EXCITEMENT AND ENERGY SURROUNDING LSU

The Tigers are excited to take the field this week, in a highly anticipated matchup against Georgia Southern. For the Tigers it will be a time to showcase what they have been talking about all off-season, a multi-dimensional spread passing attack. Something LSU fans have been yearning for since the promotion of Ed Orgeron to Head Coach. Passing Game Coordinator Coach Joe Brady has helped the Tigers immensely, bringing the passing attack from the New Orleans Saints with him.

Second year quarterback Joe Burrow has gotten heaps of praise from Coach Orgeron “Joe has a lot of poise, he doesn’t get rattled, is always studying film. He can call the lays, can call the audibles, he’s good enough to do that, he has been phenomenal in camp.” When asked about this upcoming game against Georgia Southern and how much of the offense fans would see, Burrow responded “we’re going to open it up, you’ll probably see about eight receivers in the rotation.”

Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire is stepping into the role as starter this season. The junior has seen plenty of action in his tenure at LSU. Being on teams with Derrius Guise, Darrel Williams, and Nick Brossette, has taught him leadership that comes with the role of being a starter. Edwards-Helaire says “this time last year Nick (Brossette) was the starting, and I didn’t know everything, and I was kind of in the distance. This year is like, I need to know everything, and I need to make sure everybody else in the room knows everything. Having that responsibility is something that I take seriously.” While Edwards-Helarie might look small in stature his coaches think differently of him. “Clyde is one of the best players on the team, I tell everybody he is 6’4 and 270 pounds.” states Ed Orgeron.

Fullback Tory Carter might be the last of a dying breed, position wise, but that has stopped him from getting on field. The junior has shown his versatility in transitioning to a tight end role by losing 20 pounds in the process. He credits Thaddeus Moss with a big part of that transition. “Thad he’s helped me this off-season run routes, I couldn’t run a route to save my life, and we worked on it every weekend, getting better every week. Growing up playing like 1 on 1 with my friends, we would play like “Who got Moss’d” so it was kind of ironic that I worked with Thad on routes.”

Defensively the Tigers will need to play assignment football. Safeties Coach Bill Busch and defensive line coach Bill Johnson will be down on the field while Coach Dennis Johnson will be in the booth due to injuries sustained during the off-season. LSU wants to get Bill Johnson integrated into the play calls as quickly as possible, and have him as comfortable with them as he can be.

Sophomore linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson is ready for Saturday night. “I just want to go, I just want to hit somebody, I just want to roll. But, this is a game of patience, we have to be gap sound, and stay focused on doing our job consistently throughout the whole game.” While Chaisson says he did not play against the option in high school, he did play against the Wing T, and some other “tricky” offenses. His solution for those offenses; he states “just tackle anything with the ball.”

LSU will play its first home opener, on Saturday, in Death Valley since 2015.