LSU Football: One excuse Ed Orgeron can use for his lousy season

Ed Orgeron is still LSU football‘s head coach, but that may not be the case for much longer.

The Tigers are 3-3 this season after going just 5-5 a year ago.

That means Orgeron’s record since beating Clemson in the national championship game is 8-8.

Not exactly a record that screams “elite coaching”.

There are numerous reasons for LSU’s struggles over the last two years. And most of those reasons begin and end with Orgeron (culture, bad hires, etc).

But there’s at least one reason for LSU’s struggles that Orgeron can use as an excuse — The Tigers’ inordinate amount of injuries this season

LSU football has dealt with a plethora of injuries this year

On Wednesday, Orgeron announced that sophomore defensive back Eli Ricks, one of the most talented players in the country, is out for the season.

Ricks joins a long list of key players that have been/are injured for LSU this year.

Here’s a brief rundown of the key players the Tigers have lost this year.

• Eli Ricks — CB — Surgery (out for season)
• Derek Stingley Jr — CB — Surgery on left foot (out indefinitely)
• Myles Brennan — QB — Broken arm (out indefinitely)
• Andre Anthony — DL — Knee injury (out for season)
• Kayshon Boutte — WR — Leg injury (out for season)
• Alie Gaye — EDGE — (Missed multiple games earlier this season, questionable for this week)
• Major Burns — Safety — (Out this week)
• Joe Evans — DL — (Out this week)
• Jay Ward — S — (Missed multiple games earlier this season)

There have been some other nagging injuries as well.

That’s a ridiculous amount of injuries for any team. When you combine the pressure that Orgeron was facing this season with those injuries, it’s easy to see how this season has got away from Coach O a bit.

However, that’s not to excuse the job Orgeron has done this season. Even with those players out, the Tigers have still massively underperformed this season.

Orgeron has to be held accountable for not living up to the LSU standard of performance this year.