OFFENSE SHINES IN SECOND LSU SPRING
BATON ROUGE – The LSU offense accounted for over 600 total yards, including 391 on the ground, as head coach Ed Orgeron put the Tigers through their second scrimmage of the season here Saturday indoors at the Charles McClendon Practice Facility.
The Tigers were originally slated to scrimmage in Tiger Stadium, however thunderstorms in the Baton Rouge area, which included driving rain, heavy winds and hail, forced LSU indoors.
Saturday’s scrimmage concluded the second full week of spring practice as the Tigers are now seven practices into spring drills.
“We had an excellent day today,” Orgeron said. “We challenged our guys on mindset, physical toughness and energy. If you want to put it all together, we wanted to have a game-type atmosphere out there and we did it. I’m very proud of our football team and our coaching staff. We were very well-prepared and there was a lot of energy and great execution.”
Offensively, senior Danny Etling completed 4-of-10 for 133 yards and a touchdown to D.J. Chark, while rising sophomore Justin McMillan connected on 5-of-6 passes for 79 yards and a TD. Redshirt freshman Lindsey Scott rounded out the quarterback play for the Tigers, completing 2-of-3 passes for 29 yards. Overall, LSU quarterbacks completed 11-of-19 passes for 237 yards a pair of touchdowns.
On the ground, senior Darrell Williams led all rushers with 93 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries. Nick Brossette followed with 72 yards on 14 carries.
“I thought our offense had a tremendous day,” Orgeron said. “It was an outstanding job. I thought Darrel Williams had a tremendous day and offensive line blocked well. Matt Canada and the offensive staff is doing a tremendous job. This the second scrimmage in a row that they have won.”
Orgeron said that the Tigers have some injuries on the defensive front, which is giving practice and scrimmage snaps to some younger players. Orgeron singled out the play of Rashard Lawrence and Ray Thornton, who both performed well on Saturday.
“We have some work to do on defense,” Orgeron said. “Obviously, we have some injuries up front on defense. Some guys are not practicing, but we need to get better. The offense completed some deep balls on us today, and there are some things we need to fix.”
Orgeron said he’s pleased with the overall progress the Tigers have made through the first seven practices of the spring.
“Overall, I’m really pleased with where we are at this point in the spring on offense,” Orgeron said. “The motion and shifts and the diversion of the offense is great. We had very few penalties today with the referees out there. Our defense has to pick it up a little bit, but I know they will under Dave Aranda.”
The Tigers return to practice on Tuesday in the first of three workouts next week. The Tigers are scheduled to scrimmage in Tiger Stadium next Saturday.