Good morning, everyone. LSU coach Ed Orgeron had a not-so-subtle message at the outset of his weekly news conference Monday afternoon that he can only hope lights a fire under his team. Orgeron did everything he could to slow down the critics, and there are many, of his program — particularly of his players — in the wake of Saturday night's sloppy 24-19 loss to Auburn and the Tigers' 3-2 start. Looking straight into the camera, Orgeron, as he usually does, accepted the blame for the unsightly performance. “I want to say this first: Ultimately, I'm responsible for the performance of this team,” he said. “I've always been responsible, and I always will be.” It wasn't exactly a Mike Gundy, "come-after-me-I'm-a-man-I'm-forty" declaration at Oklahoma State in 2007, but Orgeron made sure to get his point across: To not blame the players or anyone else in the program but himself. That set the tone for the news conference, which dealt with the lingering effects from the Auburn loss — some of the same problems that have plagued his team all season — as it prepares for Saturday's game with unbeaten Kentucky. Columnist Scott Rabalais takes a look at LSU's offense, which has struggled to run the ball this season, and rookie offensive coordinator Jake Peetz and his baptism of fire into calling plays for the first time in his career. Also, Wilson Alexander has a story about why so many defensive players rotated in against Auburn. It wasn't so much fatigue as it was a week earlier at Mississippi State, but injuries, Orgeron said, that forced LSU to use more players. Also, an ESPN analytics expert updated the win total probability percentages for LSU's remaining games. Hint: It's not what fans had hoped to hear. In other news that no fan wants to hear, the Tigers learned their next home game on Oct. 16 against Florida will be played at 11 a.m. The game will be broadcast on either ESPN or CBS, the Southeastern Conference announced Monday. A decision on the network will be made after this weekend's games. Until next time, The LSU beat team |