Andre Anthony is hurt. He’s done for the year. But he’s not done with his LSU Tigers.
Days before undergoing surgery to repair the injury that ended his season, the defensive end and team leader held a players-only meeting to fire off on what he saw during LSU’s demoralizing loss to Kentucky last week.
What came next?
“Our team’s been on fire all week,” LSU head coach Ed Orgeron said, previewing the SEC showdown headed to Tiger Stadium Saturday morning.
But will that fire be enough to overcome a litany of star players not in action against the 20th-ranked Gators? The team was already without Anthony and star cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. Star pass-rusher Ali Gaye is done for the year and will undergo surgery. Starting cornerback Eli Ricks is done for the year, and Orgeron said he doesn’t expect to get linebacker Joseph Evans back this season. Major Burns is weeks away from a return, and that’s just the defensive side of the ball. The team has been without John Emery Jr. all season due to academic issues, and star wide receiver Kayshon Boutte is done for the season after an injury against Kentucky.
Oh, is that all? Orgeron said Maason Smith would move out to defensive end in place of Gaye, with Glen Logan moving to defensive tackle and Neil Farrell playing nose tackle. Cordale Flott will shift from nickel corner to outside corner in place of Ricks. The Tigers always have talented players to step in, but that’s a lot of moving parts for a team that was bullied by the Wildcats for 330 yards rushing a week ago.
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"I told them at the beginning of the year, everybody’s gonna have to play, everybody’s gonna have to be ready,” Orgeron said. "So we’ve got some guys that are eager that was not playing, on the second team, now they’re going to be playing for the Tigers. They brought some energy this week and they’re excited about playing.”
If there’s some good news, it’s that LSU played arguably its best game of the season in its last 11 a.m. start, a win over Mississippi State. The Tigers kick off again before lunchtime, with Orgeron hoping the LSU crowd will help give his team the same edge it did when these teams last met at Tiger Stadium in 2019. Orgeron called back to the fans doing the Gator Chomp in the stands after the win, a key moment en route to an unbeated season and national championship.
"I will never forget that. I will never forget that moment, it was a wonderful moment,” Orgeron said. "But Florida gave us everything that we wanted, it was a tough game. … It was tic and tac the whole game, and our crowd was a big factor. No question.”
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'A LOT OF FIGHT LEFT'
There are a lot of questions for LSU — and Orgeron — to answer over the final six games of the 2021 season with a muderer’s row of opponents on deck. It starts with Florida. Then LSU turns to Ole Miss, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas A&M. They’ll get a bit of a respite with an open week and a matchup with Louisiana-Monroe baked in, but that’s a lot on the plate for a team battling significant injuries at nearly every position, and questions over its leadership.
But despite the noise, Orgeron doesn’t think his team is ready to throw in the towel, especially not after what he saw at practice throughout the week.
“I think there’s a lot of fight left in this team. I know we’re 3-3, we’ve got a lot of games left. And from what I’ve seen this week, what I’ve seen from the coaching staff, there’s a lot of fight left in this team.”
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HOW DO YOU HANDLE THE EARLY START?
“We wake ‘em up early. We have a call-out meeting. We play music. We do all kinds of stuff in there to get them fired up. I told them on Monday, ‘our clock’s gotta be fast.' Listen, any time, anywhere, any place, anybody, we’ve got to be ready to play. That’s our mantra.”