LSU coach Ed Orgeron held a press conference before Saturday’s upcoming game against Arkansas for the “Battle of the Boot.”
“We spoke to the team about focus,” Orgeron said. “About when we have played well, the things that we’ve done during the week to get us to play well and to focus on those things today.”
Orgeron asserts that despite Arkansas’ 4-5 (1-4 Southeastern Conference) record, they are a much better team that it shows.
“They’re going to play the Tigers sky high,” Orgeron said. “I’ve watched this game all my life, and you can throw out the records because these guys are going to come after it with all they have and the records do not matter in this game. The best team is going to win on that day, and we have to be the best team that day.”
11 a.m. kickoff
Saturday’s game is just LSU’s twelfth morning game since 1958 and its first since 2011, a 35-7 win over Kentucky. The 11 a.m. start is the earliest time a LSU home Southeastern Conference game will start since 1958.
“We’re going to go to bed early on Friday night and get up at 7 a.m. Saturday morning,” Orgeron said, “We’ll be ready to pay. We talked on Monday about it being a 11 a.m. kickoff and that’s the time we decided we were going to be fire up and ready to go. No excuses.”
Some challenges are present is getting a team fired up for such an early game time, but Orgeron is not worried about his team’s preparedness this week.
“I think [it’s tough] if you don’t prepare them ahead of time,” Orgeron said. “We’ve been talking about it all week. When we played Louisville [in the 2016 Citrus Bowl], we were ready to go. We had a little call out session and you can tell that they’re fired up. ”
Orgeron himself has no problem with the early wake up call and says he will will get to sleep in later than normal. Despite the early kickoff, he expects a large crowd to show up in Tiger Stadium Saturday morning.
Arkansas quarterback situation
There has been a rare quarterback controversy in Fayetteville since senior Austin Allen hurt his shoulder on Oct. 7 against South Carolina. Since his departure, redshirt freshman Cole Kelley has taken over with a 2-2 record.
“From what we hear, Austin Allen may play,” Orgeron said, “But we’re ready for it. We have a gameplan for him and a gameplan for Cole Kelley. Whatever they bring, we’re going to be ready for it.”
At 6’7” and 268 pounds, Kelley is be large test for the Tigers on both the run game and the passing game.
“You have to tackle him,” Orgeron said. “They’re going to run the ball with him. You have to tackle him like a tailback. And he can throw the ball over your head, throw a lot of screens. This offensive does not revolve around their quarterbacks, but their line and their running game and their screen game.”
Arkansas coach Bret Bielema has not yet decided on a starter for Saturday.
Team health
LSU has struggled relentlessly with injury throughout the season, but Orgeron believes that this is the most healthy they’ve been all season.
“I attribute that to Jack Marucci and our doctors,” Orgeron said. “I think those guys do a tremendous job. Our guys in the training room, we have five or six in the training room every day. They get these guys back a lot faster than any team I’ve ever been around.”
Orgeron said during fall camp he was most worried about the offensive line. With senior offensive tackle K.J. Malone out since the Florida game and Toby Weathersby in and out of the lineup all season, Orgeron has had to rely on underclassmen to carry the line.
Freshmen Saahdiq Charles and Ed Ingram have consistently stepped up and made big plays throughout the season.
“When we went into camp, I didn’t know if we would have an offensive line,” Orgeron said. “We were really worried. I think Coach Jeff Grimes has done tremendous job managing these guys and developing them.”
“I didn’t know if we were going to last this long during the season. Especially after the physical games we’ve played, so give credit to Tommy Moffitt also. Our guys have been big and strong and physical.”
