For the first time since 2018, Ed Orgeron’s LSU Tigers are on the losing side of a college football game. Coach O’s squad saw its 16-game winning streak snapped Saturday as the Mississippi State Bulldogs pulled off a 44-34 upset in the debut of Air Raid guru Mike Leach as an SEC head coach.

After the game, Orgeron addressed numerous topics in his press conference. He discussed miscues on defense, issues with pass protection, the absence of star defensive back Derek Stingley Jr. and more:

  • “They beat us. We have no excuse. We couldn’t stay with their guys. Didn’t protect the quarterback. Just way too many mistakes.”
  • On what he told his team: “We’re going to find out what we’re made of.”
  • Jay Ward was out for two weeks and had to play today, so he was behind.
  • “When you lose a player like Derek Stingley, it really hurt us. It was a scheme (issue), but we just couldn’t cover the guys. Thoughts we pressured them well, just didn’t cover man-to-man well.”
  • “We had too many missed assignments.”
  • On his message to the team: “I told the team, put it on me. When we win, It’s on them. When we lose, it’s on me. Let’s stick together as a football team. I still believe we have a good football team.”
  • On protection in the passing game: “We got beat up front.”
  • On Ali Gaye and Jabril Cox: “I thought they were both all over the field. That’s what we’ve been seeing all offseason. Those two guys are big additions to our football team.”
  • On playing at home again: “It was great to be back. I thought there was some energy on the field. I thought the fans did as good of a job as they could.”
  • On Myles Brennan’s performance in his first start: “I saw some inconsistency. I thought he threw the deep ball well.”
  • On youth and inexperience in the defense: “Welcome to the SEC. You’ve got to get better.”