How LSU Football Will Adjust in Practice With Most of its Offensive Line in Quarantine?
The biggest news to come on the field for LSU football this week were the bodies that weren't on the field at all. According to a report from the Advocate, all but four scholarship offensive linemen are currently in quarantine after COVID-19 exposure.
It was later discovered that Dare Rosenthal, Joseph Evans, Thomas Perry and Marcus Dumervil were the four offensive linemen on scholarship who participated in practice Wednesday afternoon.
How many of the players actually tested positive for the virus remains a mystery and there is a difference between testing positive and being exposed. Those who test positive must quarantine for 10 days and show no symptoms for an additional 24 hours before returning to practice, while players who were exposed must quarantine for two weeks, per SEC rules.
Luckily, LSU has prepared for the possibility of an exposure once students returned. With the leadership of senior associate athletic director Shelly Mullenix and athletic trainer Jack Marucci, coach Ed Orgeron said in a Zoom call two weeks ago the team is prepared for what could be thrown at them.
"I do believe we're ahead of most programs because of Shelley [Mullenix] and Jack [Marucci] and the preparation they had for us," Orgeron said. "Our players feel comfortable that they're getting the proper care. Our guys don't blink.
"The guys are going to do things, they're going to hang out together. We want to wear a mask, really protect the team, no bars are allowed in the season anyway. They know the general rules, they've just got to be careful."
So with practically an entire position group out of practice for as long as two weeks, how does the team move forward?
We're now less than a month away from the team's kickoff against Mississippi State, and the loss of nearly an entire position group for as long as two weeks isn't a great sign. The team has a relatively solid handle on who the starters will be Week One.
Orgeron has said Harvard transfer Liam Shanahan has taken the snaps at center and figures to be the starter, allowing Chasen Hines to slide over to right guard. Austin Deculus and Rosenthal figure to be the two tackles, with junior Ed Ingram expected to be the left guard.
The next few weeks were going to be key in developing that chemistry up front with not only each other but also with quarterback Myles Brennan. Brennan talked about his relationship with the o-line in a Zoom call with media members a few weeks ago.
“Those guys better be my best friends. I feel really close with our offensive line," Brennan said. "A lot of those guys were in the same (recruiting) class I am, we all came in together. Ed (Ingram), Austin (Deculus), they have to be my best friends and they are. I have a good relationship with them, and they have a good relationship with me."
Once the linemen do return to practice, the program will need to closely monitor their conditioning. Potentially spending two weeks cooped up in their apartments, the players likely will have to work their way back into practice conditioning slowly.
The silver lining is that this happened a month out and not during the middle of the season. It's these type of outbreaks that programs and the SEC fear and why the schedule was adjusted last month.
"We have a certain certainty over here,” safety JaCoby Stevens said on how LSU has handled COVID-19. “We always have felt like we were going to play. Like Coach O says, we don’t blink. We trained as if the season was going to start on a regular time. We’ve been here [at the facility], working out, following all protocols so we can play in Tiger Stadium in September.”
