LSU moved up to No. 5 in the Associated Press football rankings after a somewhat impressive 38-21 victory against Louisiana Tech last Saturday.
The Tigers got off to a quick start by scoring the first 24 points of the game. But, LSU needed to finish well after the Bulldogs scored three straight touchdowns. The Tigers closed strongly with two fourth-quarter touchdowns.
What stood out to everyone from LSU’s victory against Louisiana Tech though was the manner in which J’Mar Smith threw the ball – primarily to Adrian Hardy. Smith passed for 330 yards as he completed 27 passes – ten to Hardy, who had two touchdown receptions.
When Ole Miss visits Tiger Stadium on Saturday night, the Tigers will be challenged by a potent passing attack. Quarterback Jordan Ta’amu has completed 64 percent of his passes for more than 1,350 yards and ten touchdowns.
The Rebels have three receivers who have the NFL in their future – A.J. Brown, D.K. Metcalf and DaMarkus Lodge, who have combined for more than 920 yards on 57 catches. The Ole Miss passing game was certainly on coach Ed Orgeron’s mind at his weekly media luncheon Monday.
“Ole Miss is very explosive on offense,” Orgeron said. “Jordan Ta’amu is an excellent quarterback who fits their scheme perfectly. Then, Ole Miss has the best set of receivers we have seen so far this year. It is hard to double any one of their receivers because that opens up another can of worms.
“We played a lot of man coverage against Ole Miss last year and did well. (Defensive backs coach) Corey (Raymond) really challenged our guys last year. We have to mix things up against them.”
The pass defense had its problems against Smith and the Louisiana Tech receivers. Orgeron and the defensive staff spent time Sunday reviewing the tape of the game against the Bulldogs.
“We had to watch the film to see what allowed them to score 21 points on us,” Orgeron said. “Our cornerbacks have done fairly well this year. But, we struggled the last game. (Defensive coordinator) Dave Aranda is a man of few words. Obviously, he was not pleased. I liked his demeanor (Monday).”
Orgeron did not point his finger only at the secondary for what occurred against Louisiana Tech. LSU had virtually no pass rush against Smith. That situation must be different this week against Ta’amu.
“It is hard to cover the receivers when the quarterback has a long time,” Orgeron said. “One time, the quarterback had five seconds to throw. We have to help them at the line of scrimmage. If the quarterback has 2.5 seconds to throw, he must throw short. Then, we can come up and tackle.
“We didn’t have a good pass rush plan against Louisiana Tech. I’m part of that. We did a lot of one-on-one coverage. We need to mix things up. Where we really need to get better is rushing the passer with our big men.”
Orgeron was fairly satisfied with the offense against the Bulldogs, especially with a line which was without three starters for most of the game – left tackle Saahdiq Charles, left guard Garrett Brumfield and right tackle Adrian Magee. There is a good chance those three players will be out against Ole Miss.
“Our offensive line was pretty good,” Orgeron said. “Chasen Hines stepped in again and was a plus. He will have to start for us this week. They blocked good for the running game.”
However, it was obvious emphasis will be placed on controlling Ole Miss’ passing game during practice this week.
“We can’t allow the deep ball,” Orgeron said. “Ole Miss likes to take shots. They line up four guys and run verticals down the field. We have to make them throw the ball in front of us and then make the tackle. This game is going to test our secondary. We have to get a rush.”
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