Eating with Ed: Week 2, Texas

LSU breezed past Georgia Southern last week with a 55-3 win in Tiger Stadium, but it faces a tougher challenge in Week 2.

The Tigers travel to Texas to take on a non-conference Top 10 opponent in the Longhorns on Saturday, and will have their work cut out for them.

Todd Orlando’s defense presents a disguised blitz that has the potential to give quarterback Joe Burrow and the offense some problems.

“Blitz protection, blitz the run,” coach Ed Orgeron said. “He disguises his blitzes. These guys know what they’re doing. They’re good tacklers. They use their speed. I think the strength of their defense is in their linebackers and the DBs. They use them a bunch.

We say feast or famine on blitzes. It’s not like they’re all odd man blitz, zero blitz. They have three coverage, roll, all that stuff. They can protect themselves. It’s four or five slant one way, slant the other way. I’m sure our offensive guys will have some things to counteract that.”

Orgeron knows noise will be a factor as well as the Tigers tackle their first road opponent of the season.

“Silent count obviously. We’re going to have some noise Tuesday and Wednesday, see the things we can do, we can’t do. May have to simplify some things. Maybe some checks we can’t do on the road. I think as the game goes on, you can figure out what you can and what you can’t do.”

The Tigers will also have offensive tackle Saadiqh Charles and outside linebacker Michael Divinity back for this game, two players who didn’t see action against the Eagles last week.

Obviously Divinity is going to find his place in the defense again, and both Damone Clark and Jacob Phillips will as well.

“We think Michael is an excellent linebacker for us, can play at the line of scrimmage when we need him,” Orgeron said. “We’ll see how we can work those guys in. Maybe a first down situation with somebody else, third down situation with somebody else. Play all four of them equal snaps, they deserve it.”

Orgeron also mentioned another member of the defense, linebacker Soni Fonua, will miss a bit of time with a hand injury.

One player to continue to keep an eye on as LSU progresses through the season is defensive end Glen Logan. He had a solid showing against Georgia Southern, coming off of a good camp.

“I thought Glen played fantastic. The first play of the game, he had a cut on blocking. When you have a cut on blocking, coming right out, he made a tremendous tackle,” Orgeron said. “Glen Logan did not miss one rep in camp. I can’t say that for any other defensive lineman. I don’t think any other offensive lineman that I know of. Glen was very, very sturdy in camp. He’s come a long way. He’s an excellent lineman right now. He’s one of our best lineman. He’s a great young man. He doesn’t say much. He’s a good technician. We’re proud of him.”

The upcoming contest is an important one, but Orgeron and the Tigers aren’t overblowing it.

“They know the magnitude of this football game. We’re not going to make it bigger than life. We’ve been in big games before. This is a big game and they know it.”

LSU and Texas are set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT in Austin this weekend.

Transcript

LSU Game Notes [PDF]

Texas Game Notes [PDF]

Depth Chart

Texas Head Coach Tom Herman