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LSU Football

Orgeron wants his team’s best game Saturday

October 29, 2018
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It is time for another LSU-Alabama matchup which will probably decide the Southeastern Conference Western Division title.

A Crimson Tide victory will end the SEC West race. A Tigers victory would mean LSU wins the Western Division by defeating Arkansas and Texas A&M.

Back in August, very few people believed the Tigers would be in this position entering the Alabama game. But, LSU has outperformed expectations by going 7-1 – the lone loss coming at Florida. Included in the Tigers’ seven victories is one against highly-ranked Georgia.

“We must be hungry,” said LSU coach Ed Orgeron at his weekly media luncheon Monday. “When we don’t play our best, we can lose to anybody. When we play our best, we can play with anybody. This team is mature enough to know we just have to play our best. If we do that, we can beat Alabama.”

The Tigers have not beaten Alabama in seven years when they won the Game of the Century 9-6 in overtime at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Two months later, the Crimson Tide got revenge with a 21-0 victory against LSU in the national title game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

That defeat started a seven-game losing streak for the Tigers against Alabama. The next six losses have followed a script – close setbacks in Baton Rouge and two-touchdown losses in Tuscaloosa. The average margin of defeat has been seven points in Tiger Stadium and 16 points in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Orgeron admitted that he does not mention the losing streak. However, everyone in the LSU program knows the recent history of the series.

“We don’t talk about (losing streak to Alabama),” Orgeron said. “But, all of us feel it. We understand the important of beating Alabama when you are at LSU.

“Everybody knows how big a game it is in the state of Louisiana. We are not going to say it’s not a big game. But, it’s not bigger than life. We will prepare for this game like we do for any other game.”

LSU will be Alabama’s most challenging opponent by far this season. None of the Crimson Tide’s previous eight opponents are on pace to win eight regular-season games. Alabama is the only SEC team which has played such a schedule.

No team has lost to the Tide by as few as 21 points. Alabama’s closest game was a 45-23 home victory against Texas A&M, which has a 5-3 record. The Crimson Tide’s three road SEC opponents – Ole Miss, Arkansas and Tennessee – have a combined 2-12 record in conference games.

“We are going to find out what happens when Alabama is under stress,” Orgeron said. “When you play in Tiger Stadium, you are going to be under some stress. When you play our defense, we are going to be under some stress. It will be a battle for 60 minutes.”

Orgeron had some good news from the injury front Monday. It appears left guard Garrett Brumfield will be back in the starting lineup. Brumfield has not played since he suffered a knee injury against Louisiana Tech on Sept. 22.

“(Trainer) Jack (Marucci) told me that Garrett is ready to go,” Orgeron said. “He is as healthy as he can be. It will be a big boost having him out there. He makes the calls to help our left tackle (Saahdiq Charles). Now, we can also play Chasen (Hines) behind Garrett if he needs to come out.”

No decision has been made as regards a replacement for inside linebacker Devin White, who is suspended for the first half of the Alabama game. Orgeron did say that either Patrick Queen or Micah Baskerville will be in the starting lineup.

Orgeron is 0-2 in his matchups with Nick Saban at Alabama – losing by scores of 10-0 and 24-10.

“I thought Alabama had one of the best running games in the country last year,” Orgeron said. “We did a good job against the run, but they beat us in the passing game.

“We have to play a complete game to beat them in both the run and the passing game. This game is always won in the trenches. It’s a big man’s game.”

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