LSU Football: the highs and lows of Ed Orgeron’s first full season as head coach

From the very first moment that Ed Orgeron became a full-time head coach for the LSU football team, nothing would be out of the ordinary.

LSU Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron. Photo by: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sport

Orgeron has definitely embraced his home in the bayou. The Larose, La., native has bounced around all over the college football scene in his coaching career, making stops at USC, Ole Miss, Tennessee and even Syracuse along the way. But Orgeron made his coaching debut as a graduate assistant at Northwestern State University, a small college located three hours northwest of Baton Rouge. Louisiana blood has run through his veins then, and they continue to run through his veins now.

In his first full season as head coach, Orgeron’s Tigers have done fairly well. They’re bound to have their first 10-win season in four years, and many of Orgeron’s players, such as Danny Etling, D.J. Chark and Derrius Guice, are bound for the NFL draft. A win over Notre Dame in tomorrow’s Citrus Bowl will put the Tigers at the 10-win mark, and that will definitely put the icing on the cake of an otherwise up-and-down season.

So without further ado, here are a few highs and lows that defined Orgeron’s first full season:

High: Winning on the road

Dating back to last season, LSU had some crucial road victories with Orgeron as head coach. Guice torched both Arkansas and Texas A&M in their respective home games last season, and Tigers came out with double-digit wins in both of those games. Earlier in the season, the Tiger defense took a huge step forward on the road against Florida and stopped their fourth quarter rally to win the game. The Tigers also dominated this season at Ole Miss and at Tennessee, and they have a 5-2 road record with Orgeron at the helm.

Low: The Troy loss

What should have been an easy win for LSU turned into one of the most embarrassing home losses in school history. The Tigers lost 24-21 to the Trojans in Death Valley, and many fans feared that they were heading into a lot more major trouble down the stretch of their season. A 49-game home win streak to non-SEC opponents was snapped, and Troy was paid $985,000 as a result of the loss. However, the Tigers were still able to make adjustments to save their season as they won six of their last seven games.

High: Recruiting local talent

From Newman High’s Odell Beckham Jr. to St. Augustine High’s Leonard Fournette, former head coach Les Miles’ ability to get great local talent off-the-charts. In the case of Ed Orgeron, he is not to be outdone in his recruiting, either. Terrace Marshall Jr., who was ranked as the top player in Louisiana and the top wide receiver in the country, recently signed with the Tigers and became an early enrollee to the university. Even though Marshall missed most of his senior season, he was still the man to beat for the 50-50 ball, and that talent would be very beneficial for the Tiger offense.

Low: Matt Canada’s coaching saga

Canada joined the Tiger coaching staff at the end last season with goals to make the offense much stronger. Despite the hype, Canada is unlikely to return to LSU for next season and the Citrus Bowl will probably be his last game as the offensive coordinator. LSU has been ranked as the 54th-best offense in the nation and the seventh-best in the SEC this season, which isn’t exactly a huge step forward for major improvement. Even though the offense never fully lived up to its full potential in 2017, Etling made strides to be a more accurate passer and he ended up having one of the higher quarterback ratings in his conference.
So here’s to a great 2018 and for having Ed Orgeron as head coach for another season.