LSU Football: Ed Orgeron makes a strong statement about UCLA game

LSU football is set to kick off the 2021 season on September 4 against the UCLA Bruins.

The Tigers are hoping to get off to a quick start after surprisingly dropping the 2020 season-opener to the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Earlier this week, LSU head coach Ed Orgeron made a strong statement about the upcoming matchup with UCLA.

Coach O made it clear that the game against the Bruins is especially important. In fact, Orgeron said it’s the most important season-opener since he’s been in Baton Rouge.

Here’s what Orgeron had to say about the game with UCLA (via 247Sports):

"We’re going across the country, we’re playing in the Rose Bowl, we’re playing on a national stage. Now, we didn’t play like we wanted to last year, but you know what, we ended up with two big wins.“Hopefully, we can continue to play well and continue to build a championship program that we’re building, but this game is probably the most important starting game that I’ve had since I was head coach and our team knows that. For us to get on the right foot to where we want to be, we have to start well.”"

LSU football needs to get off to a quick start in 2021

The popular narrative from outside Louisiana this offseason has been that LSU’s national championship run in 2019 was a fluke. A perfect storm of talent and luck.

Orgeron and the Tigers will be looking to prove that narrative wrong in 2021.

If that’s going to happen, the program needs to get off to a quick start this season.

In other words, they absolutely have to beat UCLA on September 4.

LSU is more talented than the Bruins. This is a game where they should cruise (UCLA has struggled under Chip Kelly, who is 10-21 since taking over as the Bruins’ head coach in late 2017).

On paper, it’s a win for the Tigers.

But will that be the case when the game is played for real?

I tend to think the answer is a resounding yes. LSU, however, has to answer the questions that were raised after the program’s disappointing 2020 campaign.

And the only way to answer those questions, and leave no doubt that LSU is a perennial contender, is to soundly beat UCLA on the road next Saturday.