A matchup between LSU and McNeese could be lost in the atmosphere surrounding father and Tigers coach Ed Orgeron facing off with son and Cowboys quarterback Cody Orgeron.
But after a deflating loss at UCLA to open the season last week, there's a lot of business to take care of before that can even be considered. LSU is still seeking its first victory of the year and has a lot of trouble points to fix.
Here are Mike Detillier's top three points of emphasis for a big game (with a lot of fans) at Tiger Stadium.
1. SOMEBODY HIT SOMEBODY
Last week in the 38-27 loss to UCLA the Tigers not only get beat, but beat up.
LSU had little to no rushing attack and the Bruins ran the ball when they needed to and had to. They simply have to be more physical up front going forward.
The stats tell the story...
- LSU: 25 runs, 53 yards
- UCLA: 49 runs, 210 yards, 2 TDs
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Bruins halfback Zach Charbonnet rushed for 117 yards and averaged 10.6 yards per rush. His colleague Brittain Brown rushed for 95 yards and averaged 5.6 yards per rush.
It’s old school football but it still applies today- you have to win in the trenches to win at any level. That part of the game was disappointing to say the least last Saturday and will be an area the Tigers must improve, starting with McNeese.
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2. TIGHT END TROUBLES
In the week leading up to the UCLA game LSU head coach Ed Orgeron came on SportsTalk on the Big 870 and spoke about matching up in the secondary.
“We have to watch and guard the tight end close, Dulcich is a very talented receiver and a big target downfield, “ Orgeron said. “Chip Kelly will run a lot of crossing routes and so we have to be aware and understand our assignments when they try those crossing routes. It was a point of emphasis we worked on all offseason.”
The Tigers knew it was coming. They still couldn’t stop it.
Dulcich caught only caught three passes, but they were good for 117 yards and included a 75-yard, tone-setting touchdown early in the game.
He was a total mismatch for LSU's defense.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson completed only 9-of-16 passes, but those completions rolled up to 260 yards, an average of 16.2 yards per.
LSU did get heat at times on DTR, but when he got time he lit up the Tiger secondary and the confusion of last year reappeared again in the opener.
LSU has to matchup better and have much better communication in the secondary going forward. Two McNeese tight ends caught passes in their opener, and one should be familiar. That'd be Jamal Pettigrew, who played in all 15 games for the Tigers on the way to a CFP title in 2019 and transferred the following season.
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3. PROTECT MAX. PROTECT THE BALL.
Max Johnson has to play better than he did against UCLA. But he also must be protected better. It was a real tough day at the Rose Bowl office LSU's young starting QB.
Max was under constant pressure, no doubt about it, but he also had misses with open receivers downfield and failed to check down or hit on screens.
UCLA is known for its pressure schemes, and they did just that as LSU played into their hands with undisciplined decision-making.
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Johnson threw the ball 46 times. He completed 26 of those passes for a respectable 330 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. But it was clear the Tigers offensive line had some major leaks upfront independent of any accuracy concerns.
The idea was to protect Max a bit by limiting his designed runs, but with such a porous offensive line in front of him the safest thing to do might be getting him on the move more often.
Johnson’s improvement as a passer and a runner over the next few weeks will be critical to getting this LSU season on track.
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WWL and Audacy Sports digital producer Jeff Nowak contributed to this report.