with Bo. What has he been like the past 48 hours? ED ORGERON: Fantastic. He's the first guy to come see me in my dressing room. First guy. He said, Coach, I should have done a better job. And he was hurting just like everybody else. And we went over the film, and he saw the things that he did well, saw the things that we must and will improve. He's been fantastic today. He's eager. He's an outstanding coach. He's hurting just like everybody else. Q. Coach, the offense found their rhythm in the second half but Terrace Marshall seemed like he picked up the pace that he was from last season. Is there an ongoing connection him and Brennan will be able to maintain this season? ED ORGERON: Yeah. I hope so. I like the long ball. I thought Brennan threw the long ball very well. He missed a couple down the pipe there, but I thought he threw the long ball very well. That catch that Terrace made was outstanding. The skinny post was really good. One of Steve's strengths is taking shots, and one of Myles's strengths is his arm strength, throwing the football. But Terrace is an excellent receiver. Now, he dropped the ball or two. He made some mistakes on the screen one time. He was supposed to block out. He had a mental error. So I know he knows that he can do better, but hopefully those guys can have a big-time connection throughout the year. Q. I was looking at the depth chart, and in the secondary, it's mostly sophomores or less. Is this maybe something that kind of, again, we have to get used to with the roster that this year's team has? ED ORGERON: Yeah. You know what happens is our corners are three-and-out here. Most of our guys go three-and-out. We have a lot of young guys. A lot of young guys played for the first time. And there was a lot of one-on-one situations. You gotta give credit. Mississippi State's receivers came to play. Their quarterback was on fire. Coach had a great scheme, put our guys in some difficult situations; and sometimes they did and sometimes they didn't, and when they didn't, it was touchdown. You know, one of the things that we gotta get better is on third down. Third down and 20 and they get a first down on us. We gotta stop them. There were some third downs where they made some touchdowns on us. So those young guys, they're going to grow up, but that's who we have. We believe in those guys. Cordale Flott had an excellent camp. He did some good things in the game, did some things he's gotta improve on. I think you're going to see a better Jay Ward now that he's healthy and practicing. Q. I gather you don't have to do much motivating to the kids this week. It seems like everybody is now doubting them, you know, talking about last year is a one-year kind of flash-in-the-pan. What do you say to the kids when they come into practice today, because everybody now is saying LSU is going to be down this year, their defense is not up to par right now. What is that going to be like for you? ED ORGERON: Block out the noise. My Twitter machine is off. I hate to say it, John, I don't get Fox 8 Baton Rouge. I ain't watching you no more. Hey, I just gotta focus in on the task at hand. Look, the game's over. The season last year is over. Whether they say one year, whatever. That don't bother me. I don't care. This is about our football team. And you know what, it's kind of good to batten down the hatches a little bit, tighten it down, turn the Twitter machine off and really focus in on beating Vanderbilt, and that's all we can do right now. And that's going to be the focus of our football team. The one thing I want our team to understand, and I told them in the locker room, when you win, I'll give you the credit; when we don't win, I'll take it, but it's my job to fix it. And I guarantee you this week we're going to start fixing it. Q. Coach, fans are not permitted to attend Vanderbilt home games this year because of COVID, only team in the conference. Have you mentioned that to your team that this stadium is going to be completely empty, and do you have any concerns that'll take away the edge of the game? ED ORGERON: No. You know, obviously, Adam, I'd love to have fans in there. I love to have Tiger Stadium full. I think it would have been a big-time advantage for us. I want to praise the fans that were there. They got loud at the end. I could hear them. I'm sure the Vanderbilt fans are disappointed that they can't go. But you know what, that's what we gotta deal with. I have not talked to the team yet, even about last week's game. But during the week I will talk to them about there will be no fans there. But we gotta create our own energy. Mississippi State created their energy, we gotta create our own energy. Q. After the game, Myles said that they were dropping back and taking away his quick throws and taking away his leans, and as part of that, too, on the hand-off, he never kept. What can you do to adjust there to make that work better? ED ORGERON: Yeah. First of all, I think Myles is exactly right. They were dropping in the short windows. They figured that we were going to throw them all short, easy throws to be able to get him comfortable. So I thought they had a really good scheme on defense. Now, we gotta make better adjustments. I mean, we gotta spread 'em out, make better adjustments, especially when we're looking we stop at the line of scrimmage and we look over and we know defense is better, we gotta make better adjustments right there, number one. I think he needs to get rid of the ball a little bit quicker. A little bit hesitant in the pocket. Stay in the pocket a little bit more, have better pocket presence and make better decisions. I think it's a combination of both. Q. Some of your new guys, how do you think they played, Arik Gilbert and Jabril Cox? ED ORGERON: I thought they played great. Arik made some mistakes. He dropped the first one. I talked to him yesterday. He was nervous. But that play he made in the end zone was phone natural and we gotta target him more. I thought Jabril Cox, for the most part, had a very productive game, getting that interception for the touchdown, running around making plays, very active, but again, assignment wise, gap responsibility wise, there's some things he could get better at. I thought both of those guys played pretty good. I thought Eli Ricks did some good things, getting the pick, he played some good things, but there's some things he's gotta get better at, typical first game. Q. You talked about wanting the running backs to touch the ball more. Are you pleased, though, overall with the kind of rotation you went with? Is there anyone who maybe from when you go back and look at the film kind of shine a little more to make you say he needs to get more carries than some of the other guys? ED ORGERON: Yeah. Not yet. Chris had a good game. John had a good game. Tyrion is a really good back. There are some things that all three of them do. We feel that I just think we need to get the running game going more. I like to run more first down. Let's get some positive yards; let's get in the second and 4, second and 3, where we can make some good decisions. But you know, they were running Soni; they were blitzing that guy through. We gotta get a better plan, and we gotta pick these guys up. There was too much penetration. Q. If we could have heard you and Coach Pelini are both similar, your fiery nature. If we could have been a fly on the wall listening to him in the last few days in team meetings and coaches' meetings, what's he been like compared to you? I'm sure you all are similar. And Ali Gaye, his ceiling. Performed very well on Saturday. A lot of people thought he was raw when you signed him, but he looked outstanding on Saturday. ED ORGERON: Yeah. Bo gave great speeches on Friday night. He handles the defense. He's very emotional. You know, he's been a head coach. He knows how to talk to the football team. He had the guys motivated. He's been very, I want to say not apologetic, not humble, but just, hey, you know what, I could have done better, Coach. Very loyal, hurt, you know, hurting that he didn't do better, hurting that the defense didn't do better, just like we all are. But I told him, hey, put it on me, we're going to get it fixed. Now, Ali Gaye, Ali was raw when he came here. I gotta give Bill Busch credit. He recruited him just like he recruited Joe Burrow, and he believed he could play. Bill Johnson went and watched him. I think it was one of Bill's first days. It might have been like 20 degrees up there or 10 degrees. It was cold as heck, but Bill came back and said, Ali runs well, let's take him, and Ali's scheme is work hard. I think he is going to be a high pick, first, second, third round pick. He's going to play in the NFL. He's got the size. Hopefully he stays for two years, don't get too good. Q. So you said that y'all have to create your own energy, especially with the loss of fans at the Vanderbilt game this week. Do you think this loss, having it be such a hurt to this team, such a letdown after the great season we had this year, do you think this will kind of put a fire under this team to create their own energy to kind of build them up for this game coming up this weekend? ED ORGERON: Hey, can I get you to talk to my team today? I love it. Nice job. It should. It puts a fire in me. I guaran-damn-tee you that. And we're going to have a fire. This is a big game for us. And we're going to take it one at a time. And we're going to play with some fire and energy, and that energy was not there for some reason. For some reason or another, it wasn't there, and that's up to me to get that done. I'm going to have to take my mask off a little bit more to scream. I felt like I was a little bit muffled in my mask there. Q. What's Myles's mental makeup been just the past couple of days after he watched the film and had time to digest it? ED ORGERON: Going to get better. See where he made mistakes. That's Myles. Myles is humble. He made some good throws, though, but he was inconsistent. And obviously we gotta protect it. When Myles feels a little pressure, he wants to scramble outside, he's gotta sit in there. But, you know, sometimes he can't. He's trying to avoid -- so I think it all comes to the protection first, easy throws where he can make decisions, put our play makers in space, let them make plays, throw them the ball and take shots. And once we get that rhythm, we're going to be fine. Q. Coach, if Derek comes back today or tomorrow or Wednesday, do you think he'll be able to play him or does his illness make you more cautious than a regular injury or something? ED ORGERON: I'm hoping he can play then. Obviously he makes a difference on our team. We need that. It's a position we need. We're very short there, but we're always going to put his health first. I'm going to listen to the doctors. I'm going to talk to his mamma and daddy. If the doctors say he can play and Derek says he can play and momma and daddy says it's okay, he's going to play. If not, he won't. But I expect him to play. I expect him maybe to be back in practice as early as tomorrow. But we'll see. Q. Coach, of the things that went wrong Saturday, which one surprised you the most? ED ORGERON: The yards passing, yards after the catch. I've seen it. I've seen outstanding defense in camp, and you know, we had pressure on the quarterback, but the bust, you know, the wheel route going 75 yards down the field, the crossing routes, us playing behind the crossing routes. The third down, those things really surprised me, because we were excellent in camp against all of that. So I was really surprised that they gained that many yards on us. Q. You were talking about Myles a couple of times there. With his time in the pocket and decisions, is it working through the levels of the open receivers? It seems like this was something that Joe Burrow went through as well. Is it the offense here? I mean, could you tell us a little bit about maybe some of the decisions that he's working through whenever he's in the pocket? ED ORGERON: Well, Myles knows what he's looking at. There's no question. Okay. But it's a matter of making a decision, making a decision. And what Joe did is made a decision quick and let go of the ball quick. I think he has to let go of the ball quicker. I think he has to learn how to avoid the rush instead of going outside, stepping up in the pocket like Drew Brees does, be patient and let his receivers come open. And when he does see a receiver open, pull the trigger, pull the trigger and throw the ball, just like any great quarterback would. Q. Obviously Saturday the passing yards were an outlier, but I was just curious if you or anybody on the staff in talking about it had been in a game quite like that where you put up 400 yards, you create four turnovers. You get a defensive score, time in possession. So many things that you point to and say you have to do these things well to win, you did, but you didn't. Can you or anybody on the staff remember a time where you went through a game like that here or elsewhere? ED ORGERON: We were talking about that today. No. I haven't seen it. Haven't seen it. And it was the breakdown of the passing game on defense. That's what it was, and one-on-ones and missed assignments, and they had a good scheme, but we should have made some better adjustments throughout there. And we all know having Derek not there really hurt us. Derek is a force. He's a great player. And our guys not being healthy -- I'm not making any excuses for them, but that really hurt us, and that gives me hope for this football team. I think that when we get Derek back and we get our guys healthy, we're going to be fine. Q. Obviously, for years the battle with LSU was getting to a more pass-heavy balanced offense and you guys have obviously done it but it seemed like Saturday in the second half there was a bit of a movement to try to run the ball more, it seemed like. So I guess what is that balance and what is the philosophy now at LSU? ED ORGERON: Yeah. We want to be 50/50. We're close to it. I think there was 46/38 something like that. We're very close to it, but we came out second half, we needed to establish the line of scrimmage, and you can't drop back and pass every time and not run, especially with the three great running backs that we have and the fourth one, I think, Kevonte Bradford. But we have to run the ball. We have to be 50/50. Last year we ran the ball very well. We had one running play last year. We had inside zone. But you know what, Clyde made everybody miss, they went and make plays. And this is a different year. Not to say that we don't have that running back, but we have to find things this year that this team does well. Q. I guess I'll get in one Vanderbilt question to kind of close this thing off. I guess, you know, they took Texas A&M to pretty great lengths on Saturday. I was just curious what the early scouting report has been on them and just kind of how you guys are preparing for that game because they really weren't on your schedule to prepare for. ED ORGERON: Well, first of all, Coach Mason is an excellent defensive guy. I've known him for a while. I used to study his stuff at Stanford. Kenechi Udeze, who coached the defensive line with me, who played defensive line, is now coaching their defensive line, and those guys are playing lights out. They're playing great technique. They're playing great defense. They have two of the best defensive linemen. One of them is one of the best linemen in the conference. They can rush the passer. So I think that's their strength. 9/26/2020 By: Terrill J. Weil Da Boot Sports! BATON ROUGE, LA: It was a beautiful day in Baton Rouge, but an ugly game for the defending national champions from beginning to end. The Mississippi State Bulldogs came into Tiger Stadium on Saturday and took home an impressive 44-34 victory. The LSU offense played out of sync, struggled to run the ball, and often looked confused. While the defense played with no intensity, had trouble tackling, and with Derek Stingley Jr. out with an illness, the secondary showed its youth and inexperience, as they were torched by K.J. Costello for 623 passing yards (a SEC single game record). How it all happened below..... 1st QUARTER: The Bulldogs won the toss and took the ball first, but went three-and-out after JaCoby Stevens blitzed and sacked K.J. Costello for a 8 yard loss forcing a punt. The Tigers would fair no better with their first drive of the season having to give it right back to Mississippi State after only managing 17 yards on five plays. Costello would come out firing away, hitting his receivers on the move with LSU DBs trailing in the route. LSU's defense would finally stiffen up as Ali Gaye would register a sack on 3rd and 2 to set up a 35 yard field goal attempt. Bulldog kicker Brandon Ruiz would split the uprights and give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead with 4:47 to go in the first quarter. Both teams would trade punts as we would head into the 2nd quarter. 2nd QUARTER: LSU took their next possession into the 2nd quarter sputtering badly and punting it away once again. Costello would again drive the Bulldogs into LSU territory going 55 yards in 8 plays. However, on 3rd and five on the LSU 38 yard line, JaCoby Stevens would recover a bad shot gun snap recording LSU's first defensive turnover of the 2020 season. LSU would go three-and-out, setting up a Zach Van Rosenburg 53 yard punt that was downed at the Bulldog nine yard line. Three plays later Jabril Cox would step in front of Costello's pass and return it 14 yards for LSU's first touchdown of the season. Von Rosenburg would kick the PAT to give the Tigers a 7-3 lead with 9:45 left in the first half. Costello would bounce back from his mistake and take his team quickly down the field, going 75 yards in only 6 plays, hitting Tyrell Shavers for a 31 yard touchdown down the near sidelines to give Mississippi State the lead right back. Trailing 10-7 with 7:45 left in the half, LSU would produce their best drive of the first half. Brennan finally would have some time in the pocket and make some nice throws, driving the Tigers down to the Bulldogs' 2 yard line. On 3rd and goal, Brennan would throw off of his back foot while under pressure finding Arik Gilbert in the back of the end zone for the first touchdown reception of the big tight end's LSU career. The extra point would put LSU up, 14-10 with 5:20 left. The drive covered 84 yards in eight plays taking 2:19 off the clock. The 2nd quarter track meet would continue as Costello would continue his outstanding play. The Bulldogs would answer LSU, going 75 yards in seven plays, as the LSU defense would continue to look slow and tired. On 3rd and 11 at the LSU 43 yard line, Costello would hit Osirus Mitchell on a 43 yard pass down the far sidelines. With 2:27 left until halftime, State would grab the lead back 17-14. Both teams would trade punts before heading into the locker room for halftime. 3rd QUARTER: The Tigers would strike first in the 3rd quarter as they took the second half kickoff and drove 67 yards in 15 plays to State's 2 yard line. On 3rd and goal from the two, Erroll Thompson would sack Brennan forcing a 26 yard field goal try. Cade York would push it through to tie the game at 17-17 with 9:33 to go in the quarter. LSU's defense would continue struggling to slow down K.J. Costello and the Bulldogs offense, as they would answer with a field goal of their own to regain the lead 20-17. The Tigers actually did a great job holding State to three points after Costello had them 1st and goal at the LSU five yard line. The furious back and forth pace of the game would continue as LSU would respond going 75 yards in five plays as Brennan would hit Terrace Marshall on a beautiful 37 yard touchdown pass down the middle of the field. the PAT would give LSU a 24-20 advantage with 5:01 left until the final quarter. LSU didn't have long to celebrate their lead as seconds later, the Bulldogs would strike back on the first play of their next possession. It would take the Bulldogs just 15 seconds to regain the lead as Costello would loft a pass perfectly over the fingers of a Tiger defender and into the hands of running back Kylin Hill who would race down the far sidelines for the score giving State back the lead, 27-24. With 4:46 to go in the quarter, Brennan would begin to drive the Tigers down the field but would make his biggest mistake of them game which would prove to be a costly. Brennan's arm would be hit while attempting a pass causing the ball to travel off course and in the hands of Bulldog defensive back Esaias Furdge for an interception bringing the 3rd quarter to an end... 4th QUARTER: The Bulldogs would take advantage of the turnover as they would go 56 yards in five plays scoring on a Costello to Austin Williams nine yard touchdown toss. The point after was good, increasing the Mississippi State lead to ten, 34-24 with 14:14 to play in the game. LSU would go three-and-out returning possession back to State. Zach Von Rosenburg would land a punt deep in Mississippi State territory. The Bulldogs would begin their drive at their own eight yard line. On second down, Costello decided to throw deep down the near sidelines and his pass ended up being intercepted by LSU true freshman Eli Ricks at the State 45 yard line. The Tiger offense went to work. Three plays, 46 yards, and 52 seconds later, Brennan would find Terrace Marshall streaking into the end zone for a 33 yard touchdown. The score brought the 20,000 fans in Tiger Stadium to life and once again you could feel the momentum shift in the Tigers' direction. The score was 34-31, with 11:01 left in the game. The Bulldogs set up shop at their 23 yard line. Two plays later, JaCoby Stevens would make another huge play as he would sack Costello causing a fumble and recover it. The Tigers would have to settle for a Cade York field goal to tie the game at 34-34 with 10:54 to play. Mike Leach's Air Raid attack remained at full throttle as they would once again answer to regain the lead. Costello would drive State to the LSU 25 yard line where they settled for a 43 yard field goal. 37-34 with 7:27 remaining on the game clock. The Tigers would go three and out and the Bulldogs would respond going 71 yards in seven plays, scoring on a 24 yard touchdown pass from Costello to Mitchell. 44-34 State, with only 3:39 left in the ball game. The Tigers would battle to the end, driving down to the State 26 yard line but Emmanuel Forbes would intercept Brennan's pass in the end zone on the games final play to end the scoring opportunity. The Mississippi State Bulldogs pull the shocking upset, 44-34. Other then a handful of nice plays made here and there, the Tigers offense struggled with consistency, dropped balls, blown assignments, and no rhythm at all. Myles Brennan would finish the day going 27-46, 345 yards, 3 TDs and 2 INTs. He was sacked seven times. Terrace Marshall Jr. had a big day catching eight passes for 122 yards and made two great touchdown grabs. Jaray Jenkins caught five passes for 85 yards, while tight end Arik Gilbert had four grabs for 37 yards and a touchdown. Chris Curry lead the team in rushing with 47 yards on nine carries. Ty Davis-Price had 43 yards on 11 carries, while John Emery would add 27 yards on seven touches. Damone Clark lead the defense with 11 tackle and a sack. JaCoby Stevens made several big plays and Jabril Cox played well highlighted by his 14 yard interception return for a touchdown. Even though the defense had five sacks on the day they still struggled to put pressure on Costello and the secondary was torched all day long. The Tigers looked like a confused, tired, and outcoached team on Saturday. LSU will need to simply put this one behind them and regroup. There is still a lot to play for this season. Next up, the Tigers will travel to Nashville to battle Vanderbilt on Saturday October 3rd. Kickoff is set for 6:30pm and will be on SEC Network. Photos courtesy of the SEC A few of my photos from the press box 9/26/2020
By: Terrill J. Weil Da Boot Sports! LSU has reported that Derek Stingley Jr. was taken to a hospital last night with an illness, and will miss today's game against Mississippi State. His condition is not COVID-19 related. They expect him to be discharged later today. He will have a full evaluation by the LSU medical team. 9/25/2020 Da Boot Sports! By: Dan Borne ODE TO TIGER STADIUM! "It is a pantheon of concrete & steel. It's a city that rises defiantly in the Delta Alongside the Father of Waters. It is the humidity of autumn evenings That drapes stately oaks and broad magnolias. It is haunted...and it is loud. It is Halloween night & Cannon blasts. It is a Louisiana gumbo of humanity That cheers its Tigers to victory And destroys the dreams of invading foes. Chance of rain is...NEVER! It is the cathedral of college football And worship happens here. When the sun finds its home in the western sky, It is a field of glory for sure... But much more than that it is a sacred place, And it is Saturday night in Death Valley!" -Dan Borne 1 Day Until Kickoff!9/24/2020 BY: Terrill J. Weil Da Boot Sports! Coach Orgeron got to speak with the media briefly Thursday afternoon after practice. He's very pleased with the way the team is looking and very excited for Saturday. Coach O: "These guys are ready to play!" Below is Thursday afternoon's press conference, courtesy of LSU... 2 Days Until Kickoff!9/23/2020 By: Terrill J. Weil Da Boot Sports! The LSU Fighting Tigers are coming off of their greatest season in the history of the football program. 15-0, National Champions, multiple NCFAA award winners, and the Heisman Trophy winner. Numerous team and national offensive records were broken by arguably the greatest college football team in history. A magical season to be remembered. From their greatest season ever, to dealing with the strangest and most difficult offseason that anyone could imagine. The 2020 college football season being played was left in doubt. As usual, the SEC took the lead and held its ground against the doubters who were and are against these young men competing this fall. Greg Sankey and SEC athletic directors met and decided on the ten game conference schedule that has saved the season. LSU lost several big time players from last season's 15-0 national championship team. But this team is still loaded with a lot of talent. Like Coach O preaches, "Next Man Up!" I believe this offense will continue to be explosive, electric, and exciting to watch. Offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger will have a new passing game coordinator to work with as Scott Linehan has been brought in to replace Joe Brady. Myles Brennan will prove to be the real deal. He may not put up Joe Burrow 2019 type of stats, but he will perform at a Heisman Trophy candidate level, leading this young LSU team to many victories. At the receiver position, the Tigers are loaded. Terrace Marshall Jr. and Racey McMath will lead a very talented group that will give Brennan several targets to work with. The running back position is oozing with talent. Chris Curry is listed as the starter, but John Emery Jr. and Tyrion Davis-Price will both get solid playing time. It's a three-headed monster that could very well be the best stable of backs LSU has ever had. The offensive line lead by senior tackle Austin Deculus is huge, strong, and will be an outstanding unit. Bo Pelini has returned to Baton Rouge to run the defense after Dave Aranda decided to take the head coaching position at Baylor. With Pelini's return, the Tigers will switch to a 4-3 nickel based defensive attack. Up front LSU is very strong and deep, even with junior Tyler Shelvin opting out of the season to prepare for the NFL draft. The new starters at defensive ends, Ali Gaye and Andre Anthony have been very impressive in fall camp. Many may be surprised that the linebackers this season, may be just as good, if not better then last. Micah Baskerville, Damone Clark, and Jabril Cox will be an exciting unit to watch. The secondary is young, but with some game experience should live up to the DBU standard with ease, as Derek Stingley Jr. and Cordale Flott will be the corners. Jay Ward, Maurice Hampton Jr., and Elias Ricks provide talent and depth at corner and at the nickel position. Senior team leader, JaCoby Stevens will be the free safety with Todd Harris Jr. earning the start at strong safety. Overall, I expect to see a better overall defensive unit in 2020, which will be needed while the offense may take a game or two to really find its groove and start to click at a high level. Special teams should continue to be a strength. Coach Greg McMahon has returned for his third season as the Tigers special teams coach. Both kicker Cade York and punter Zach Von Rosenburg return after having an outstanding 2019 campaign. The Tiger defensive should have their hands full against Mike Leach's Air Raid attack Saturday in Death Valley. Mississippi State will try to keep LSU's defense spread out and on their heels with a up-tempo attack. However, expect the Bulldogs, who haven't fully committed to a starting quarterback yet, to try and run the football a little more then normal Saturday. Returning 1,000 yard rusher, Kylin Hill could pose a problem for the Tigers. He is State's biggest weapon and with the LSU defense spread out, and the Bulldog offensive line setting up in large splits, Hill could possibly have a big day. But no doubt it will be Leach's passing attack that will try to put the most pressure on the Tigers. “In this business we want to attack as much space as possible,” Leach said at his first MSU press conference. “We should be able to install it pretty fast and it is not going to be perfect right away. The more people the defense has to keep up with over a wide area, the bigger our chances are.” At quarterback for the Bulldogs, expect to see K.J. Costello, a graduate transfer from Stanford to draw the start Saturday. The quarterback race has been a tight close one during fall camp, but Costello has performed well in recent scrimmages. Will Rogers looks like he will be the backup. Kylin Hill, a 2019 All-SEC first team selection, had 242 carries for 1,350 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. Leach has said he hopes Hill leads the SEC in all-purpose yards, and that the running back position gets most of the touches and yards. Mississippi State seems to be weak at the wide receiver position. Their top returning receiver will be Osirus Mitchell. Mitchell led the team in 2019 with 430 receiving yards and was second with 29 catches. The 6'5", 210-pounder will be stable target for K.J. Costello. He should be the first option in the new Leach 4-wide receiver formation. Tyrell Shavers, who transferred from Alabama is expected to start and be a top target. The Bulldogs should field a solid offensive front. They did lose a pair of starters up front from what was a solid group last year. However, there is quality depth and several options to replace those losses. Mississippi State returns a defense that is full of talent that new defensive coordinator, Zach Arnett has to work with. Arnett will run a 3-3-5 in 2020. The defense is lead by senior linebacker Erroll Thompson who was the team's leading tackler last season. He is the heart and soul of the Mississippi State defense. The defensive line for the Bulldogs seems to be in pretty good shape. The Bulldogs were young and inexperienced last season here. Defensive tackle Nathan Pickering emerged as an All-SEC Freshman. He will team up with Jaden Crumedy and defensive ends Kobe Jones and Marquiss Spencer to give the Bulldogs a solid front. A huge question mark for the Bulldogs is the youth and inexperience in their secondary which is lead by junior safety Marcus Murphy. This unit will need to grow up in a hurry as defending LSU's dangerous wide receivers will be a huge challenge. The Bulldogs return their punter and kicker from last season, both whom had a productive 2019. GAME PREDICTION: The Bulldogs Air Raid offense is a challenge to defend, but the talented LSU secondary will be able to hold its own against an unproven group of State receivers. A fast and physical Tiger defense will give the Bulldogs fits. The big story in this one, will be can the Bulldog defense stop a LSU offense that should pick up where it left off at last season, and is just as potent as the Air Raid. I see the Bulldogs playing the Tigers tough for the first quarter or so, but the Tigers are bigger and stronger then Miss. State in the trenches on both sides of the ball and will wear the Bulldogs down. LSU will dominate this game and win easily. Big day for the entire LSU team, as they make a statement that they are still a team to be reckoned with and plan on defending their National Championship in 2020. LSU - 45, Mississippi State - 17 3 Days Until Kickoff!9/22/2020 By: Terrill J. Weil Da Boot Sports! Myles Brennan, Jacoby Stevens, Damone Clark, and Chris Curry each sat down this morning to speak with the media. The excitement is building as the Tigers season opener is only four days away. LSU is a 19 point favorite against Mississippi State this Saturday in Tiger Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2:30pm and will be televised by CBS. Below are the press conference videos for each player for your viewing, courtesy of LSU. Starting Middle Linebacker #18 - Damone Clark Staring Safety #7 - JaCoby Stevens Starting Quarterback #15 - Myles Brennan Starting Running Back #18 - Chris Curry 4 Days Until Kickoff!9/21/2020 By: Terrill J. Weil Da Boot Sports! It's Game Week, and LSU Head Coach Ed Orgeron relayed his excitement when he met with the media this morning. The team will begin their normal game week schedule today as they continue to prepare for Mississippi State. The Bulldogs new head coach Mike Leach brings his wide open Air-Raid attack into Death Valley as Miss. State looks to rebound from a disappointing 6-7 season in 2019. Below is the video of this morning's press conference, along with some fun "By the game notes provided by LSU. Coach O's press conference: Sept. 21st HERE ARE SOME NOTES & STATISTICS RELATED TO SATURDAY'S SEASON OPENER: *LSU opens its fourth full season under head coach Ed Orgeron when the No. 5/No. 6 Tigers host Mississippi State on Saturday in Tiger Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on CBS. *LSU is 75-35-3 all-time against Mississippi State, which includes a 49-19-1 mark in games played in Baton Rouge. LSU has won 18 of the last 20 meetings with Mississippi State dating back to 2000. *It's LSU's 127th season of football at LSU, a span that has seen the Tigers four national titles (1958, 2003, 2007, and 2019) and claim 12 SEC titles (1935, 1936, 1958, 1961, 1970, 1986, 1988, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2019). *LSU enters the game after producing the most dominant season in college football history a year ago, going 15-0 and winning the national title with a 42-25 victory over Clemson in the championship game. LSU beat seven Top 10 opponents in 2019 (most in college football history) and the Tigers won 12 games by double-digits. *LSU brings the nation's longest current winning streak into the Mississippi State game at 16 straight. The Tigers are three wins shy of tying the all-time LSU mark of 19 set between 1957 and 1959. *LSU coach Ed Orgeron is 6-0 all-time in season-openers (3-0 at LSU, 3-0 at Ole Miss). *Orgeron brings a 40-9 mark in 49 games as LSU's head coach into the season-opener. Of his 40 wins with the Tigers, 31 have come by double-figures, 18 have come against teams ranked in the Top 25 with 12 of those coming against Top 10 opponents. Orgeron is 12-3 against Top 10 teams at LSU. *Orgeron has led LSU to 26 wins over SEC opponents and the Tigers carry a streak of nine straight conference victories into the Mississippi State contest. *LSU has won three straight and 16 of its last 17 season opening contests dating back to 2003.The only loss during that span came against Wisconsin (L, 16-14) in Lambeau Field to open the 2016 season. *LSU enters the season ranked in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the Coaches Poll for the 20th straight year, a streak that dates back to the start of the 2001 season. *LSU will play its first day-game season-opener in Tiger Stadium since 2008 when the Tigers beat Appalachian State 41-13 in a game moved to 10 a.m. due to Hurricane Gustav. *LSU has won five straight and 18 of its last 19 day games in Tiger Stadium, a streak that dates back to the start of the 2010 season. *Junior QB Myles Brennan will get his first career start on Saturday. Brennan has appeared 17 games during his LSU career, passing for 600 yards and 2 TDs. *Junior WR Terrace Marshall Jr. is LSU's top returning receiver with 58 career receptions for 863 yards and 13 TDs. *Senior S JaCoby Stevens is LSU's leading active defender in tackles (127), tackles for loss (15.5) and sacks (6.5). *Sophomore CB Derek Stingley Jr. is coming off a All-America season in 2019 when he led the SEC in interceptions (6) and passes defended (21). 7 Consecutive games LSU has scored at least 35 points dating back to Alabama game last year. 16 Consecutive wins by LSU, the longest active streak in college football and the second longest streak in school history. 19 Straight games LSU has had at least one passing touchdown. LSU Opens 2020 season with SEC Foe Mississippi State *LSU will meet Mississippi State in football for the 114th time when the teams square off in Tiger Stadium on September 26, 2020. *LSU holds a 75-35-3 advantage in the all-time series and a 49-19-1 advantage while playing in Baton Rouge. *The first meeting came in 1896 in Baton Rouge as LSU came out victorious 52-0. *Mississippi State finished the 2019 season with a 6-7 record. *LSU came out on top in the last meeting, 36-13, in Starkville. *This will be the second time the Tigers face Mississippi State in a season opener and home opener. The first time the Tigers faced Mississippi State in a home opener was in 1946 with the Tigers defeating the Bulldogs 13-6. In 2007, the Tiger opened the season at Mississippi State with a 45-0 victory. *LSU is 53-29-5 all-time in Southeastern Conference opening games, winning 11 of the last 13 games. *LSU has only opened SEC play at home twice out of the last nine seasons. 2019: A Recap *LSU is coming off the most dominant season in college football history, as the Tigers went 15-0, the first 15-0 record in the history of the SEC. *The Tigers posted a 13-0 mark and outscored opponents 621-275 in the regular season. *LSU blew through the College Football Playoffs, beating No. 4 Oklahoma, 63-28, and then claimed the school's fourth national title with a 42-25 win over No. 2 Clemson in the national championship game. *LSU went 8-0 in SEC play during the regular season, winning six of eight games by at least two touchdowns. *The Tigers captured their 12th SEC title with a 37-10 win over No. 3 Georgia in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta. *LSU trailed in onlu six games all season, just twice in the second half and never in the fourht quarter. *Joe Burrow set nearly every LSU and SEC single-season pass record as the Tigers led the nation in points per game (48.4) and yards per game (568.4) - both school records. *Burrow was named National Player of the Year and the 2019 Heisman Trophy award winner. LSU also produced the Biletnikoff Award (J'Marr Chase) and the Jim Thorpe Award (Grant Delpit). *The Tigers et a school-record with five first team All-America selections in 2019 (Burrow, Chase, Delpit, Lewis, and Derek Stingley Jr.) *The Tigers capped the 2019 season by setting an SEC record with first players elected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, led by Burrow who was picked No. 1 overall by the Bengals. LSU Under Louisiana's Own Ed Orgeron *In his fourth full season as head coach of the Tigers, Orgeron continues to gain momentum on the field and on the recruiting trail. *Orgeron has guided the Tigers to a 40-9 overall mark - which ties for the most wins by any coach in shool history during the first 49 games of their career. *He has led the Tigers to five postseason victories - one in the SEC Championship Game, two bowl games and two in the College Football Playoffs. *Of LSU's 40 wins under Orgeron, 31 have come by double-figures and 12 have been over Top 10 teams. The 12 Top 10 wins rank as the second-most for an coach in LSU history, trailing only Les Miles who won 16 games over Top 10 opponets in 12 years. *LSU has a 24-7 record under Orgeron against SEC teams, which includes a 37-10 win over fourth-ranked Georgia in the 2019 SEC Championship game. *Under Orgeron, the Tigers have played 44-of-50 games ranked in the Top 25, including every game in 2018 and 2019. LSU In Home Openers *LSU has won 14 straight home openers dating back to a 45-3 win over Louisiana-Lafayette in 2006. *Last year, LSU opened its home slate with a 55-3 win over Georgia Southern *Overall, LSU is 100-21-4 in home openers, which includes a 72-19-4 mark in Tiger Stadium. *LSU's last home opener loss came against Tennessee in 2005 when the Vols beat the Tigers, 30-27, in overtime in what was a Monday night game. *LSU hasn't lost a "Saturday Night" home opener since dropping a 18-13 decision to Texas A&M in 1994. Season Opener Success *LSU is 92-29-5 in season openers entering the 2020 home opener against Mississippi State. *The Tigers have won 22 of their last 24 season openers. The only two losses during that stretch have come at Virginia Tech in 2002 and against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field in 2016. *Last year, LSU stormed past Georgia Southern 55-3. *In six games as head coach between Ole Miss and LSU, Ed Orgeron owns a record of 6-0 in season openers. 2020 Schedule *The Tigers will play an SEC-only schedule for the 2020 season, playing five games in Tiger Stadium and five games on the road. *The Tigers open the season Mississippi State at home and end the season in Tiger Stadium against Ole Miss. *LSU will play four teams that are ranked in the Top 25 (Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Texas A&M). *The game with Ole Miss on December 5 will mark the first December contest in Tiger Stadium since 2001 when LSU beat Aubrn, 27-14, to clinch a berth in the SEC Championship Game. Consecutive Starts *Four LSU players go into the Mississippi State game riding a consecutive start streak of at least seven games. *S JaCoby Stevens leads the way with 19 consecutive starts, followed by CB Derek Stingley Jr. with 14. DE Glen Logan has tallied eight consecutive starts, while Terrace Marshall Jr. has seven. LSU Goes Into 2020 Riding Streak of 20 Consecutive Years With At Least 8 Wins *LSU goes into the 2020 season having won at least 8 games for 20 consecutive years, which ties with Oklahoma as the second-longest active streak among FBS teams. *Boise State's active streak of 21 straight years with 8 or more wins is the longest among FBS teams *LSU's current streak of seasons with at least 8 wins dates back to 2000 when the Tigers posted an 8-4 overall mark. *LSU's streak of seasons with at least 8 wins also ranks as the longest of its kind in the history of the SEC, bettering Tennessee 16 (1989-2004); Florida 14 (1990-2003); Georgia 13 (1997-2009); and Alabama 13 (1971-83). Tigers Present No. 18 Jerseys for 2020 *Sophomore running back Chris Curry and junior linebacker Damone Clark will wear the coveted No. 18 jersey for the Tigers this year as Orgeron announced Friday, September 18. *Curry, who is in his third year with the Tigers, has patiently waited his turn in what has been an loaded LSU backfield since his arrival on campus in 2018. Curry, a redshirt sophomore from Lehigh High School in Lehigh Acres, Fla., has played in 18 games with one start during his career. *His lone start came in LSU's national semifinal win over Oklahoma in the 2019 Peach Bowl as he filled in for an injured Clyde Edwards-Helaire and rushed for 90 yards on 16 carries in helping the Tigers to a 63-28 win over the Sooners. *Clark, a native of Baton Rouge and a product of Southern Lab, has played in 28 games with three starts during his career. Clark, who will start at middle linebacker for LSU in 2020, has 51 career tackles to go with 4.0 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. *Both players now join an elite group of No. 18s at LSU, a tradition that was born in 2003 when quarterback Matt Mauck led the Tigers to their first national title in football since 1958. Mauck's No. 18 became synonymous with success – both on and off the field – as well as a selfless attitude that has become the epitome of being an LSU football player. *Here is a look at the players to wear No. 18: Years, Player, Position 2003 Matt Mauck QB 2004-07 Jacob Hester RB 2008-09 Richard Dickson TE 2010 Richard Murphy RB 2011 Brandon Taylor S 2012 Bennie Logan DT 2013 Lamin Barrow LB 2014 Terrence Magee RB 2015-16 Tre'Davious White CB 2017 Christian LaCouture DL 2017 John David Moore FB/TE 2018 Foster Moreau TE 2019 Lloyd Cushenberry III C 2019 K'Lavon Chaisson LB 2020 Chris Curry RB 2020 Damone Clark LB Senior Stevens to Don No. 7 in 2020 *Senior safety Jacoby Stevens has been awarded the No. 7 jersey for LSU in 2020, head coach Ed Orgeron announced to the team on Friday, September 18. *Stevens, a preseason All-Southeastern Conference selection and a three-time winner of SEC Defensive Player of the Week in 2019, is the undisputed leader of the Tigers – both on and off the field. Stevens, who is LSU's nominee for the Good Works Team and the Wuerffel Award this year, is a playmaker on the field, on pace to graduate with his degree in December and is active in many community service endeavors off the field. *Stevens said he wore No. 7 on his high school football team and while playing AAU Basketball. Stevens said the No. 7 has always been his favorite number because of former LSU All-America Patrick Peterson. LSU's 16-game Win Streak Nation's Longest; Second in School History *LSU's 16-game winning streak ranks as the nation's longest and is the second-longest streak in school history. *LSU won a school-record 19 straight games over the 1957-58-59 seasons. *The following is a look at the longest winning streaks in school history: Length First Win Loss that Snapped Streak 19 games def. Tulane, 25-6, on Nov. 30, 1957 lost Tennessee, 14-13, on Nov. 7, 1959 16 games def. UCF, 40-32 on Jan. 1, 2019 -- 15 games def. Baylor, 48-0, on Nov. 30, 1907 lost Sewanee, 15-6, on Oct. 30, 1909 First-Time Starters Expected on Saturday Night *There have been a total of 16 true freshmen starters in a season opener since 1986. *True freshmen make an impact at LSU as in three years with Ed Orgeron as head coach a total of 48 true freshmen have seen action during that span. *LSU played 15 true freshmen in 2018 with four of them – WR Terrace Marshall, WR Ja'Marr Chase, LB Micah Baskerville, and OL Chasen Hines – all starting at least one game. *In 2017, 20 true freshmen saw action for the Tigers, a number that led the nation. In addition, eight true freshmen started at least one game for the Tigers that year. *Derek Stingley Jr. was the ninth true freshman on the defensive side of the ball to start a season opener in the last 33 seasons in 2019 and became the first true freshman in LSU history to start every game as a rookie. *Arik Gilbert and Kayshon Boutte are expected to join the list as they will make their debut on September 26 against Mississippi State. *The following have started a season opener since 2000: Derek Stingley Jr. (2019) Marshall Jr. (WR, 2018), Charles (RG, 2017), Chaisson (LB, 2017), Delpit (S, 2017), Taylor (LB, 2017), Kevin Toliver (CB, 2015), Trey Quinn (WR, 2014), Jalen Mills (CB, 2012), Jessie Daniels (Nickel, 2003), Jerel Myers (WR, 1999), Johnny Mitchell (DT, 1996), Theo Williams (DT, 1996), Booger McFarland (DT, 1995), Robert Davis (RB, 1992), and Sheddrick Wilson (WR, 1992). Most True Freshmen Starters by Year Since 2005 2017: 8 (Tory Carter, K'Lavon Chaisson, Saahdiq Charles, Grant Delpit, Ed Ingram, JaCoby Stevens, Tyler Taylor, Kary Vincent Jr.) 2015: 7 (Arden Key, Donte Jackson, Foster Moreau, Bry'Kiethon Mouton, Maea Teuhema, Kevin Toliver II, Toby Weathersby) 2014: 6 (Jamal Adams, Malachi Dupre, Leonard Fournette, Davon Godchaux, Brandon Harris, Trey Quinn) 2012: 6 (Kwon Alexander, Vadal Alexander, Reid Ferguson, Jeremy Hill, Lamar Louis, Jalen Mills) 2013: 5 (Rickey Jefferson, Anthony Jennings, Ethan Pocic, Rashard Robinson, Tre'Davious White) 2019: 4 (Derek Stingley Jr., Joseph Evans, Cordale Flott, Mo Hampton Jr.) 2018 4 (Terrace Marshall Jr., Ja'Marr Chase, Micah Baskerville, Chasen Hines) 2006: 4 (Jacob Cutrera, Richard Dickson, Charles Scott, Keiland Williams) 2010: 3 (Alfred Blue, Tyrann Mathieu, Eric Reid) 2011: 2 (Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry) 2007: 2 (Drake Nevis, Terrence Toliver) 2008: 2 (Jordan Jefferson, Patrick Peterson) 2009: 2 (Dominique Allen, Rueben Randle) 2016 1 (Dee Anderson) Football Program Earned Victory Number 800 in 2019 *With its win over Northwestern State on September 14, 2019, the LSU football program became the 12th FBS school to reach the 800-win milestone. *With an overall record of 811-415-47, the LSU Football program ranks 12th amongst FBS programs for all-time wins. 1,000-Yard Rushing Streak Reaches 7 Years *LSU goes into 2020 riding a streak of seven consecutive years with a 1,000-yard rusher. *Last season, junior Clyde Edwards-Helaire owned 1,414 yards for the Tigers. *Here's a look at LSU's 1,000-yard rushers during the seven-year streak: 2013 Jeremy Hill 1,401 yards 2014 Leonard Fournette 1,034 yards 2015 Leonard Fournette 1,953 yards (school record) 2016 Derrius Guice 1,387 yards 2017 Derrius Guice 1,153 yards 2018 Nick Brossette 1,039 yards 2019 Clyde Edwards-Helaire 1,414 yards LSU Punter Von Rosenberg One of Nation's Oldest Players *At 29 years old, punter Zach Von Rosenberg is the second-oldest player in college football in 2020. *Rosenberg, who spent six years playing Minor League Baseball before joining the LSU program in 2016, will turn 30 in September. *The oldest player in college football is 33-year old Colorado placekicker James Stefanou. We are DBU: *Since 2007, LSU leads the nation in number of defensive backs selected in the NFL draft with 21, including six in the first round. *Grant Delpit was a consensus All-America DB in 2019. *LSU has produced 12 first team All-American defensive backs since 2000. *LSU has also had defensive backs claim five national awards since 2010: Patrick Peterson 2010 Bednarik Award; Patrick Peterson 2010 Thorpe Award; Tyrann Mathieu 2011 Bednarik Award; Morris Claiborne 2011 Thorpe Award; Grant Delpit 2019 Thorpe Award. *Since the 2007 NFL Draft, LSU has had six DBs picked in the first round. Day Game or Night Game Makes No Difference for LSU *LSU's tradition of night games in Tiger Stadium is like none other in college football. *But, LSU's recent success in day games in Tiger Stadium has made playing afternoon games in Death Valley more appealing. *LSU has won 18 of its last 19 day games in Tiger Stadium, a stretch that goes back to a 16-14 victory over Tennessee on Oct. 2, 2010. *Since 2010, LSU's only daytime loss in Tiger Stadium came against Florida by a 16-10 count in 2016. *Of LSU's 18 wins during this current stretch, 10 have come against Top 25 teams and 17 were over SEC opponents. *Since 2000, LSU is 121-19 overall at home, which includes an 92-12 mark at night in Tiger Stadium and a 29-7 record during the day. From 1960-99, LSU posted a 12-19-3 mark in day games in Tiger Stadium. *The following is a breakdown of LSU's night record, day record and overall record in Tiger Stadium since 1960: Decade Record at Night Record during the day Overall Tiger Stadium Record 1960-69 49-5 4-2-1 53-7-1 1970-79 51-12-1 1-2 52-14-1 1980-89 38-16-1 3-5-2 41-21-3 1990-99 31-19 4-10 35-29 2000-09 49-5 11-6 60-11 2010-19 43-7 18-1 58-8 Totals 261-64-2 41-26-3 302-90-5 Eight Tigers Earn Preseason All-SEC Honors *Reigning national champion LSU placed eight players on the 2020 Preseason Coaches All-Southeastern Conference Football Team. * Headlining the list of LSU players on the All-SEC team include cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and safety JaCoby Stevens, who were both named to the first team. Stingley Jr. is coming off a freshman season that saw him earn consensus All-America honors. He led the SEC in both interceptions (6) and passes defended (21). Stingley also earned a spot on the second team as an all-purpose player. * Second team selections include offensive linemen Ed Ingram and Austin Deculus along with wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr., and placekicker Cade York. * Third-team selections for the Tigers include freshman tight end Arik Gilbert and defensive tackle Glen Logan. Stingley Named AP Preseason All-American *LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. was named an AP Preseason All-American. * Stingley Jr. became the most decorated freshmen in LSU football history, earning consensus All-America honor. * He started all 15 games for the Tigers last season and led the SEC and ranked No. 5 in the nation in interceptions (6) and No. 2 nationally in passes defended (21). * Stingley became the first true freshman in LSU history to start every game as a rookie. Two Tigers To Play in 2020 As a College Graduate *During the 2020 season, two Tigers are going to take the field as a college graduate *LSU's list of two college graduates includes Andre Anthony and Travez Moore. *Here's the list of college graduates on the LSU roster for 2020: Second Generation Tigers *LSU's roster features two players who are second generation Tigers. *Redshirt freshmen Thomas Perry and Brandon Hubicz are both following in their dads footsteps as LSU football players. *Thomas Perry, an offensive lineman from Teurlings Catholic in Lafayette, is the son of Adam Perry, who played offensive guard for the Tigers from 1994-97 *Brandon Hubiz, a tight end from Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, is the son of Jim Hubicz, who played offensive tackle and guard for the Tigers from 1986-89. Football Family Connections *LSU has some unique family-football connections on this year's team. The following is a look at those football-related connections with current Tigers: *TE Aaron Moffitt – son of LSU strength and conditioning coach Tommy Moffitt. Aaron's brother Clay just completed a two-year stint on the LSU baseball team. *CB Derek Stingley Jr. – grandson of the late Darryl Stingley, a first round draft pick by the New England Patriots who had his NFL career tragically ended on August 12, 1978 with a spinal cord injury. *Freshman quarterback Max Johnson's father was a quarterback at Florida State and won a Super Bowl as the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Two-Sport Tiger *DB Maurice Hampton Jr. is the only two-sport athlete on the football roster this season. *Hampton Jr. is a member of the LSU baseball team. The Tennessee native was drafted in the 23rd round of the 2019 Major League Draft and elected to attend LSU. Hampton Jr. was the first player in Tennessee history to earn Mr. Football and Mr. Baseball honors in the same season. LSU Amongst Best in the Nation Since 2000 *LSU is amongst the best in the nation since 2000 with 201 wins. *The Tigers rank fifth in the country and second in the SEC in wins. *Here is the list of teams with the most wins since 2000: 1. Boise State 219-43 Oklahoma 219-49 3. Ohio State 218-44 4. Alabama 203-63 5. LSU 201-59 6. Georgia 198-67 7. USC 188-71 Oregon 188-70 9. Wisconsin 187-77 10. TCU 182-71 Former Tiger Glen Dorsey named to Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame/College Football Hall of Fame *Dorsey, a Gonzales-East Ascension product, is the most decorated defensive player in LSU football history and helped the Tigers win the 2007 BCS national championship. A two-time All-American defensive tackle, he was SEC Defensive Player of the Year and earned the Outland Trophy, Lombardi Award, Nagurski Trophy and Lott Trophy among other top national collegiate honors playing for 2019 LSHOF inductee Les Miles. *He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs with the fifth overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. He played eight seasons with the Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. *Dorsey joins 16 other players along with two coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame. He will officially be inducted on December 8, 2020 at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York City. *Dorsey will be inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday, June 26, 2021 in Natchitoches. NFLSU *After tying the NCAA record of 14 Tigers to the NFL, LSU now has a total of 42 on active rosters, which is third in the nation. *After two weeks in the NFL, the No. 1 pick of the 2020 Draft Joe Burrow is 60-97 and has a total of 509 passing yards. *Devin White has tallied 17 tackles in two games with nine assists for a total of 26 combined. LSU Adds Staff, New Titles *Bo Pelini, who helped LSU to the 2007 BCS National Championship, returns to the coaching staff as defensive coordinator. He returns to LSU after serving as the head coach at Youngstown State for the past five seasons where he guide the Penguins to a 33-28 overall mark and an appearance in the FCA National Championship Game in 2016. Penlini has a head coaching record of 100-55, which included seven years as head coach at Nebraska. *Scott Linehan, who served as head coach of the St. Louis Rams and has over 20 years of combined experience as an offensive coordinator in the NFL and the cCollegiate level, joins the staff for the 2020 season as LSU's passing game cooridnator. Linehan works alongside offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Steve Ensminger. *Kevin Faulk makes the transition over to coach the running backs on February 26. Faulk joined the LSU staff in January of 2018 as Director of Player Development. He worked with LSU student-athletes on their academic direction, social development and overall quality of life. Faulk, the leading rusher in LSU history, is one of 78 players and seven coaches on the 2021 College Football Hall of Fame ballot. *Wide receivers coach Mickey Joseph was named assistant head coach on March 4, while cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond added recruiting coordinator to his title. *Joseph enters his fourth season in 2020, while Raymond is in his ninth year with the program. Both will continue to coach their respective position groups. 5 Days Until Kickoff!9/19/2020 By: Terrill J. Weil Da Boot Sports! On Friday LSU announced who would carry-on the team tradition of wearing the symbolic jersey numbers of #7 and #18. Senior team leader, safety Jacoby Stevens was chosen to wear #7. This hand down tradition was started by cornerback Patrick Peterson who wore the number from 2008-2010. The coveted number, when it becomes available, gets awarded to a player on the team who is considered a top playmaker. Stevens, a preseason All-SEC selection, has shown tremendous team leadership on and off the field for the Tigers, as well as a force in the secondary. “What this number means to me is to be complete – to be a complete person on and off the field,” Stevens said. “That’s how my parents raised me. To be a complete person in everything I do whether it’s in football or in life. I can go on and on about wearing this number and what it means to me. It’s a huge honor.” Stevens also stated that he wore #7 while playing high school football and AAU Basketball, mentioning it has always been his favorite number since becoming a huge fan of former Tiger great, Patrick Peterson. The number 18 jersey number has been worn by a group of special LSU football players. It is a sign of success and leadership to the team. After winning the national championship in 2003, senior quarterback Matt Mauck began the tradition by passing #18 down to running back Jacob Hester who went on the help the Tigers win a national championship in 2007. Coach O announced to the team that #18 will be worn by both running back Chris Curry and Linebacker Damone Clark. Going into the 2020 season Curry is slated as the starter at running back, while Clark will start at middle linebacker. 7 Days Until Kickoff!9/17/2020
LSU Sports Information By: Michael Bonnette LSU PLACES EIGHT PLAYER ON PRESEASON ALL-SEC FOOTBALL TEAM BATON ROUGE – Reigning national champion LSU placed eight players on the 2020 Preseason Coaches All-Southeastern Conference Football Team, the league office announced on Thursday. Headlining the list of LSU players on the All-SEC team include cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and safety JaCoby Stevens, who were both named to the first team. Stingley Jr. is coming off a freshman season that saw him earn consensus All-America honors. He led the SEC in both interceptions (6) and passes defended (21). Stingley also earned a spot on the second team as an all-purpose player. Stevens, a senior, was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week three times in 2019 and he finished second on the team in tackles (92), sacks (5.0) and was third in tackles for loss (9.0). Stevens also intercepted three passes a year ago. Second team selections include offensive linemen Ed Ingram and Austin Deculus along with wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr., and placekicker Cade York. Third-team selections for the Tigers include freshman tight end Arik Gilbert and defensive tackle Glen Logan. This marks the 18th consecutive year of the SEC Coaches Preseason All-SEC Team. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players. LSU opens the 2020 season on Saturday, Sept. 26 against Mississippi State in Tiger Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and will be televised on CBS. 2020 Preseason Coaches All-SEC Football Team (* - ties) First Team Preseason All-SEC OFFENSE TE Kyle Pitts, Florida OL Alex Leatherwood, Alabama Trey Smith, Tennessee Darian Kinnard, Kentucky Landon Dickerson, Alabama C Drake Jackson, Kentucky WR DeVonta Smith, Alabama Jaylen Waddle, Alabama QB Kyle Trask, Florida RB Najee Harris, Alabama Kylin Hill, Mississippi State AP Jaylen Waddle, Alabama DEFENSE DL Bobby Brown, Texas A&M LaBryan Ray, Alabama Big Kat Bryant, Auburn Jordan Davis, Georgia LB Dylan Moses, Alabama K.J. Britt, Auburn Nick Bolton, Missouri DB Patrick Surtain II, Alabama Derek Stingley Jr., LSU Richard LeCounte, Georgia JaCoby Stevens, LSU SPECIAL TEAMS PK Brent Cimaglia, Tennessee P Max Duffy, Kentucky RS Jaylen Waddle, Alabama Second Team Preseason All-SEC OFFENSE TE Jalen Wydermyer, Texas A&M OL Sadarius Hutcherson, South Carolina Deonte Brown, Alabama Landon Young, Kentucky Austin Deculus, LSU* Brodarious Hamm, Auburn* Wanya Morris, Tennessee* Ed Ingram, LSU* C Trey Hill, Georgia WR George Pickens, Georgia Terrace Marshall Jr., LSU QB Kellen Mond, Texas A&M RB Rakeem Boyd, Arkansas Isaiah Spiller, Texas A&M AP Derek Stingley Jr., LSU DEFENSE DL Kobie Whiteside, Missouri Malik Herring, Georgia Aaron Sterling, South Carolina Dayo Odeyingbo, Vanderbilt LB Henry To'o To'o, Tennessee Monty Rice, Georgia Erroll Thompson, Mississippi State* Nakobe Dean, Georgia* Ventrell Miller, Florida* DB Kaiir Elam, Florida Eric Stokes, Georgia Demani Richardson, Texas A&M Tyree Gillespie, Missouri* Marco Wilson, Florida* Israel Mukuamu, South Carolina* SPECIAL TEAMS PK Cade York, LSU P Jake Camarda, Georgia RS Jerrion Ealy, Ole Miss Third Team Preseason All-SEC OFFENSE TE Arik Gilbert, LSU OL Carson Green, Texas A&M Kenyon Green, Texas A&M Evan Neal, Alabama Dan Moore, Texas A&M C Landon Dickerson, Alabama WR Seth Williams, Auburn Elijah Moore, Ole Miss QB Bo Nix, Auburn RB Jerrion Ealy, Ole Miss Larry Rountree, Missouri AP Jerrion Ealy, Ole Miss* Kadarius Toney, Florida* Christian Tutt, Auburn* DEFENSE DL Zachary Carter, Florida Josh Paschal, Kentucky Kobe Jones, Mississippi State Glen Logan, LSU LB Boogie Watson, Kentucky Dimitri Moore, Vanderbilt Nolan Smith, Georgia* Ernest Jones, South Carolina* Andre Mintze, Vanderbilt* DB Jaycee Horn, South Carolina Bryce Thompson, Tennessee Yusuf Corker, Kentucky Christian Tutt, Auburn* Josh Jobe, Alabama* SPECIAL TEAMS PK Evan McPherson, Florida P Mac Brown, Ole Miss RS Christian Tutt, Auburn 9/15/2020 By: Terrill J. Weil Da Boot Sports! Coach Orgeron met with the media this morning for his weekly press conference to discuss the team's second preseason scrimmage in Tiger Stadium on Friday and answer questions. Below is a video of today's press conference provided by LSU. Coach O press conference Tuesday, September 15th 11 Days Until Kickoff!9/15/2020 LSU Sports Information By: Michael Bonnette FIRST LSU COACH ED ORGERON SHOW FOR 2020 AIRS WEDNESDAY NIGHT FROM TJ RIBS BATON ROUGE – The first Ed Orgeron Show presented by Hancock Whitney will air live from 7-8 p.m. CT on Wednesday night (Sept. 16) at TJ Ribs on South Acadian Thruway here in Baton Rouge. The Ed Orgeron Show can be heard on the LSU Sports Radio Network, which includes the flagship station of the network Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge. The show can be found on www.LSUsports.net/live, the new LSU Sports Mobile App, and other affiliates on the LSU Sports Radio Network. The show will also be broadcast via tape delay from 8-9 p.m. CT on Cox Sports Television on Wednesdays during the season. Fans are reminded that TJ Ribs will be following all state and local health and safety guidelines with respect to capacity limitations and physical distancing. TJ Ribs will be taking the temperature of guests sitting in the show area of the restaurant and there will also be stanchions placed around the broadcast set in order to keep physical distancing. Fans are reminded that Coach Orgeron and the Voice of the Tigers Chris Blair will not be able to come in contact with the general audience and that there will be no opportunities for photographs with the coach or autographs. Due to physical distancing, there will no live questions from members of the audience this year. Questions from listeners and those in the audience will be taken via the new LSU Sports Mobile App and on LSUsports.net. Fans who wish to speak to Coach O are encouraged to call (800) 315-8255 during the show or Tweet @LSUradio. The Ed Orgeron Show presented by Hancock Whitney will run for 14 consecutive weeks with the final show taking place on Dec. 16. 2020 Schedule of Shows - (Subject to change) Show #1: Sept. 16, 2020 Show #2: Sept. 23, 2020 Show #3: Sept. 30, 2020 Show #4: Oct. 7, 2020 Show #5: Oct. 14, 2020 Show #6: Oct. 21, 2020 Show #7: Oct. 28, 2020 Show #8: Nov. 4, 2020 Show #9: Nov. 11, 2020 Show #10: Nov. 18, 2020 Show #11: Nov. 25, 2020 Show #12: Dec. 2, 2020 Show #13: Dec. 9, 2020 Show #14: Dec. 16, 2020 11 Days Until Kickoff!9/14/2020 By: Terrill J. Weil Da Boot Sports! The LSU football team received some great news today. It's been reported that Neil Farrell has returned to the LSU practice facility and has planned to opt back in for the 2020 football season. Farrell played in all 15 games last season for the Tigers, and was a driving force on defense as he totaled 46 tackles and 3 sacks. His return will help boost the LSU defensive front which had taken a huge blow to it's starting lineup and depth when both Farrell and Tyler Shelvin decided to opt out due to coronavirus concerns. Farrell decided to opt out back on August 8th after his grandmother became ill with the virus and needed to be hospitalized. "My grandmother Is getting better each and every day & I thank God for that ..... I miss football" .... Farrell twitted back on September 10th. LSU will kickoff their season against Mississippi State on September 26th in Tiger Stadium at 2:30pm. 12 Days Until Kickoff!9/10/2020
LSU Sports Information By: Michael Bonnette LSU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS For Immediate Release September 10, 2020 LSU REMINDS SEASON TICKETS HOLDERS OF OPT-OUT DEADLINE OF FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 BATON ROUGE – The deadline for LSU football season ticket holders to opt out of their tickets for the 2020 season is 5 p.m. on Friday, September 11, LSU Director of Ticket Operations Brian Broussard said on Thursday. Those fans that wish to keep their tickets for the 2020 football season do nothing at this time. Broussard said season ticket holders keeping tickets for 2020 will be contacted once quantities and seating assignments are finalized. Broussard said seat quantities and seat locations will be determined the week of LSU’s first home game. For those wishing to opt out, all LSU football season ticket holders have been sent an email containing an opt-out link. Those fans wishing to opt out of their season tickets for 2020 can simply click the link and fill out the form online and the opt out request will be processed. Season ticket prices for the 2020 season are as follows: $500 for Suites and West Sideline $450 East Sideline, North and South Endzone 500 level and Skyline Club $375 Upper Bench There is no change to the seat contributions. 9/10/2020 By: Terrill J. Weil Da Boot Sports! With the LSU football team having the day off, the media was able to meet with a few of the Tiger players for a brief Voom press conference. Center Liam Shanahan, wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr., and linebacker Jabril Cox took the time to answer a few questions. Video of each interview is below: Courtesy of LSU LSU starting center #56 - LIAM SHANAHAN LSU starting Wide Receiver #6 - Terrace Marshall Jr. LSU starting Linebacker #19 - Jabril Cox Below are a few photos from yesterday's football practice, Wednesday, September 9th, as the Tigers prepare for scrimmage #2 in Tiger Stadium tomorrow. Photos are courtesy of LSU..... 16 Days Until Kickoff! |
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