LSU Football: The excuse the Tigers can use for not beating Mississippi State in season-opener

LSU football’s victory tour didn’t get off to a good start on Saturday.

Hours before kickoff on Saturday, we learned that LSU football would be taking the field against Mississippi State to open the 2020 season without cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.

Stingley missed the game after he was briefly hospitalized on Friday night with a non-COVID-19 related illness.

The sophomore cornerback is expected to be fine and should return next week against Vanderbilt.

Without Stingley available, the Tigers had to scramble for a contingency plan. And it was far from ideal.

LSU football doesn’t lose if Stingley plays

It’s usually not wise to suggest that one player is the difference in a win or a loss.

But most players aren’t Stingley — one of the best cornerbacks we’ve ever seen.

I’m sure the first thing some folks will say when they see my statement that LSU would’ve won with Stingley is that Mississippi State had three wide receivers go over 100 yards receiving — Stingley couldn’t have covered all three wide receivers.

That’s obviously correct. And I’m not saying the presence of Stingley would’ve shut down the Bulldogs’ passing game. KJ Costello still would’ve had a big day.

But having Stingley in the lineup would’ve shut at least one of those wide receivers down.

Take away Osirus Mitchell’s 183 receiving yards and two touchdowns and the final score probably looks a lot different.

That’s not to mention that LSU was forced to play several defensive backs who weren’t ready because of Stingley’s absence.

“We had to play Jay Ward. Jay Ward was out for two weeks,” said Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron after the loss (via 247Sports).  “He had a minor operation, didn’t practice much and had to play most of the game today. He was a little behind. That’s not his fault. He just wasn’t ready to play. That’s all we had. Darren (Evans) just came in from Nicholls State. He wasn’t ready to play.”

Not having Stingley affected more than just one position. It meant guys had to move around and play where they weren’t used to playing. It affected communication in the secondary. And it affected how Bo Pelini called the defense.

Maybe it would’ve been different if the Tigers knew several days ahead of time that their best player was going to be out. But finding out the night before kickoff put the program in a bind.

There’s no way you can replace a guy like Stingley.

There are plenty of reasons LSU lost on Saturday. And there are plenty of things that need to be corrected. But not having Stingley was the biggest reason the Tigers are 0-1 right now.