Inside LSU Football’s Detailed Preparation for Week 1 Matchup Against Mississippi State

Tigers’ coaching staff combined multiple film reviews from past stops to prepare for Bulldog offense and defense

During the quarantine, there wasn't much the LSU coaching staff could do, even once they were first allowed to come back to the offices. Checking in with recruits and their current players could only take up so much of the day. 

So coach Ed Orgeron elected to get a head start on preparing for the team's 2020 opponents. The staff spent one week apiece on every opponent the Tigers were set to play, drawing up preliminary gameplans for each. 

It turns out that head start has been extremely beneficial to the program as it prepares for its Week 1 opponent in Mike Leach and visiting Mississippi State. Studying his past success at Washington State as well as Bulldog defensive coordinator Zach Arnett's success at San Diego State was a part of the game-planning.

"You've gotta look at Washington State for scheme on offense, San Diego State for defense and then you gotta look at Mississippi State for personnel," Orgeron said. "So you're really scouting three different things which makes it three times the work.”

As far as personnel, Orgeron was fairly confident transfer K.J. Costello would earn the starting quarterback job, something Leach confirmed later Monday afternoon. Orgeron also talked about other personnel including running back Kylin Hill, who he has the utmost respect for.

"He [Leach] has some tremendous offensive weapons at Mississippi State," Orgeron said. "Kylin Hill is a very dangerous back and we've been studying his offense at Washington State and the running backs could hit the hole, could bounce it out and make people miss. K.J. Costello is a very good passer, very knowledgeable and very experienced."

Leach's offensive approach is similar to what LSU did in 2019 and hopes to continue in 2020. Splitting out his receivers five wide to in turn spread the defense out is a basic philosophy he's adopted at his last two stops at Texas Tech and Washington State. 

That goes against the grain of what LSU is hoping to do defensively however and the Tigers will have to adjust as a result. The 4-3 defense is all predicated on applying pressure to the quarterback with four down linemen rushing the passer. While that aspect will remain unchanged, it will limit additional pressure LSU could potentially bring from its linebackers and defensive backs. 

“As far as the big splits, it makes it harder to get to the passer from the outside. They have a lot screens, they have a run game, they keep you honest," Orgeron said. "But in order for us to beat Mississippi State we’re gonna have to find ways to put some pressure on the quarterback.

“Coach Leach has done a very good job wherever he’s been but I think our guys have a pretty good handle on what we’re gonna do. Just like any first game, there’s gonna be in-game adjustments, there will be new plays, new defenses, new personnel. We’ve just gotta do a good job of adjusting on the sidelines.”

The Bulldogs present a unique first challenge to the Tigers defense, but for Orgeron and the LSU program, just getting back on the field and wearing that purple and gold is what's most exciting. 

“We've been looking forward to this for a long time," Orgeron said. "I want to compliment our football team for not blinking, always believing that we're going to play, always preparing like we're going to play. We didn't think about nothing but the safety of our football team and starting the season off right. We're excited about this week.

"I think you find out a lot about yourself after the first game, it should be a tremendous improvement. I think you're gonna see a team that improves every week but there's no room for error. To get where we want to go, to be the top team we want to be, there's no do overs, no slip ups."