No. 5 LSU heads off to play No. 22 Florida in Gainesville for a consecutive year due to the Hurricane Matthew fiasco that resulted in the venues of the 2016 and 2017 games being swapped.
The Tigers (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) have won three of the last four meetings in “The Swamp” dating back to 2010, but all three of those wins were decided by less than four points.
It’s also going to be the fourth different coach on the sidelines for Florida since 2010. Saturday will be first-year Florida coach Dan Mullen’s first game at home against a ranked opponent. Mullen was previously the head coach at Mississippi State (2009-2017) where he compiled a 2-7 record against LSU. Mullen has the Gators (4-1, 2-1 SEC) off to a good start with the lone loss coming against now No. 13 Kentucky.
Offensive line shuffle
The Tigers have dealt with constant injuries on the offensive line all season, and they have been forced to start five different offensive line combinations in five games. LSU will most likely start its sixth different combination on Saturday.
Sophomore left tackle Saahdiq Charles looks like he’ll be back after missing the previous two games for undisclosed reasons, and his return may push junior Adrian Magee back to right tackle where he started against Miami before suffering an ankle injury.
Sophomore center Lloyd Cushenberry is expected to play after exiting early in last Saturday’s game against Ole Miss.
“He came back sooner than I thought,” Orgeron said at his press conference on Thursday.
“He’s by far our best center, and he is our most consistent lineman. He’s a leader, makes the calls with Garrett [Brumfield] not there.”
Senior left guard Brumfield is the only starter missing while he deals with a lower leg injury he suffered against Louisiana Tech. Either sophomore Donovaughn Campbell, who started against Ole Miss, or freshman Chasen Hines will play in Brumfield’s place.
Travez Moore to play against Florida
Orgeron said that junior outside linebacker Travez Moore will play on pass-rushing downs Saturday. The 6-foot-4, 253-pound JUCO transfer has played in one game this season but tallied no stats.
“He’s big and strong, speed, has good pass rush moves,” Orgeron said of the No. 5 ranked junior college prospect in the class of 2018. “He’s always had the physical tools it was just a matter of learning the defense and being in the right place at the right time. We feel he’s reached that point so we are going to give him a shot.”
LSU is still trying to figure out a way to replace sophomore outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson after he tore his ACL against Miami. The Tigers have played sophomores Andre Anthony and Ray Thornton, and junior Michael Divinity in place of Chaisson since.
Myles Brennan held out of game against Ole Miss due to new redshirt rule
Many fans are wondering where sophomore quarterback Myles Brennan has been. As a freshman in 2017, Brennan almost beat out Danny Etling for the starting quarterback job and played sparingly throughout the season, including on the road against Alabama.
The 6-foot-5, 183-pound quarterback hasn’t played a snap in 2018, however. Brennan, who was originally thought to be the Tigers’ starter in 2018, is being held out due to the new NCAA redshirt rule which allows players to play in four games and still redshirt.
Orgeron said there was a situation where Brennan may have played against Ole Miss, but the decision to keep him available for other games and still redshirt came into play.
“It was such a limited time that if we would’ve gotten the ball back we would’ve put in Andre [Sale] to stand off the ball,” Orgeron said. “I did talk to [Brennan] about it, but we decided to not use him that game.”