LSU football had an injury- and absence-plagued camp, and that doesn't appear to have changed early in the season.
Coach Ed Orgeron said Tuesday that six players would be unavailable for Saturday's game against McNeese State, one of whom will be out for the season in Jared Small. The linebacker suffered a knee injury against UCLA.
Safety Jay Ward was also listed as questionable.
The coach didn't specify a reason for all of the absences, which were listed as:
- WR Jontre Kirklin
- RT Austin Deculus
- DE Soni Fonua
- LT Cameron Wire
- DE Ali Gaye
Deculus was hurt and left the field during the game. It's unclear when he'll return. Orgeron said young players along the OL, which struggled as a group, will have to step up. But he believes they can do just that, even with the personnel losses building on frustration, which included the transfer of OT Dare Rosenthal before the season.
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"We won a lot of games with Austin Deculus and Ed Ingram. We won a championship with those guys," Orgeron said. "Those guys started as freshmen in the swamp.”
Kirklin and Fonua's second absence is a bit less clear, with their absence reportedly being for similar academic reasons to that of RB John Emery. Orgeron wouldn't go into detail on how many players are out for non-injury reasons. Emery hasn't yet been ruled out for Week 2, but he'll know either way by Friday.
"Right now he's unavailable," Orgeron said. "That could change."
Whether the team gets Emery back, it'll likely be changing up its gameplan is some form to help jumpstart an anemic running game in the season-opener. Freshman Corey Kiner will likely see work, Orgeron said, and quarterback Max Johnson will be used in more RPO and zone-read looks.
See Orgeron's full comments in the video above.
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