LSU Win Over Florida the Program-Altering Game Needed to Get Back on Track

All week Ed Orgeron reminded his players about the 2017 season. It featured the game that has been most talked about as the program-changing loss LSU had under Orgeron.

That 24-21 loss to Troy on Sept. 30, 2017 was the game that Orgeron mentions most as the defining moment for his tenure—and if you can recall, the following week the Tigers followed up with a 17-16 win in Gainesville. The parallels existed as LSU was coming off its biggest loss at the hands of No. 1 Alabama.

Orgeron had a feeling that if LSU could get past Florida with a win this season, a season with so many downs between the opt-outs, the injuries and the loss of a bowl game, that the Tigers could start turning the page on a new course for the program.

"I told the guys I said if we beat Florida, this could be the building blocks to turning around our program," Orgeron said. "There's a lot of young players and we beat a very good football team. It gives our guys some confidence that we're building a championship team and showed it tonight."

It's hard not to be a prisoner of the moment. After being 30-point underdogs to Alabama and losing by 38 and then being 24-point underdogs to Florida and coming away with a win, one has to wonder what this does for the psyche of the young players on this roster.

A lot of this week was laced with negative headlines about the program and the epic collapse it was less than 11 months removed from one of the best teams in college football history. Orgeron admitted it was tough earlier this week, but that the focus was never lost on the practice field.

"You gotta give credit to the players, leadership and the young guys stepped in," Orgeron said. "There was a want to and the coaching staff did a great job. There were a lot of motivational speeches last night and we were gonna fight until the very end."

So can this be the kind of game that changes the LSU program for the better? After all, the message has remained consistent out of Orgeron this season through the ups and mostly downs that have come with 2020.

The outside noise between the opt-outs, the potential of another blowout loss and the loss of star cornerback Derek Stingley minutes before the game could've easily crushed this team. Instead a team full of freshmen and sophomores learned how to win down the stretch against a top-10 caliber opponent to pull one of the great upsets of the 2020 season.

Safety JaCoby Stevens said after the win that this can be that kind of program changing-win for a team that has gone through as much adversity as any team this season.

"All week Coach O talked about that loss to Troy and much like this year, everybody thought we were gonna lose," Stevens said. "We all rallied together and that was a turning point for the program and this year that's what we've been telling the younger guys this week that this is the game we turn things around.

"Throughout the whole year it was almost—we almost had this or we almost got that. This time we got it and and we have something we can build around. Moments like these are ones you'll never forget."