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In honor of Ed Orgeron’s practice themes, some observations on LSU-Florida
By Gary Laney
Published:
BATON ROUGE, La. — One of the changes Ed Orgeron has made at LSU since becoming the interim head coach last week was introducing a daily theme for practice.
That way, the players will know what the focus will be on and what the expectation is each day.
“I believe that it works, and there’s a lot of ways to skin a cat, but this is the way that I have seen work, the methods I’ve learned under some great coaches, so I always said when I get my opportunity to do it, that’s what I wanted to do, and the guys are going to enjoy it,” Orgeron said. “It’s a fun, exciting system.”
So let’s take a look at five observations for Saturday’s LSU-Florida game based on LSU’s daily practice themes.
Tell the truth Mondays
What is it?: This is the day where film review is taken to the practice field. What did you do well? What did you do poorly? What about the opponent? Those are answered and worked on.
The “truth” about this game: This game should not happen this week, at least anywhere near the state of Florida. This is an all-hands-on-deck emergency, greater even than what South Carolina faced last year when it moved its home game to LSU because of massive floods in South Carolina (and rightfully so). Yet LSU is supposed to fly to Florida the day a hurricane hits? First responders are supposed to work an SEC football game with the chaos going on all over the state? Somebody should lose a job for even considering this.
The “truth” about Florida: The Gators are in danger of slipping back to offensive ineptitude. Scoring 13 points against an, albeit, pretty good Vanderbilt defense doesn’t cut it. Florida needs Luke Del Rio to be 100 percent and effective, and the Gators need a running back to emerge.
The “truth” about LSU: When LSU set a school record with 634 total yards against Missouri in last week’s 42-7 win, it had a tactical advantage as Mizzou had few hints as to what new offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger would bring to the table. And with the visiting team on its heels, LSU was better able to take advantage of having superior personnel. This week, the personnel advantage either isn’t as great or doesn’t exist. And Florida will be better prepared for LSU’s new-look offense than Missouri was.
Competition Tuesdays
What is it?: The day of practice LSU players said they enjoyed the most last week, this is the day where the emphasis is on individual competitions. There are lots of one-on-one drills and plenty of “good-on-good,” designed at improving technique and working on players’ competitive resolve.
Where’s the competition?: In this game, most matchups have clear favorites. For example, both secondaries should match up well with the opponents’ receivers (and defenses in general should be stronger). But the competition to watch is along both lines. Both offensive lines are banged up as is Florida’s defensive front. The best competition should be between LSU’s front seven — which is healthy and has been playing well — against a Florida offensive line that should be back to close to full health with left tackle David Sharpe looking ready to play.
Turnover Wednesdays
What is it?: Orgeron is a big believer in turnover margin being the most important statistic in the game. So ball security is the theme on offense (which calls it “No turnover Wednesday”) while the defense works on ball hawking.
How do they stack up?: Florida has been the better team at both forcing turnovers and protecting the ball. The Gators lead the SEC with a plus-5 turnover ratio (10 takeaways, 5 turnovers) while LSU is even (seven each). But in Orgeron’s debut, the Tigers were plus-1 (one turnover forced and no turnovers on offense) against Missouri. That’s a key stat in what looks like a defense-and-field-position game.
No Repeat Thursdays
What is it?: The idea is with the game plan well-implemented by now, the focus is to go over everything with the goal of not having to repeat anything because of a mistake. If the team is able to achieve it, then it can feel like it’s as prepared as possible for the game.
UF what not to repeat: Florida doesn’t want a repeat of last week’s offensive struggle in a 13-6 win over Vanderbilt. Will Muschamp lost his job over offensive ineptitude and early this year, it looked like the Gators might break out of that pattern in Jim McElwain’s second season. But against Vandy, UF started to look like the all-defense, no-offense team of old.
LSU what not to repeat: Under Les Miles and Cam Cameron, the Tigers were far too likely to go three-and-out. Even if the Tigers don’t score on a possession, they need to stay on the field and give the defense time to rest. With LSU winning the time of possession battle against Missouri, the defense looked energetic and rested all night, and it made a huge difference in how it played.
Focus Fridays
What is it?: The day before the game, the emphasis is on getting the team focused in on what’s about to happen on Saturday. Turn all the distractions off, it’s time for football.
The focus breaker: The hurricane. The deciding factor may be something as simple as staying focused on football in a week with such a huge distraction. LSU may have an advantage here. Last week, it handled a midseason coaching change, so what’s a little bad weather between friends?
LSU’s focus: It should be on finding ways to get the passing game going with Danny Etling. UF’s secondary is outstanding, and it won’t likely respect LSU’s passing attack, which is 13th in the SEC, very much unless the Tigers make them.
UF’s focus: The opposite of LSU. The Gators need to get the running game going (it’s just 10th in the SEC) against a pretty solid LSU front. Jordan Scarlett and company need to have a breakout game against a pretty stout run defense. If it does not, it could be a long day for either Del Rio or Austin Appleby.
