Ed Orgeron incurred some backlash for saying that he needs to recruit better offensive and defensive linemen following No. 3 LSU’s 29-0 loss to No. 1 Alabama last Saturday.

During his Monday press conference, Orgeron reversed course and placed most of the blame on himself.

“After review of the film — an extensive review — all day yesterday, No. 1 is coach better. It starts with me,” Orgeron told reporters. “Coach better, put our guys in better position. Schemes could’ve been better. Our guys did a good job for the most part, but there are some things we could’ve done better for our team.”

Orgeron, however, didn’t completely walk back his comments about getting better players along both lines.

“No. 2 is execute better,” he said. “There was some execution that wasn’t done, and it cost us. You can’t do it against a good team like Alabama. No. 3 is on the offensive and defensive lines, we have to be better in terms of building more depth and increasing the number of quality players that we already have. That was evident during the game.”

Last Saturday marked the Tigers’ eighth straight loss against the Crimson Tide and the second straight home game in the series in which they were shut out. Perhaps the most glaring statistic from the game — and why Orgeron singled out his players in the trenches during his post-game press conference — was Alabama averaging 7.6 yards per carry to LSU’s 0.5.

Now the Tigers (7-2, 4-2 SEC) must pick up the pieces are they prepare for a road trip to Arkansas (2-7, 0-5) at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, and they may have to do it without senior safety John Battle. Orgeron said Battle is “50-50” to play against the Razorbacks after he suffered an apparent ankle injury early against Alabama.