Coach Ed Orgeron held his first press conference of the week on Tuesday. Orgeron discussed his policy on suspensions and the current state of the team following its 27-0 victory over BYU.
“We were very pleased with our preparation going into the game by our coaches and players,” Orgeron said. “It was a very focused group all week.”
Tigers play 17 true freshmen in week one
LSU played 17 true freshmen in the win over BYU. That number appears to be a school record, and was the most since 15 true freshmen played in the season opener against Western Carolina in 2000.
Five of the freshmen — guard Saahdiq Charles, outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson, inside linebacker Tyler Taylor, nickel back Kary Vincent and free safety Grant Delpit — all started for the Tigers.
“They played well,” Orgeron said. “This is a fantastic freshmen group, and we are going to continue to play those and continue to grow with them.”
On offensive line Charles and fellow freshman Ed Ingram rotated at right guard throughout the game. Charles and Ingram helped pave the way for the Tiger run game that gained close to 300 yards.
“I thought our young guys [on the offensive line] played fantastic,” Orgeron said. “The older guys helped them on the sideline and helped with all the calls.”
Defensively the Tiger freshmen were a part of a unit that held BYU to 97 total yards of offense and did not allow the Cougars to cross the 50 yard line.
Orgeron said that the four freshmen who started were exactly what they thought they were in the recruiting process, and the staff is glad to have them.
“The thing that I was really impressed with the most was their mental outlook on the game,” Orgeron said. “The game was not too big for them at all. They were running around ready to go, they didn’t have the deer-in-the-headlights look at all. They played like vets.”
Suspension policy
The Tigers suspended 13 players for its game against BYU, and on Monday three of those players — sophomore receiver Dee Anderson, sophomore linebacker Sci Martin and tight end Caleb Roddy — were still not at practice.
Orgeron has not given specific reasons for the suspensions, but that the players violated team rules and will be held accountable.
“We have team rules,” Orgeron said. “You break the team rules, you pay the price. We bring guys in, we council them and talk to them, we give them help in a lot of areas, we are there for them, but once you cross a line, you have to face a penalty.”
Orgeron did update the status of both Anderson and Martin, saying that both have dealing with injuries. Orgeron expects Martin back in practice on Tuesday, but has said that Anderson has not practiced all camp and he is unsure of when Anderson will do so.
Special Team changes
Orgeron said he was pleased with the Tigers play on special teams against BYU. 
However, Orgeron has opened up the kickoff battle once again. Redshirt freshman Connor Culp was in charge of kickoff duties against BYU, but only recorded one touchback. The Cougars finished the night with 19.2 yards per return.
“We must improve kickoffs,” Orgeron said. “We want our kickoffs into the end zone, and the kickoffs were not where they were supposed to be. We are going to open up the competition for who will kickoff this week.”
Orgeron also said that they will make changes on the coverage team too.
With senior receiver D.J. Chark returning punts against BYU, Orgeron remains open to the possibility of junior cornerback Donte Jackson being utilized in that role.
“We felt that ball security was of the utmost importance,” Orgeron said. “We felt that [Chark] had the best ball security out there.”
“We always want Donte to go there, Donte is a game-breaker. We just have to get him comfortable catching the ball the way we want him to, and once he does that we will be in good shape.”