Lonn Phillips Sullivan
Sep 13, 202010 min
Just yesterday, the Tigers busted out another scrimmage, rolling heads and burning beds on their way to a new identity and charisma....and what we witnessed was far better than the solid inaugural pre-season contest a week ago:
This was a grueling practice week in which O-Line Coach James Cregg viciously rode center Liam Shanahan during practice (all because he most likely knew it would raise the collective level...Cregg probably knew Liam could handle it, too), PSG Coordinator Scott Linehan critiqued WR Jontre Kirklin's route running ("it's gotta be flatter, flatter!") or WRs Coach Mickey Joseph and RBs Doctor Kevin Faulk delivered intensity during each drill. As the players pass through these daily hoops of fire, you began to feel this team is ready to defend a championship... with these coaches hellbent on making sure they're ready to face an SEC opponent tomorrow if they needed to play....yes, they're ready to defend a championship, but will this 2020 crew be ready to win a championship? Take a championship with both hands???
In order to spice things up to a maximum Cajun pitch, Coach Orgeron demanded "game-day energy" from his entire staff, squad, ushers, LSU security, whomever was going to be in the vicinity of his team and this scrimmage inside the cauldron of Death Valley"must be loud"....he wants this new reality drilled into his players, and from the outrageous swagger we saw on the sidelines these past two Fridays, he's been successful in this pursuit.
"Like...did we need an excuse to go crazy when #2 makes a catch? already knowin'!" An unnamed LSU Tiger told me when asked about the "new" sideline energy. "Look at how we was (last year), nonstop, whole time, flyin around...even guys who weren't playin', that's LSU."
While there is competitive intensity within every snap, these players still hold an intense love for each other, their bond strengthened by the recent marches on campus, including Saturday's Tiger Unity meeting (the players led in their march against racism by Coach Ed Orgeron and former Tiger Legend Ryan Clark), yet it's been the rash of opt-outs or transfers which has inevitably ushered in a literal tidal wave of doubt or disgust aimed at LSU....quickly encored by the willing sports media's dismissal of any chance in defending, let alone contending for a National Championship.
Due to these larger than life circumstances attempting to sweep the rug out from under the defending champions, LSU's expected leaders have doubled down, creating new voices among the squad in the process:
Matching the sterling example set in place by LSU's core leaders, Jacoby Stevens speaking beautifully at the march, Myles Brennan, Austin Deculus, Terrace Marshall, Racey McMath, Chris Curry, Damone Clark, new guys / older guys Jabril Cox & Liam Shanahan, Grade A punter Zach Von Rosenberg (aka ZVR or "Von Wilder", Andre Anthony and Todd Harris, the rest of Orgeron's squad have all bought in 150%.
After watching some of the spectacle created by these young men playing a game against themselves during football's "second coming", I must say it here and now:
This is the strongest, tightest and most energized I've seen the LSU Tigers since Joe Burrow took his last snap in purple and gold...as much as we love our LSU Tigers, we know when to call this team out and force them to look in the mirror...it appears there's been a realization without the hesitation, no gazing into the mirror, only the fist through the glass, smashing the remnants of what came before, the shards of what remains forging forward from this new identity.....Orgeron has acted fast.
The real fans can tell if this team really has "it", even through short videos posted by the team; and though we've lost plenty through the NFL Draft, transfer portal or the recent opt outs, the Tigers are playing with intensity, ferocity and hell bent for leather rage coming up to the season.
Myles Brennan was everything LSU needs, mistakes and all....2020 LSU is Myles' team, without reservation, doubt or worry...every time Brennan was in Saving Private Ryan mode, where everything goes to black and white, slow-mo, chaos ensues, the flirting knowledge of incoming danger unless the required movement is made, Myles didn't just appear in complete control amidst the madness of those moments, he looked for contact...he was seeking a hit while making a throw, such was his intensity. Even though his yellow jersey prevents him from being hit by our defense anyway, every missed block, screwed protection or pressure he faced from the Tiger's ferocious D-Line (more on those guys in a sec) he handled with precision, care and confidence, except for a time not included in the small pieces of footage we viewed.
We were told by the source of this video that Myles Brennan also threw an interception to Jabril Cox...and yes, to back that up, you can clearly see Jabril Cox running whilst carrying a football in his hands during a piece of footage posted by LSU from the scrimmage.
On the other side of the coin, Cox was put on his ass by a brilliant move from Terrace Marshall, streaking for the touchdown (as can be seen in the footage posted by LSU clearly) as Myles bombed away, tossing a perfect 60 yard TD to his main man.
Chris Curry, John Emery, TDP all looked agile, physical and ruthless in the trenches, perhaps all three running backs scoring TDs (we only witnessed 2x from Emery and 1 from TDP but Curry looked well on his way during a few seconds of precious Tigers footage). We'll utilize Emery as an outside run option, Curry and TDP more in between the tackles, and yet we'll have no hesitation motioning any of the three out wide as an extra receiver...it's hilarious and effective.
However, the most intense and exciting things we saw from this team?
We have the best secondary definitively in college football and they're only going to get better practicing and scrimmaging vs these receivers (include Gilbert and Kole Taylor in that group)....all of these pass-catching specimen have raised their levels considerably and the number of options is truly outrageous when you see it unfold.
Safety Jordan Toles looks like a mini LaRon Landry (comparing physique) with those buff biceps and shoulders, possessing a ridiculous athletic range all buoyed by his two sport success ((he was also a basketball star in Maryland).
Over the course of the off-season, Safeties Coach Bill Busch spent a lot of time eyeing every situation his young safety was thrown into, now it's seeming Toles has joined FS Mo Hampton in passing Busch's stringent test as a firm possibility, though a bit deeper in the depth chart after the performance from Strong Safety #31 Cam Lewis.
The National Champion scrimmaged with authority, renegade power and his own brand of hard-hitting menace, although he wasn't susceptible in coverage over the top, either.
He's improved an already solid part of his game in such little time...known primarily as a run-stuffer, Cam Lewis displayed a lot of dimension to his game, expect #31 to be Stevens' immediate back-up on 9/26, Orgeron finding plentiful playing time for Lewis.
These beasts on the D-Line were wreaking havoc, frightening, terrifying, raging, blistering, bewildering nightmares of sweet McCauley Culkin justice and a girthy attack more thick and violent than Joe Cocker belting it out...this was an absolutely scary D-Line to behold...and this was against solid movement and protection up front from our O-Line.
The battles in the trenches were epic...maybe we all just haven't seen enough football in so long, but this made me a little emotional...here is a team....backs against the wall, no one giving em a chance, they've lost 4 defensive linemen in a feverish time-span over the past month and an NFL-quality pass rusher (Marcel Brooks) over the off-season...they're using back-up center Joseph Evans as a DT again after moving him to center from DT initially (due to the center position's depth issues), we're leaning on Travez Moore (a guy who could've been the 8th or 9th rated LSU D-lineman during the middle of August), Andre Anthony (a guy with only 9 total career tackles and a single sack during LSU's 2019 campaign) and a bunch of freshmen as our starting pass-rushers?
The lack of big-name legitimacy hurts LSU's D-Line credibility until the people see the meat to geaux with those potatoes all the way through the 10-13 game season...
However, think about the O-line competition they'd be facing during a scrimmage?
Dare Rosenthal at LT, Ed Ingram at LG, Liam Shanahan at C, Chasen Hines at RG and Austin Deculus at RT....close your eyes as you imagine the offensive line talent they'd be facing throughout the SEC...
Now, open wide and watch as LSU's four D-Linemen crash the guards, bury the center and frustrate Myles Brennan into incompletions or stuff the run with stunts inside and beautiful gap control. Coach Orgeron was drilling the D-Line on shedding blocks and controlling the A gap during practice this week, and that paid off in the way they stormed through Cregg's physical O-Line.
LSU's D-Line started off with Travez Moore, Andre Anthony, Apu Ika and Glen Logan, although the movement, physicality (as well as punishment) dealt by this lineup served as a preamble for the speedy beatdown from LSU's spearing freshmen, out-performing their upperclassmen counterparts from what I viewed.
LSU's double set of twin Bash Bros: Georgia DE's B.J Ojulari & Phillip Webb and on the interior local Louisiana wrecking balls Jacobian Guillory / Jaquelin Roy will receive a fare share of playing time, preparing them for the intensity of what's ahead on a 10 game SEC path to glory (Guillory was on the sidelines, slightly hurt during the scrimmage on Friday).
It seems Pelini, Orgeron and the rest of the defensive staff have organized a formula for pressure this season:
Bullying, beating up and wearing down O-lines with their veteran guys before finishing off a suffocating series with the otherworldly pace, insufferable power and bountiful rage of the double set of twin 2020 Bash Bros (Ojulari, Webb, Guillory & Roy)...and from where we're standing, there are so many combinations of exciting personnel for Johnson and Orgeron to deploy and so many match-ups to be exploited from our guys' differing world class attributes that I cannot see failure in 2020.
As long as there are no more horrific injuries, this unit is primed and ready for action, completely capable of dominating, devastating as well as controlling Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Arkansas and at least being able to pressurize Florida's Kyle Trask, Auburn's Bo Nix or Alabama's Mack Jones or Bryce Young into making poor decisions when throwing against our #1 secondary....even at this D-line's most ineffective, their minimal pressures still posed a long enough threat (when combined with the suffocating coverage in behind) our secondary & D-Line tandem gave Brennan nowhere to go with the football.
There's no question these guys can play, there's no doubting from me that we have enough depth right now to pull this off (many people are forgetting DT/DE Glen Logan's breathtaking performances during 2019's title run, DE Desmond Little's spooky excellence, DT/DE Ali Gaye's incredible skill or DT Jarrell Cherry's weaponized obliteration just to name a few of Orgeron's options)....however I am not pounding my chest in fury as I claim LSU's D-Line is a-comin to rip everyone's heads off and plant them on a pike.
All I'm saying:
If we can stay healthy now, whether through injury, Covid or having to avoid scrambling yet again to pick up the pieces before we've even played a snap, this D-Line has a chance to achieve something special, such is the uncanny talent on this defensive line.
Roy, Ojulari, Guillory, Webb are all prepared to make a monumental impact upon this D-Line, and I fear if these talented stud freshmen don't show up with the same intensity as they displayed during this scrimmage, then LSU cannot survive the war of attrition in the SEC....we need these freshmen on the edge and on the inside to play big snaps, make high octane plays, destroy quarterbacks until they need a spatula to peel 'em off the grass, perhaps even eat up clock at the end of blowouts for each other (this guy's injury is worse than this guy's so...can ya play??)... hell, why not perform the annual tradition of becoming yet another shocking Tiger D-Line Legend?
The season is almost upon us and still, our guys haven't been practicing for nearly as long as they would've liked to...but "do not worry", as Coach Orgeron said, about their ability to tackle and hit...even Derek Stingley Jr wrapped up and drove a receiver to the ground after a catch with more confidence than I've ever seen from #24....across the board, this felt like a backyard football game, playing just for each other and the staff...
If this team can find its confident edge and firmly affix this new face onto their 2020 "swaggering underdog" mentality, then and only then will LSU have the full package....as of now, this team is developing at lightning speed and delivering at the right time in the chemistry department, although there is still much more work to be done in polishing those rough edges if LSU wants to become the first team to repeat as National Champions in the CFP era....and that work is brutally hard to quantify until 9/26 unfolds vs Mike Leech's Mississippi State.
LSU looks to hold the best starting 22 in the country, mounds of incredible depth, loads of play-making dudes all over the field looking to even their score, a bona fide quarterback, and yet I'm still feeling there's another extra gear or two for this unit...that's just how good 2020 LSU can be.
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