The LSU offense has taken a step away from being their typical selves — that being how they were playing during spring practice all the way through fall camp.

“We’re ready to get back to what we’ve been doing,” junior center Will Clapp said. “We’re going to get back to ‘us.’”

Heading into Troy, coach Ed Orgeron wanted to simplify the offense and ultimately stepped in to make sure that a simplified offense is what he got.

The team ran less shifts and motions with two freshmen on the offensive line, but the offense struggled to find a rhythm or identity the entire game.
“We were a good offense,” Clapp said. “Doing our shifts and motions and using that to our advantage and making those right reads. We just got into a funk as an offense. Obviously we haven’t been playing that well. We want to get back to having big runs and electric plays and get back to being an explosive offense.”

So what exactly does LSU have to do get back to that?

Senior quarterback Danny Etling says it’s execution.

“We usually have a pretty good game plan and a pretty good idea of what the other team is going to do,” Etling said. “For us, it’s just about execution. We need to make sure we study and prepare. A lot of the miscues have happened because maybe a lack of preparation.”

LSU will travel to Gainesville, Florida, as an underdog for the first time this season.

The Tigers have put behind them the last time they faced the Florida Gators as it ended in a last second loss in Tiger Stadium.

Sophomore defensive end Rashard Lawrence will be returning to the lineup and his memories of Florida aren’t so fond.

“[I remember] when they won the game and they ran on our field and how they celebrated on our field,” Lawrence said. “That’s what I remember. I felt

disrespected.”

Lawrence has sat out three games this season due to ankle injuries. Two of those games LSU has lost to Mississippi State and Troy.

Though just a sophomore, Lawrence has taken on a leadership role and Orgeron has expressed what a difference he makes on the defensive unit as a whole.

“I earned my spot in practice,” Lawrence said. “That’s something that’s very important to this team is practicing hard and doing things the right way, making the plays. When guys see you out there doing the right thing, that’s leadership.”

Playing behind Davon Godchaux last season, Lawrence didn’t take into account what role he would play this season until spring came around. After that, he took everything different about the way he practiced and studied film.

“After last year,” Lawrence said, “Watching what Godchaux did and how he elevated his game and when coach Pete [Jenkins] came, I knew I could do the same things. I wasn’t worried about who was in front of me or all the outside talk. I knew what I had to do and went from there.”
Sophomore nose tackle Ed Alexander will also join the lineup after suffering a hand injury against Mississippi State, a player that Lawrence says
will be crucial to have back.