Ed Orgeron talks injuries, lineups and team identity ahead No. 4 LSU vs. No. 7 Florida
Thursday was the final time the media spoke to LSU coach Ed Orgeron ahead of his team's head-to-head battle with SEC foe Florida on Saturday.
Orgeron provided some updates on injured linemen Rashard Lawrence and Glen Logan while also discussing why identity is important to a team with championship aspirations.
Updates on Flott, Lawrence, Logan and Marshall
LSU will be getting a number of injured starters back in the rotation, on an if needed basis, according to Orgeron.
Freshman cornerback Cordale Flott, who Orgeron said earlier in the week probably wouldn't play, made a "miraculous" recovery and will be available. The same goes for senior defensive end's Rashard Lawrence and Glen Logan.
"Both of those guys look like they could play," Orgeron said. "It's still a little bit more than 48 hours to gametime. Rashard is more ready to play than Glen and I don't know if Glen will be ready to play. If he's ready to play, we'll let him play."
Orgeron also said wide receiver Terrace Marshall is "ahead of schedule" in his recovery from foot surgery he had a couple of weeks back. With that being said, Orgeron and the coaching staff have no real timetable for Marshall's return.
"He's looking good,'' Orgeron said. "We don't know yet how much he can do but he seems like he's ahead of schedule."
With Marshall out, Orgeron said to expect more reps for senior Derrick Dillon, who is coming off a four catch outing against Utah State that included a touchdown.
Who draws the start at left guard, defensive end
A lot has been made about the return of guard Ed Ingram to the team in recent weeks and what his role will look like moving forward. Orgeron said that senior Adrian Magee will draw the start Saturday against Florida but that Ingram will be ready right behind him.
Orgeron said the reason LSU is going with Magee over Ingram is mostly due to Ingram needing to get back to "football speed."
"It's not that he's not physical or that he's not good enough it's just that things are a little fast right now," Orgeron said. "This is a new offense he's learning, new terminology and I think that combination of not playing in a while and learning new terminology has set him back a little bit."
As for the defensive end spots, Neil Farrell and Breiden Fehoko will draw the starts, even if Rashard Lawrence and Glen Logan ultimately are available to play Saturday. Farrell is having a nice season for the Tigers, combining for 22 tackles, two sacks and four tackles for a loss while Fehoko has nine tackles and a sack this season.
With the Tigers also expecting to get linebacker Michael Divinity back on Saturday, LSU will be at full strength with K'Lavon Chaisson already making his return a week ago. Orgeron said Wednesday night the team would move Divinity back to outside linebacker after the success guys like Jacob Phillips and Patrick Queen being so effective on the inside.
"I feel like he can play and give K'Lavon some rest," Orgeron said. "He can play through the field if we need him, we could use him in pass rush. He's a very versatile player, is like having three players in one. Provides us more depth and we felt like we needed him up front."
Orgeron talks team identity
When asked if he thinks this LSU team has found an identity, Orgeron said the team has yet to find it because of the team's strength of schedule.
"We've played five games and we really only played one tough game," Orgeron said. "We haven't played tough teams back-to-back, haven't got to the meat of our schedule yet so we're going to find out about this team Saturday night."
Orgeron said if the Tigers have to play from behind on Saturday night against the Gators, it'll really be a sign of what this team is made of, even though the obvious goal is to not be put in that situation.
"Identity is what you want because it gives you confidence," Orgeron said. "That feeling we've been there before, we can do this and I think this team has it but we haven't been put to the test yet."
