LSU Football: Ed Orgeron may regret this quote from September

LSU football head coach Ed Orgeron may regret a quote from September.

Before the 2020 season started, LSU football head coach Ed Orgeron uttered a phrase that could come back to haunt him.

If it hasn’t already.

“We are so much better on defense right now than any part of the season last year,” said Orgeron in mid-September.

After the first couple of games this season, Coach O might want to rethink that quote.

LSU football’s defense still has a ways to go

When Orgeron said LSU’s defense was better than it was a year ago, it was interpreted as a direct shot at former defensive coordinator Dave Aranda.

It’s no secret that Orgeron and Aranda had different defensive philosophies. But to Orgeron’s credit, he gave Aranda full control of the defense.

When Aranda left Baton Rouge to become the head coach at Baylor, it wasn’t really viewed as a major loss. LSU’s defense was good under Aranda, but it wasn’t great.

The Bo Pelini hiring was viewed as a chance to massively upgrade LSU’s defense. Pelini and Orgeron share a similar defensive vision — be aggressive and attack (and use a 4-3 defensive front).

Ultimately, I think Pelini will be able to bring a dominant defense to Baton Rouge. But it’s going to take a while. Switching schemes is never easy. It’s going to take some time for players to get comfortable.

But for now, it’s extremely apparent that LSU is not “so much better” than they were a year ago.

Giving up over 600 passing yards to Mississippi State and then 24 points to Missouri (in just one half) is simply not good enough (Missouri had only scored 31 total points in the first two games of the year).

Coach O might want to rethink his stance on the Tigers’ defense…..at least for the time being.