Matt Luke discusses his ties to Ed Orgeron prior to Coach O’s return to Oxford
By Paul Harvey
Published:
The Ole Miss Rebels are coming off a strong showing against Vanderbilt and will be looking to upset the LSU Tigers this weekend.
The Rebels have had an up and down year. They started 2-0 before losing three straight to California, Alabama, and Auburn. It was a rough stretch to weather, but the Rebels ended their losing streak with a 57 point showing against Vanderbilt.
The Rebels will now face the Tigers and head coach Ed Orgeron who previously coached with Ole Miss from 2005-2007. LSU had its own issues earlier in the season in a blowout loss to Mississippi State and a home loss to Troy, but the Tigers have bounced back.
LSU has taken down Florida and Auburn in consecutive weeks, and Ole Miss head coach Matt Luke has been very impressed with the way the Tigers responded under Orgeron. Luke says he has a lot of respect for Orgeron from the time the two worked together:
“I have a lot of respect for coach Ed Orgeron,” said Luke. “I worked for him for a year as his recruiting coordinator. He’s obviously very energetic guy and I learned a lot from him. I’ve been very impressed at how he’s rallied his team. Very impressive their last two wins on third down — Auburn was 3-of-14 and Florida was 2-of-9. They did a good job getting off the field defensively.
“That’s been the difference in their wins. Offensively, they give you a lot of schematic problems with their shifts and motions trying to out-leverage and out-flank you. They have a lot of good players. It’s definitely going to be an exciting atmosphere in Vaught-Hemingway on Saturday. That home field advantage was huge for us this Saturday. Our players feed off of our crowd. We’re excited to have another home SEC game.”
Luke also said he is looking forward to a huge matchup on Saturday:
“This is a huge game. I think fans will be excited to be here,” said Luke. “It’s an Ole Miss/LSU rivalry. As far as me, I only worked with him for a year, but we are cordial. It’ll be a competitive game and I’m looking forward to it. I was very impressed with his attack in the recruiting aspect of it.
“I was impressed with that and liked his energy. It’s easy to see why players rally around him and play for him. Those are the two things I learned being around him, the amount of energy and his work ethic. He has a tireless work ethic.”
Saturday’s kickoff is set for 7:15 pm EST on ESPN.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
