Ed Orgeron Reflects on UCLA Loss, What LSU Needs to Address in Coming Days
As Ed Orgeron walked back to the locker room, he thought about what the mood of his team might be. A year ago at this time, a loss like the one LSU suffered at the hands of UCLA would've crippled the team morale.
But as we've heard from the program all offseason, the 2021 version of this LSU team is filled with leadership. So when Orgeron walked into the locker room and saw some of the leaders already addressing the team, he knew it'd be a quick turnaround to McNeese State.
"Totally different, all our guys were early for the meeting, watched the film and then I told them the truth," Orgeron said on Off the Bench. "We have tremendous leadership, we have some hungry guys, our team is very optimistic, I do believe we have a good football team."
Orgeron and his coaching staff watched the film Sunday and saw what everyone else did. The eye opening deficiencies of Saturday's performance can't continue. From the lack of creativity in the run game to the inability to set the edge on defense and sniff out those crossing routes, there are plenty of areas this team must improve starting against the Cowboys.
"I met with the offense, we have to be more diverse. We have to get the ball outside and I guarantee you're gonna see it this week," Orgeron said. "In camp we had some problems with the crossing routes, we had made a couple of adjustments that had stopped it and it was reoccurring in the game so obviously we've got to get it fixed. It was not the players fault, we've got to do a better job of coaching."
Much of the onus was put on the coaches and not so much the players. Orgeron said multiple times how the coaching staff must improve in preparing this group and making the necessary adjustments in game.
"They worked very hard in camp, those guys are loyal, I love them to death. They're very disappointed but that's how everybody feels because we didn't win," Orgeron said. "It falls on me but they have to do better, they know that. We had an extensive meeting on Sunday and I do believe you're gonna see this team get better as the season progresses."
Perception of this team won't change until people start seeing it on the field. While wins over McNeese and Central Michigan over the next weeks won't signifcantly move the needle, it'll do enough to potentially put this group on a better track when SEC play rolls around.
