Tuesdays with Ed: Missouri

Fresh off his team’s first win of the 2020 season, LSU head football coach Ed Orgeron had his weekly zoom meeting with the Baton Rouge media.

“Tell the truth Monday, really pleased of the performance of our football team,” Orgeron said. “Went on the road to get a victory against Vanderbilt, and we did it. A lot of players played very well. Still some things to improve, but we made a lot of improvement from week one to week two.”

Orgeron praised the performance of the LSU offense, noting that the unit has scored 30 or more points in nine straight games and has eclipsed 300 yards passing over the past 11. Coach O specifically praised sophomore running back John Emery and redshirt junior tackle Cam Wire. Emery had his first career 100-yard effort running the ball and Wire did not allow a sack in his first start at left tackle.

Defensively Orgeron was pleased with the secondary and how the unit limited yards after the catch. After allowing 386 yards after the catch in week one’s loss against Mississippi State, the secondary reduced that number by 84 percent and only allowed 60 yards to Vanderbilt.

“Tremendous improvement on assignments; tremendous improvement on getting to the football,” Orgeron said. “Obviously, having Derek Stingley made a difference for us in the backfield. Flott had four tackles, two tackles for a loss. Second play of the game, when he came and made that tackle on that bubble screen, I knew we were ready to play just by the way we flew to the football and we tackled.”

When asked by reporters about why quarterback Myles Brennan looked more comfortable, Orgeron said the coaching staff simplified the offense and drilled him on stepping up in the pocket instead of rolling to his right when pressure comes.

One area that LSU needs to improve on is catching the ball. Pro Football Focus has charted eight drops through the first two weeks of LSU’s season. Orgeron owes some of that to the developing chemistry between Brennan and a relatively new receiving corps.

“They’re going to run today for some drops,” Orgeron said. “All our receivers who drop the ball will run extra at practice, and will have extra catches on the jugging machine.”

Orgeron then provided some updates on a few players and their statuses for Saturday’s game against Missouri. He expects senior defensive tackle Glenn Logan to make his season debut Saturday and said “we’ll have to see how healthy” running back Chris Curry is; Orgeron also said that Ed Ingram is questionable for Saturday and Joseph Evans, who if you remember cross trained at offensive line before moving back to defense, may be called on to fill in for Ingram at left guard.

Orgeron then turned his attention to Missouri, calling the Tigers’ offense “very, very complicated.”

“Coach (Drinkwitz) has a lot of shifts and motions, will run the triple option,” Orgeron said. “First time I’ve seen a pitch in a while off of a dive, a quarterback in a pitch with a lot of different formations. So we have to play assignment football. On defense, they’re a three-four defense, will run some bear. They’ll blitz you. They’ll bring pressure, or they’ll play man coverage and play zone. Well coached football team in Missouri. We’re looking forward to this week of challenges, of us getting better as a football team every day.”