The Tigers were fierce.

And they were physical.

LSU took a cue from its feisty head coach as it whipped previously unbeaten and No. 2 Georgia 36-16 on Saturday in Tiger Stadium.

Orgeron was steamed all week because he felt the Tigers beat themselves in a 27-19 loss at Florida a week earlier. He was particularly peeved at himself for opting for a second-quarter field goal when LSU needed less than a yard for a first down.

It wasn’t going to happen again.

Orgeron wasn’t going to be timid, and neither were his Tigers.

They weren’t going to beat themselves. In fact, they were going to take the fight to the Bulldogs.

This was Tiger Stadium. LSU was playing for its season. If Georgia was going to hand an Orgeron-coached LSU team a second consecutive loss for the first time, it was going to have to earn it.

“I do believe there was a hunger,” Orgeron said. “We felt we were to blame for losing (to Florida). That even hurt more. You screw the screws a little tighter, and all week I felt guys had a chip on their shoulder.”

They played like they did, and Orgeron coached like he did, too. Four times he went for it on fourth down, and four times his offense produced first downs.

He pushed all the right buttons.

After the Tigers took an early 3-0 lead, the best rushing team in the SEC ran right at the middle of the LSU defense and looked like it was going to assert itself the way it had in six mostly lopsided victories.

Georgia rushed for 71 yards before stalling and watching LSU smother a fake field goal play.

The Bulldogs – and especially their run game – weren’t the same again.

Orgeron, who made his bones as a defensive line coach, and defensive coordinator Dave Aranda made a couple of simple adjustments, altering the nose tackle’s rush angle and changing how the linebackers were “shading” in various alignments.

“We were playing one certain defense … and it wasn’t working,” Orgeron said. “We changed to play another one and it worked; that’s all.

“We were shaded one way and then we went and shaded another way. Shade to shade, baby.”

And that’s Orgeron in a nutshell – simple with a down-to-earth quip that masks a really good football coach.

“People, they just hear his accent and think, ‘Oh, I mean, this guy is just rah-rah and gets people pumped on Saturdays and gets people to go on Saturdays,’ but the lengths that he goes to make sure we are ready to play … it’s astounding,” tight end Foster Moreau said. “You wouldn’t believe how hard this coaching staff works if I told you.”

Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

LSU, meanwhile, had success running at the Bulldogs throughout, primarily with Clyde Edwards-Helaire, periodically with Nick Brossette and occasionally with quarterback Joe Burrow.

The lead grew to 10-0, then 13-0, then 16-0 at halftime.

Georgia finally got on the board with a field goal to start the third quarter, LSU matched it, then the Bulldogs finally got in the end zone, getting within 19-9 after three quarters.

Orgeron said you could feel “the momentum was changing.”

After an exchange of punts, the Tigers responded with an 86-yard touchdown drive that Burrow said was offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger’s “best drive all year.”

LSU went right at Georgia, lining up seldom-used fullback Tory Carter as a tight end and using him to lead the way for Edwards-Helaire and even throwing him a pass for his first catch of the season for a key first down.

“We were going for it as hard as we can,” Orgeron said. “We were throwing out the kitchen sink today, man. Everything we had, we did.”

The Tigers astutely utilized their hurry-up, even when running the clock down was potentially advantageous. But the no-huddle prevented the Bulldogs from substituting as liberally as they like, thus producing more favorable matchups for the Tigers and mitigating their depth disadvantage.

LSU’s subsequent 29-9 edge, after a fumble on the ensuing kickoff led to a field goal, was comfortable enough. But when Georgia scored another touchdown with six minutes left, the Tigers responded with another touchdown march that served as an exclamation point.

Earlier in the season, LSU played some of its worst football as soon as it built comfortable margins. That wasn’t the case Saturday.

“All year, honestly — even the early games — we haven’t put teams away like that,” Burrow said. “We kind of stomped them into the ground. I think we took a big step in that aspect.”

Moreau acknowledged that it’s Aranda and Ensminger, like all coordinators, who put together the game plans.

“So, what room does that leave for the head coach?” said Moreau, a senior. “He’s got to make sure every Saturday that we are mentally, physically, emotionally ready to play, and he has done that every Saturday that I’ve been around here.

“It might be a different thing. It might be a different wrinkle. He might cut practice by five minutes. But he’s got an incredible game plan and he knows what he’s doing.”