What Ed Orgeron Thinks About a Few of LSU Football's SEC Matchups in 2021
There's no denying that LSU's 2020 all-conference season was a mixed bag. The Tigers closed out the season strong but there was much left up in the air about what the future of the program would look like after the season.
An offseason of veteran returners and bringing in a young coaching staff has seemed to turn the tide on the outlook of this season to some degree. Ed Orgeron knows better than most about the expectations this program has year in and year out and the crux of those expectations lie in the success the team has in the SEC.
As part of his press conference at SEC Media Days, Orgeron was asked about the possibility of expanding the conference schedule to nine or 10 games. He's also equally excited for some of the non-conference battles that each come with a unique story line this season.
"If they do it, I'm for it. I thought it was great. I'm excited to go play UCLA. I'm excited to go across the country and take the Tigers to Los Angeles," Orgeron said. "I'm excited to play my son. Both of us have some advantages."
He was asked specifically about a pair of conference games the Tigers face every season, one that went very well for the program in 2020 against Ole Miss and one that was a gut punch out of the gate against Mississippi State. For LSU to have the kind of bounce back season it hopes for beating the likes of the Rebels and Bulldogs is usually a must.
Mississippi State: "We have to stop his offense. We didn't stop it one time. Obviously, he came in with the air raid for the first time. We had seen it before, obviously. But we didn't do a good job with it.
Then we saw the people did some good things against us. The more stuff you put on tape, the more we learn how to stop it. Obviously, going to play there, I think Mississippi State does a great job of playing there, the cowbells and all that noise.
It's our first SEC game. It's a game that we must win to get to where we want to go. This is the SEC. You've got to be ready every Saturday. But you know what, instead of -- when you asked me about that, instead of worrying about all that stuff, my focus is going to be on camp and this football team and getting them better starting August 6th."
Ole Miss: "First of all, I think Lane is one of the best offensive minds I've ever been around, noticed that the first day. Lane is a friend of mine. He's a great recruiter. He's a great competitor. I think he's doing a great job at Ole Miss.
He did not call me. I think his offenses are hard to stop. I studied his offenses against other teams, he's riddled other teams. He's probably the best game day caller I've been around. I think Ole Miss got them a great coach."
