TIGER RAG NEWS SERVICES

LSU improved to 2-0 to start the season with a 45-14 win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday. The Tigers had four turnovers in a first half that finished 10-7 in favor of LSU but outscored the Bulldogs 35-7 after the break.

Coach Lane Kiffin spoke to reporters following the win. Here is everything he said:

Opening Statement

“Tale of two different sides of the ball throughout most of the game. I thought our defense started good. I thought out defense was lights out again. I can’t imagine what the stats are about when the first team defense is out there now through two games. Amazing job, negative yards rushing, even with the twos, but the first team was really lights out. It’s almost like you felt like they were going to get turnovers on every possession, so that was awesome. Really, really good job by them against an offensive that, whatever, put up 80 points last week. Offensively, the other side, obviously, the turnovers in the red zone. You know, turn the ball over four times in the game, and then red zone to be down there 10 times, two times without scores, really disappointing there. Credit to LA Tech. Those guys did a really good job defensively of playing really hard. They were sticky last year here in the stadium in how they played. I think 23 points, and a good red zone drive at the end of that game, so we got to execute better. Sam’s got to do a better job taking care of the ball. We made a lot of yards, and we were smooth through that at times. But obviously the red zone is where you got to finish drives, so maybe it was perfect for us that we needed something like that because if we play good on offense and the game is 70-7 or something, then you don’t have their attention. So maybe it’s what we needed, and we’re in a good place. We’re winning by 31 points, and we’re really upset. We got a good standard going.”

Why are you guys having so much trouble in the red zone?

“Inability to run the ball. Again, credit to them. They did a really good job with a lot of pressures down there, and then we didn’t execute on assignments. And then the turnovers eventually certainly didn’t help, but the inability to run the ball in direct runs, something that the week before was really good for us. And so as you saw later, we had to start going around them with things because everything was up in the middle.”

How was the importance of recovering fumbles implemented into the system, and how did you see that come to fruition?

“It was awesome. When you have a standard of how you practice, how you play, and to watch a defensive tackle chase the ball and get the ball out was awesome to see. So I thought our guys really went after the ball. It was a huge emphasis after last week just having the one turnover, so it was a huge emphasis this week and a huge emphasis all day talking about it.”

What are you looking for from Sam Leavitt in the second half after struggling in the first half?

“Boy, it’s hard. He’s very competitive, and you can see that in some plays trying too much there because we’re not doing well, and the week before he did a good job of not doing that. And you got to not be frustrated in that. I even said at half we had a game at Ole Miss versus Arkansas where (Matt) Corral threw six interceptions in a bunch of drop eight, a bunch of zone, so just reminding Charlie at halftime, like, ‘Hey, we’ve got to be patient and got to win the game, regardless of what that looks like.’”
How did you see the team respond to some of the adversity tonight, and how that tested your team’s character when you’ll need it to be strong in some adverse moments throughout the season?

“Second half is 35-7, so that’s a lot of people doing things right. And the seven they scored was against the backups, so the second half is obviously a lot better with that. But again, this was an offensive production issue about how we finish drives and taking care of the ball. The yards are still up there, 528 yards, but you’ve got to finish the drives and do a better job in the red zone.”

What was the LA Tech defense doing to make it so difficult on the offensive line and in the run game?

“Timing up a lot of blitzes and doing a good job. They waited to make calls late against us trying to figure out what they were doing, so in the second half we adjusted more of snapping the ball fast and just going, not trying to be in perfect play. But like I said to them at the end of the game, their defensive staff deserves a lot of credit. They did a really good job.”

How do you assess your offensive line play tonight?

“Not real good, five sacks, a lot of negative plays, so again, when they’re bringing everything up there, it is going to be a little bit big-little that way. And so in the third quarter, some of those runs finally broke. When they’re kind of selling out the way that they are, you’re going to have some 0-, 1-yard plays, and then hopefully you break some like what happened in the third quarter. So they did do some good things.”

How will you focus on this with obviously so much attention with your next opponent?

“I think it was good because of that. Like I told them in there, ‘You’re getting ready to go on the road in the SEC versus a really good team that’s played really well for years at that place.’ So this was good because, like I said, it’s harder to get their attention after last week if there were two really clean games in a row like that, so I’m glad it happened.”

What was your message at halftime?

“Opposite (of last week) about the problems taking care of the football and the inability to capitalize on the red zone. Defensively was great, amazing the first half, so it was a lot calmer. It was a lot more just about the execution on the offense and finishing things and taking care of football too.”

Was tonight a surprise to you, or did you sort of see something like this coming after watching practice all week?

“I think that can be overrated sometimes. I say you could ask a coach right before the game, and they’ll be just like all the bettors and probably be about 50/50 about what they think their team’s going to play like, and half the time they have great practice. But I know the twos don’t practice very well defensively, and that showed up again exactly how they practice. But offensively, I think they did a really good job, and with that, you’re going to throw more when they’re all up like that. And so Sam did throw for 334 yards, but obviously the negative plays with interceptions.”

What did you make of Trey’Dez Green’s performance?

“Thanks for bringing that up because it’s kind of like the defensive performance and Trey’Dez. That was awesome. Now that I understand the seven and you know what those guys talk about and it’s when you need to play, and the old sevens tell the new sevens when they were talking to them that’s what it’s for. And there’s going to be games that are rough and things aren’t going well and you got to find a way, and that’s what he did, just breaking through tacklers on big third downs like that. As I was watching I was thinking that’s exactly what they talk about the number. It was really cool.”

What did you think of Eugene Wilson III?

“He’s really electric. Frustrated with his turnover, he had the ball on his inside hand which we talked about not doing but he’s a right hand-dominant player, and it cost him. But he’s very electric with the ball. We tried to set up some returns in the punt game because of that, and so we’re really excited about him.”