For an aural representation of the season this year’s LSU team has had so far, cue up the opening track of the timeless Beatles album “Abbey Road.”
Much like in “Come Together,” the Tigers’ play has been disorienting at the surface level. They’ve underperformed compared to preseason expectations, dropping in the polls for a number of on-field reasons.
Injuries along the offensive line have the unit shuffling almost weekly to find a balance. The secondary is young — and growing. The case is the same for junior quarterback Zach Mettenberger, who has been effective while occasionally putting the ball in the opponent’s hands.
Delve deeper, though, and the orchestrations describe a talented group of men who aren’t getting along like they once did, as one interpretation of the chart-topper goes.
In the week leading up to Saturday’s matchup with the Gators, several seasoned Tigers spoke candidly about their team’s depleted chemistry compared to the synergy they enjoyed during the 2011 campaign.
“This year’s totally different,” said junior cornerback Tharold Simon.
This season hasn’t been as much fun, Simon explained. He’s sensed a lack of camaraderie both in the locker room and outside of football, which he feels has been a big problem.
On the field, Simon finds a lack of enthusiasm. He said the team has not been as motivated as the instances where former Tigers Tyrann Mathieu and Brandon Taylor would hype them up.
“We need people to step up,” Simon said. “The whole team needs to step up and lead each other.”
LSU coach Les Miles said Monday that Mettenberger, Montgomery and junior safety Eric Reid are vocal leaders for LSU, and have been noticed trying to change the trend.
Multiple players mentioned a speech Reid gave prior to Monday’s practice that pumped them up, much like the halftime address during the Tigers’ slugfest with Auburn by Montgomery, who believes the team must be more selfless.
“It has not been the focus,” Montgomery said. “It’s just been, ‘Go out there and play my hardest.’ But last year it was, ‘Go out there and play for the man beside you.’”
Montgomery said the maturity level of the team, which has been forced to start numerous freshmen early, is also a factor and that it will only come with time.
A leader by default because of his unmatched experience, senior offensive lineman Josh Dworaczyk has seen many players come and go in his six seasons as a Tiger. Though he said chemistry is affected every year when players graduate to the next phase of their lives, he can relate to his defensive counterpart’s observations.
“As the season started, there were some lulling points, as far as in practice and in some of these games,” Dworaczyk said. “… There needs to be more positive energy. There needs to be more guys that are excited about this, man.”
Other factors cited were the Tigers playing down to opponents, by Dworaczyk, and the pressure they put on themselves to live up to preseason hype, by Simon. As they face their first ranked opponent of the season in No. 10 Florida, Dworaczyk said there will be changes moving forward.
“It’s a time for us to draw a line in the sand and decide what kind of team we’re going to be,” Dworaczyk said. “I think the leaders of this team are taking it upon themselves to kind of redirect our focus of what team we want to be.”
They have no interest in going the way of the Beatles, who split less than a year after “Abbey Road” was released.
“We need to come together,” Simon said. “… We know that’s what we have to do.”
