With a hectic week of evacuation, prep and travel ahead of the LSU coaching debut of a half-dozen or so assistants, some growing pains weren't altogether unexpected for the Tigers, but it was the head coach owning the blame.
Ed Orgeron said critics should look at him following an uneven, mistake-filled filled opener at the Rose Bowl that ended in a 38-27 loss to UCLA.
"When you don’t win like that, it goes out to the one person, that’s me, nobody else," Orgeron said.
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But it was a familiar issue that made any comeback chance unlikely: The Tigers got gashed.
Of UCLA's 470 yards of offense, more than half that number (242) came on just six plays. Two of those plays went for long touchdowns of 75 and 45 yards, crushing the Tigers' momentum both times. Orgeron consistently pointed to limiting big plays throughout the offseason, and said new offensive coordinator Daronte Jones' system should help do that. Thus far it's much of the same.
“There’s similar stuff. Crossing routes, missed assignments, those things continue to haunt us and hurt us," Orgeron said. "We have to get them fixed. I thought that we did a pretty good job in camp of getting them fixed, but obviously we’ve got to look at what we’re doing."
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RUNNING NOWHERE
The LSU running game also suffered a similar fate to the 2020 season: it was nowhere to be found.
That's true in more than one sense. John Emery, anticipated to pair with Ty Davis-Price, was inactive due to what was reported as an academic issue. Orgeron didn't specify what kept him, receiver Jontre Kirklin and linebacker Soni Fonua out of action -- but he indicated it might not be a one-game absence.
"I think it’s going to be week by week," Orgeron said. "I don’t know when we’re going to get him back yet."
Without Emery the Tigers never got into gear on the ground, with Davis-Price running for a meager 31 yards on 13 carries and Josh Williams toting the ball once for 2 yards. The lack of a consistent game plagued the Tigers in 2020, playing behind a largely unchanged offensive line again this season.
Orgeron made it clear that will be a priority fix, but the question remains: How does it happen? The coach repeatedly praised freshmen Corey Kiner and Armoni Goodwin throughout camp, but neither logged a touch on Saturday.
"We’ve got to be more diverse," Orgeron said. "We have to have multiple runs with multiple sets, which we didn’t do tonight. We’ve got to get that fixed. It’s going to get fixed immediately. We’ve got to be more physical at the point of attack."
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LESS THAN MAX POWER
Max Johnson's final passing line was impressive, but the growing pains were pretty clear for the sophomore QB making his third career start.
The lefty finished 26-of-46 for 330 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception, but narrowly missed a handful of turnovers and looked a bit rattled at moments in Jake Peetz's new offense.
At one point, Johnson threw a ball away while facing the wrong direction in order to avoid a sack that somehow managed to fall to the turf for a harmless incompletion.
That inconsistency was noted by Orgeron after the game, though it's a reasonable growth point for a young passer. His performance wasn't dissimilar to Myles Brennan's in an opening loss to Mississippi State last season.
“I thought at times he handled pressure well," Orgeron said. "[He] scrambled and make plays with his feet, but at times he was off. We made some big plays, he threw some balls in the dirt, we missed some plays, then again, hot/cold. He made some good plays, but he wasn’t as consistent as we need as LSU’s quarterback.”
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Follow Jeff Nowak on Twitter @Jeff_Nowak or contact him by email at jeffrey.nowak@audacy.com