LSU’s All-American defensive back Grant Delpit could be ready to play when the No. 1 Tigers head to Tuscaloosa to face No. 2 Alabama Nov. 9.
Delpit left LSU’s 23-20 win against Auburn last Saturday with an injury, but Tigers coach Ed Orgeron said Wednesday that he expects the standout safety to be ready to go against the Crimson Tide.
“I feel like Grant Delpit is going to be ready,” Orgeron said during the weekly SEC teleconference. “It’s going to be close. I don’t know how much he’s going to practice this week or next week. But I do believe he’ll be game-time ready.”
LSU heads into this matchup ranked higher than Alabama for the first time since the team’s 2011 meetings, a 9-6 regular season victory for LSU and a 21-0 loss in that year’s national championship game.
However, Orgeron said that his team is not paying too much attention to those rankings.
“Obviously it’s great for our school, it’s great for the team, it’s great for recruiting but we still got a lot of games left to play,” Oregon said. “When the College Football Playoff system comes out and the poll comes out and the final one comes out, I mean. That’s the one that matters. So we are aiming towards that.
“This is not a finish line for us it’s just a start.”
Still having games to play is one of the reasons Orgeron cautioned his players not to create bulletin board material for their opponents with any comments on social media.
“Immediately after the Auburn victory, I talked to our team about not trying to win the game on the Twitter machine,” he said. “We don’t really need to do any talking. You do your talking when the ball is snapped.”
Orgeron said that his team is expecting a challenge for the Tide who are led by quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate, Tua Tagovailoa. The junior is completing 74 percent of his passes for 2,166 yards and 27 touchdowns against just two interceptions.
Orgeron also had high praise for Alabama’s star quarterback.
“Watching our game last year, I don’t know how you can get much better,” he said. “The young man’s release is incredible, his reads are incredible, they seem to call the right plays at the right time, he’s surrounded by great athletes, he’s a highly competitive young man, he can extend plays with his feet… I think he’s an excellent quarterback.” However, Tagovailoa is currently recovering from my high ankle sprain he suffered in the Tide’s 35-13 win against Tennessee.
Orgeron said he definitely expects Tagovailoa to play when the Tigers face Alabama.
“We are planning for him to play and I think that he will play,” Orgeron said.