What Ed Orgeron said after LSU's Fiesta Bowl win over UCF
LSU overcame key absences on defense to defeat No. 8 UCF 40-32 and win the Fiesta Bowl. The 10th win for LSU was the first loss for the Knights since 2016.
Coach Ed Orgeron wasn’t expected to win 10 games in the 2018 campaign. He entered the season on the hotseat, with LSU considered underdogs to Miami in Week 1 and many of its SEC West rivals. Orgeron’s squad beat the expectations, starting with a thumping of Hurricanes and ending with the bowl game victory.
After the game, a happy Orgeron touched on a variety of topics, including the first-quarter hit on Burrow, the graduate transfer quarterback’s recruitment and his coordinators’ game plans on Tuesday.
Orgeron: "I thought it was targeting." #LSU
— Brody Miller (@BrodyAMiller) January 1, 2019
Ed Orgeron: A lot of guts. Grit. We talk about grit. Our guys have grit. They practice with grit. A lot of adversity. Look at the DBs we didn't have in this game. Nobody blinked. We're going to put 11 men on the field and fight like Tigers.
— Cody Worsham (@CodyWorsham) January 1, 2019
Ed Orgeron on what future LSU kickers can learn from Cole Tracy: "Just kick the ball like Cole did."
— Cody Worsham (@CodyWorsham) January 1, 2019
Ed Orgeron on Cole Tracy: "He's got some special intangibles about himself. He's a winner. He's going to be a good NFL kicker for a long time."
— Cody Worsham (@CodyWorsham) January 1, 2019
Ed Orgeron asked what the message is to people who picked LSU low in the preseason: "You really wanna know? We shared a message in the locker room about that."
— Cody Worsham (@CodyWorsham) January 1, 2019
Orgeron: "Dave (Aranda) had a great plan. He worked tirelessly." #LSU
— Brody Miller (@BrodyAMiller) January 1, 2019
Orgeron: "You think about Kary Vincent who lost his dad the day before the game…you think about the grit and toughness it took for that young man to come to practice and not blink."
— Cody Worsham (@CodyWorsham) January 1, 2019
Ed Orgeron on Burrow: "I'm glad we went to Mike Anderson's and he liked the crawfish. I think that's what got him (here). He's smart. Steve Ensminger did a great job calling the plays. Joe's an excellent QB. We believe in him. He's exactly what we feel an LSU QB should be."
— Cody Worsham (@CodyWorsham) January 1, 2019
Ed Orgeron says Steve Ensminger called a great game. Joe Burrow, on the other side, animatedly nods his head on agreement #LSU
— Brody Miller (@BrodyAMiller) January 1, 2019
Ed Orgeron: "Our athletic director, Joe Alleva, has been excellent to us. They gave us everything we wanted, all the tools I asked for. I think he's an excellent athletic director."
— Cody Worsham (@CodyWorsham) January 1, 2019
Ed Orgeron on Burrow: "It looked like the passing game we wanted. We had 30 days to get ready. Joe was on the money. We have some tremendous receivers. I grade tonight an A+. It's exactly what I dreamed about in a passing game for LSU."
— Cody Worsham (@CodyWorsham) January 1, 2019