LSU Coach Ed Orgeron Sounds Off on Disappointing Home Loss to Auburn

Orgeron talks about ineffective run game, clock management and where this team goes from here

In a devastating loss to the Auburn Tigers, LSU seemingly couldn’t capitalize off of any opportunity thrown their way. From lackluster play calling to poor management of the clock late, it was a night to forget for the Bayou Bengals.

Taking too much time to get the snap off hurt the Tigers Saturday night, specifically on the final possession. With just two timeouts remaining, Coach Orgeron had to burn one before the drive even started due to poor communication with Max Johnson.

“We just have to hurry up,” Orgeron said. “We’re trying to change the play, and I told them, ‘We have to just call the play and run with it.’ Sometimes we’re changing the play, sometimes it’s coming in late. I know we’re trying to change the protections and stuff like that, but there’s no excuse for that. We should not be at that point.”

This offense is becoming predictable. As the run game just cannot develop, it’s a given that Max Johnson is throwing the football on virtually every down, which kills drives early. Orgeron harped on the plan of LSU not being to pass so much Saturday night, but with the run game not opening up, his offense had to throw an excess amount.

“We're trying to run the football,” Orgeron said “Just every time we run the football, we get stuffed. We've got to find ways to run the football and we've got to block. We still didn't give our quarterback enough time to throw. We had six-man protection and we got beat 1-on-1."

To get the run game going, it starts with the offensive line doing their job, something that just has not happened all season. Providing Johnson with no time in the pocket to allow plays to develop and no chance for the run game to open up, it’s been a struggle for the Tigers protection.

“I’m really disappointed in that [our protection],” Orgeron said“We have two guys on that offensive line that we won a national championship with. I thought that would’ve been one of the strengths of our football team, but it’s not. We have to continue to look at it and improve.”

In a night where LSU made plays offensively and got down the field effortlessly, the team just couldn’t turn their success into points. Consistently getting down the field, it resulted in Cade York kicking in chip shots, not touchdowns.

Max Johnson just didn’t look comfortable in the second half, but with no time, it’s hard to do so. Coach Orgeron detailed his observation of Johnson in Saturday’s loss.

“I think that there is a lot of pressure on him,” Orgeron said.“There were some balls that should’ve been completed. It looked like he was throwing off his back foot and he was fading away. I think it’s a combination of technique, but he’s under pressure a lot. When you’re under pressure, I think it’s hard to stay in the pocket. When you’re scrambling, you have to make some great throws. Tonight, he didn’t.”

In what has been a brutal start to the season and the schedule only getting more difficult the next handful of games, it’s beginning to get gloomy in Death Valley. The mistakes of last year’s team continue to come to light this season. Keeping the team morale up is Coach Orgeron’s main priority as the Tigers reach the middle of the season.

"We've been there before and they're hurt,” Orgeron said.“We've got to look at it. I told them we just have to take accountability. We've got to coach them better, but there's some times we've got to play better. Let's just look at the film, tell the truth, see what happened. We're going to coach them better. That's all you can do, just tell the truth."