Names and faces are not the only things that have changed with the LSU football program. The attitude has also changed as interim head coach Frank Wilson tries to rally his players for the final month of the regular season.
Even though LSU is not in the mix for the College Football Playoffs and coaches have been fired, starting center Braelin Moore says practices have been upbeat under Wilson.
“There’s no time to be in low spirits, we go play Bama, they are top three in the country, and we are playing at their stadium, so there is no time for us to be low energy, at practice we are flying around and we are hitting, we are high energy right now,” Moore said.
Will LSU look any different on Saturday night? Drills have been set up differently to help the defense be more physical, and Wilson has promised commitment to the running game.
Moore is excited about that.
“I think it’s a mindset, if we are just like we need to run the ball, no we are going to run the ball, it’s just a little different in the way you say it, I think we go about practice in that way, put a lot more emphasis on running the ball and I look forward to running the ball against Bama,” Moore said.
2016 was the last time LSU played a regular season with an interim coach. Ed Orgeron took over for a fired Les Miles after four games and went 5-2 to get the job permanently.
Orgeron inspired the team with his “One Team, One Heartbeat” motto.
Wilson is trying something similar. He brought a bass drum into the team room, where the entire team meets. When someone beats the drum, the beat represents the heartbeat of the team.
“It’s a tone setter for the day, so much stuff has been going on the last week and a half, we can come in here, this can be our safe spot, when we here that, it gets the tone set for the day, it gets us mentally locked in for what we need to do and get done for the day,” linebacker West Weeks said.
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A few other notes on the team
Wilson said Wednesday morning that junior linebacker Whit Weeks is doubtful to play because of a bone bruise on his ankle. Whit Weeks has missed the last two games.
But offensive lineman Carrius Curne is trending in the right direction to play. Curne was injured in the fourth quarter of the Texas A&M loss.
Also, Verge Ausberry is not the full-time athletics director. New LSU system president Wade Rousse said on WWL Sports Talk that Ausberry is the Acting Athletics Director and has his full authority to find the best coach in America.
Rousse also told the Louisiana Illuminator’s Piper Hutchinson that he still needs to assess the situation.