Skip to main content

Ed Orgeron Says LSU Will Be Energized for 2021 Season Finale Against Texas A&M

Tigers approaching final game of season with intense focus with bowl berth on program's mind

Before the final clock hit zero against UL-Monroe, LSU was already moving on to Texas A&M. Just watching the game, it could be argued that the Tigers were looking ahead to this week's matchup against the Aggies even before kickoff.

It's a game with more implications than just becoming bowl eligible or avoiding a first losing season in over 20 years. Because while the program will be focused on picking up one last win in Tiger Stadium to cap off the Ed Orgeron era with a bang, all of the noise on the outside will be centered around the Tigers coaching search. 

Should LSU lose next week, there will be much less to discuss as the Tigers won't be bowl eligible and the athletic department can pull the trigger on a new coach as soon as it wants. But it the purple and gold knock off the Aggies and become bowl eligible, that's where the real interesting question comes in.

After saying at his departing press conference that he'd stick with the team through a potential bowl game, Orgeron said Saturday that those are discussions he'll need to have with athletic director Scott Woodward and the administration.

"We'll discuss that, I'll discuss that with the administration and we haven't gotten that far," Orgeron said. "It all depends on what happens the next couple of weeks. I wanna be on the same page, we'll talk about it."

The purpose of potentially electing not to play in a bowl game is an interesting case as well as it would allow a few weeks before the early signing period on Dec. 18 to bring in a coach, a staff and start reaching out to recruits for the 2022 class. But that's not something this current roster can even worry about with Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies coming to town. 

LSU has historically had Texas A&M's number since the Aggies joined the SEC but it's always promised to be a good game. Texas A&M has taken two of the last three from the Tigers so the purple and gold will be extra motivated to get back on the winning side of the series. 

"Guys are gonna be energized," Orgeron said. "I don't think it's playing for a bowl game, I think it's beating Texas A&M. That's gonna be a motivating factor. It's going to be fun."

For players like Micah Baskerville, who was on the roster during that seven overtime thriller back in 2018, the Tigers blowout in 2019 and the most recent two score loss in 2020, he's felt every wave of emotion this series presents. The preparation and focus won't change for this group entering perhaps its final game of the 2021 season.

"The same we have been preparing for the past couple of weeks," Baskerville said. "Focusing and taking it one day at a time, lock in. We have to do anything we can so we can win.

"We have a lot to play for," quarterback Max Johnson said. "We win this game we go to a bowl and that's what our guys are playing for."