Ed Orgeron addresses LSU physicality in loss to UCLA

LSU’s season opening trip to Los Angeles did not go as planned. The Tigers fell to UCLA 38-27 on Saturday night to fall to 0-1 on the new season. LSU head coach Ed Orgeron was not happy with his team’s performance. He said that UCLA played far more physically, and that was what allowed the Bruins to walk away with a victory.

LSU lost the battle at the line of scrimmage

UCLA rushed for 210 yards and two touchdowns on 47 carries. LSU rushed for 49 yards and zero touchdowns on 25 carries, which is less than two yards per carry. The Tigers could not get the rushing attack going, and a lot of that was due to offensive line play. Zach Charbonnet and Brittain Brown combined for 213 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries.

“First of all, they play physical football,” Orgeron said of UCLA to reporters following the game. “They’ve got a better offensive line. They’ve got two good running backs that are very physical so tonight they played physical football. That doesn’t mean it’s any excuse for not playing physical. We should have been better on both sides of the football and we weren’t.”

Orgeron did not say that UCLA played tougher than UCLA, but he did acknowledge that his Tigers must be more physical moving forward.

Physicality was an issue for LSU, but play-calling might have been another problem

Most teams see some issues in the opening game of the season. LSU is not exempt from that. Offensively, Orgeron said that LSU could have been better at showing different sets and being a little more creative on that side of the ball. Defensively, LSU is transitioning to new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones, so that could be part of where LSU’s issues came from.

“We’ve got to look at it, see what’s happened,” Orgeron said. “Maybe it’s the plays that we’re calling. Maybe we’re overloaded at one spot, maybe we’re not. Look at the techniques we’re doing, look at the personnel. Again, for us in the run game, we need more of a variety of runs. Use our athletes, get them in space a little more.

“I think on defense it’s a matter of fitting our gaps and understanding what we’re doing. It’s the first time in Daronte’s defense. Understanding the defense and the gap fits.”

Losing in week one is not a good start for Orgeron and LSU. The team really needed a win to open its season, but unfortunately for LSU, they weren’t able to do so.