Tag: Ed Orgeron

Former LSU football quarterback TJ Finley transfers to Tulane

A former LSU quarterback and Louisiana native is transferring back home

A former LSU quarterback has reportedly found a new school after entering the transfer portal.

[autotag]TJ Finley[/autotag] will play the 2025 season at Tulane after signing with the Green Wave. It will be his sixth season of college football and his fifth school.

In 2024 at Western Kentucky, Finley won the starting role, but a leg injury in early September sidelined him, and he did not get the QB1 job back upon returning. In three games, he passed for 490 yards and one touchdown.

Across his five-year career, Finley’s totaled 6,128 passing yards and 37 touchdowns. The Ponchatoula, LA native ranked as the No. 18 recruit in his home state and No. 32 at quarterback. He chose LSU as part of the 2020 recruiting class, throwing for 941 yards and five touchdowns that season under former head coach [autotag]Ed Orgeron.[/autotag]

Finley spent the next two years at Auburn, amassing 1,258 passing yards and seven touchdowns with the Tigers. He transferred to Texas State for the 2023 season, which was his best season, with 3,439 passing yards and 24 touchdowns in addition to 81 rushing yards.

Tulane was in the market for a quarterback after breakout star Darian Mensah transferred to Duke. Finley’s big arm could make for a good fit in Joe Craddock’s offense. The Green Wave made a living off the big play in 2024 and will hope to have a similar identity in 2025.

There’s excitement at Tulane as head coach Jon Sumrall passed on bigger jobs to remain in New Orleans.

LSU to play Baylor in Kinder’s Texas Bowl on New Year’s Eve

LSU football will be headed to Houston to face Baylor in the Texas Bowl

LSU football knows its location and opponent for postseason play.

Announced on Sunday, the Tigers will play Baylor in the Kinder’s Texas Bowl on New Year’s Eve. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 CT and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.

Both teams will head to NRG Stadium in Texas with 8-4 records. The Bears’ last loss came on October 5. Since then, they rattled off six-straight wins in the Big 12 and all but one victory was by a double-digit margin.

The game on Dec. 31 marks the twelfth all-time meeting between the two programs and the first since the 1985 Liberty Bowl, which Baylor won 21-7. LSU leads the all-time series 8-3. The Bears and Tigers met in the predecessor to the Texas Bowl, the Blue Bonnet Bowl, in 1963.

Baylor is led by head coach Dave Aranda, who formally occupied the defensive coordinator position in Baton Rouge. He helped lead the Tigers to the national championship in 2019 under former head coach [autotag]Ed Orgeron.[/autotag] Following Aranda’s departure, several former LSU staff members made the move to Waco and helped the head coach establish his culture.

Flashback: Revisiting LSU’s last meeting with Oklahoma in 2019 playoff

LSU will hope for a repeat of its last meeting with Oklahoma on Saturday night

In its regular-season finale, LSU football hosts Oklahoma on Saturday for a primetime game.

The Sooners come in high off an upset 21-point victory over No. 7 Alabama and a 6-5 record, qualifying for a bowl game.

The last time LSU and Oklahoma faced off came in the 2019 College Football Playoff semifinal, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

In a game that featured two of the NFL’s best quarterbacks and several high-profile skill players, the Tigers blew out the Sooners 63-28 en route to winning the national championship under head coach [autotag]Ed Orgeron[/autotag].

[autotag]Joe Burrow[/autotag] led LSU with seven touchdowns and 493 receiving yards. He finished as the third-leading rusher with 21 yards behind Chris Curry (16 carries for 90 yards) and Tyrion Davis-Price (four carries for 25 yards).

[autotag]Justin Jefferson[/autotag] totaled four touchdowns and 227 receiving yards. [autotag]Terrace Marshall Jr[/autotag]. (80 receiving yards) hauled in two touchdowns and [autotag]Thaddeus Moss[/autotag] (99 receiving yards) found the end zone once. [autotag]Ja’Marr Chase[/autotag] finished with 39 yards as each of the Tigers’ top four receivers caught a pass of 30+ yards.

The Sooners, quarterbacked by Jalen Hurts, scored on four runs. Running backs Kennedy Brooks and TJ Pledger each totaled one score while Hurts used his legs twice for two touchdowns.

Hurts finished with 217 yards through the air and 43 yards on the ground. He threw one interception and connected with CeeDee Lamb for 119 yards.

The case for Ed Orgeron to be College Gameday’s guest picker at LSU

With College Gameday heading to Baton Rouge, it offers a chance for Ed Orgeron to be the guest picker

Ed Orgeron’s tenure with LSU football was complicated. The man led the Tigers to a national title and built the best team in college football history. Less than two years later, he was out of a job.

Orgeron let the program slip away in his final two years. Poor assistant hires and a pandemic created a rough 2020. Ja’Marr Chase opted out and Bo Pelini’s defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed.

In 2021, there was renewed hope. 2020 was a blip on the radar and LSU would get back to its winning ways.

A season-opening loss to UCLA quickly killed that vibe and Ed Orgeron and LSU agreed to part ways in October. Orgeron finished the year and went out with a win over Texas A&M.

Three years have passed and Orgeron has been absent around LSU. A fired head coach doesn’t hang around the program that let him go, even if he is the native son.

It’s time to bring him back. Orgeron should be College Gameday’s guest picker when the show heads to Baton Rouge for LSU’s meeting with Alabama in week 11.

The awkwardness from Orgeron’s tenure has faded. His legacy is that of a national title winning head coach. And with Nick Saban back too, there’s already one former title-winning head LSU coach on the set.

Orgeron and LSU had a weird ending. Much of it played out in public, only adding to the problems. But that 2019 team was special and it belonged to Coach O.

Nearly every component from that 2020 team has gotten their flowers, now it’s O’s turn.

The Gameday crowd with Orgeron on set would be electric. That’s the effect Gameday should have on campus.

Whether or not Orgeron is comfortable with it, that’s another thing. But LSU and Orgeron can benefit from a mutual relationship. He’s Louisiana football through and through and big game days such as this one are a celebration of the sport within the state.

That makes Orgeron the perfect fit.

5 things to know about UCLA ahead of LSU’s Week 4 matchup

Here are five things to know about the UCLA Bruins prior to their meeting with LSU.

(This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.)

LSU will meet UCLA for the second time in program history on Saturday afternoon. The last and only meeting came in 2021 when LSU fell flat at the Rose Bowl.

Three years later, both programs look different. You’re probably aware of the changes at LSU. That UCLA loss marked the beginning of the end for [autotag]Ed Orgeron[/autotag] at LSU and eventually led to the hiring of [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag].

Chip Kelly left UCLA in the offseason to take Ohio State’s offensive coordinator position. UCLA didn’t look far for Kelly’s replacement, opting to promote DeShaun Foster from within.

UCLA was on the way up when it last met LSU, but now the Bruins enter a rebuild in Year 1 under Foster. Promoting Foster helped hold the roster together, and UCLA ranked 21st in returning production. The timing of the change, however, made it hard to fill any holes on the roster.

LSU expects to take care of business in this one, but here are five things to know about the UCLA Bruins.

It’s a rebuild at UCLA

UCLA had an early bye, so the Bruins played just two games in Weeks 1-3. UCLA split the pair, squeaking out with a win at Hawai’i before taking a blowout loss to Indiana at home in Week 3.

The Indiana loss was ugly. The game got away from UCLA early after a fumble on its first drive. Indiana turned it on, and that was the ball game.

It was UCLA’s first Big Ten contest and may be a sign of things to come. This week begins a brutal stretch for UCLA that includes road games at LSU and Penn State sandwiching a home game against Oregon.

UCLA needs a lot to go right to win any of those games. Despite the continuity provided by Foster, this remains a rebuild in Westwood.

UCLA will put hopes in stopping the run

UCLA was picked apart in the passing game against Indiana, but the Bruins held up against the run. The Hoosiers’ EPA/rush was minus-0.04, putting them in the 42nd percentile.

UCLA is allowing 3.1 yards per run this year, ranking 30th nationally. That gives it a chance against an LSU ground attack working through some struggles.

In this department, UCLA is led by linebacker Kain Medrano. According to PFF, Medrano has made seven stops and 11 tackles in two games. In his fifth year of college football, he’s one of the leaders on this defense.

UCLA’s offense is struggling

DeShaun Foster hired Super Bowl-winning offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to lead the offense at UCLA. The results to start 2024 are rough.

UCLA’s 5.2 yards per play ranks 79th in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Bruins don’t protect the football, throwing three picks in their two games.

When it comes to negative plays, UCLA is allowing 4.5 tackles for loss per game. That number isn’t terrible on the surface, but you can’t afford that when it’s difficult to move the ball through the air.

Per PFF, UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers owns the second-worst passing grade in the Big Ten. LSU’s secondary took advantage of an inconsistent QB last week, and the Tigers will seek to do it again in Week 4.

Players to know

We talked about linebacker Kain Medrano, but here are some other Bruins to keep an eye on when they arrive in Tiger Stadium on Saturday.

  • Safety Bryan Addison: Oregon transfer in his fifth year of college football. He has four stops on the year and allowed one catch in 35 coverage snaps against Indiana.
  • Guard Spencer Holstege: Up front, UCLA is led by Holstege. He’s a veteran with over 3,000 snaps. UCLA in the Big Ten is a return to the conference for Holstege, who began his career at Purdue.
  • J. Michael Sturdivant: Caught 39 passes for 597 yards and two scores last year. He’s struggled to get going this year with UCLA’s issues at QB, but he’s a threat to make plays against LSU’s young secondary.

Other notes

  • This will be the first time UCLA has played a football game in the state of Louisiana.
  • Saturday will mark UCLA’s 11th road game in an SEC stadium. The Bruins are 3-5-2 in the previous 10 contests.
  • This is LSU’s second game with a Big Ten school this year after opening the season against USC.

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Former LSU offensive linemen Kardell Thomas transfers to Colorado

A former LSU offensive linemen is set to play for Deion Sanders and Colorado.

Former LSU offensive lineman [autotag]Kardell Thomas[/autotag] found a new home this week, transferring to Colorado.

Thomas originally hit the portal out of LSU following the 2022 season. He spent last year at Florida A&M before entering again and announcing his commitment to Central Missouri. However, Thomas did not enroll and remained available.

That led him back to the Power Four level, where he’ll now play for Deion Sanders and the Buffs.

Thomas was one of the nation’s top offensive line recruits in 2019. According to Rivals, he was the top interior offensive linemen in the class. He earned four stars from 247Sports and ESPN too.

Thomas was a member of LSU’s 2019 national title team, but never found a consistent role at LSU. The most action he saw at LSU was in 2021, where he made starts against UL-Monroe and Texas A&M.

With FAMU in 2023, Thomas notched 10 starts, including a start in the conference title game. He was one of the top interior pass protectors in the conference.

Given how late it is in the summer, its hard to know if Thomas factors into Colorado’s plans, but he’s a solid depth piece for an offensive line that’s had a rough few years.

It’s been a whirlwind career for Thomas, but hopefully, this gives him a chance to finish strong and land on his feet.

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Can LSU football avoid another Week 1 letdown?

LSU has dropped four-straight season openers. Brian Kelly and staff will look to change that in 2025.

It’s been a long time since LSU football won the first game of the season. The last time the Tigers started 1-0, [autotag]Joe Burrow[/autotag] was playing quarterback and [autotag]Dave Aranda[/autotag] was the defensive coordinator.

After the national title win in 2019, it’s been four years of letdowns to open the year. LSU kicked off its title defense with a loss at home to Mississippi State. The next year, LSU dropped one at the Rose Bowl.

[autotag]Ed Orgeron[/autotag] was fired in 2021, giving way to [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag]. The program has made strides under Kelly with back-to-back 10-win seasons, but Kelly is 0-2 at openers in LSU.

To make things worse, LSU was the favorite in its last four openers. All four opponents were Power Five foes, but all four contests were winnable games for a program of LSU’s stature.

LSU will be tested in the opener again, this time with a neutral site meeting against USC. For the third straight year, LSU will begin its year on Sunday night in the national spotlight.

In just over a month, LSU will look to avoid the opening season letdown. Again, the Tigers are the favorite.

LSU was in a rough spot in 2020. [autotag]Ja’Marr Chase[/autotag] opted out, adding to everything LSU already lost after 2019. [autotag]Derek Stingley Jr.[/autotag] missed that first game too, and Mike Leach’s Mississippi State offense totaled 632 yards of offense.

In 2021, LSU trailed UCLA by four entering the fourth quarter, but a 14-0 Bruins run put the game out of reach.

In Kelly’s first game, LSU had a chance to force overtime against Florida State, but costly special teams mistakes cost the game.

Last year, looking for revenge against FSU, LSU positioned itself well early in the game. But failed red zone trips led to an unraveling. Florida State turned it on in the second half while LSU did anything but that.

LSU wasn’t outclassed in any of these games — the Tigers just weren’t ready.

At SEC media days, Kelly was asked if LSU needs to change anything about its preseason process. Kelly said LSU will adjust if needed, but trusts what they do now. It just comes down to execution.

This could be LSU’s most important Game 1 in some time. With an expanded 12-team playoff, a win puts LSU in control of its own destiny the rest of the way. The Tigers could be afforded a loss or two in conference play and still make the 12-team field.

If LSU comes out and drops another opener, to a USC team that might take a step back with no Caleb Williams, the narrative around LSU would not be pretty.

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How LSU’s schedule gives the Tigers a strong chance to make College Football Playoff

LSU football’s schedule in 2024 sets the Tigers up for success.

LSU hired [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] to return the program to the College Football Playoff. With the tournament expanding to 12 teams, LSU will want to do a bit more than just make it. However, that’s the first step.

LSU lost a lot after 2023. You won’t see many teams that lost a Heisman QB, two first-round receivers, two leading rushers and two draft picks on the interior defensive line in the playoff conversation. Yet, this is LSU and the expectation is to reload, not rebuild.

The Tigers feel good about the offense with a strong offensive line protecting QB [autotag]Garrett Nussmeier[/autotag]. On defense, a step forward is possible too, though depth at some positions remains an issue.

The good news? LSU’s schedule sets the Tigers up for success. LSU has the chance to be favored in every game this year, giving the Tigers a shot at 10-2 or better.

LSU plays just two teams with a win total equivalent to LSU’s. Those are Alabama and Ole Miss, but both games are in Tiger Stadium and early betting lines have LSU as the slight favorite.

After that, you could argue Texas A&M and Oklahoma pose the biggest threat to LSU. The A&M game is on the road and despite LSU looking like the better team, that could be enough to make A&M a small favorite. Still, the Aggies have a first-year head coach and you don’t know what you’re going to get.

LSU gets Oklahoma to close the regular season in Death Valley. The Sooners have a tough schedule and could be beaten up by this point. The point is, both of those are more than just winnable games.

The key for LSU could be avoiding the season-opening letdown that has plagued the Tigers since 2019. Despite being favored in its last four openers, LSU is 0-4 in that stretch. Two of those came under [autotag]Ed Orgeron[/autotag], but Kelly has struggled in the same spot.

LSU’s defense won’t have all of its problems solved by week one and stopping Lincoln Riley’s offense could prove to be a challenge, but LSU is a touchdown favorite right now.

I don’t expect LSU to go 12-0, but if the Tigers can go 4-1 against USC, Ole Miss, Alabama, Texas A&M and Oklahoma, it’s hard to imagine LSU far from a playoff spot.

Even going 3-2 against those teams gives LSU a chance. 4-1 is the ideal mark though, because that offers room for error elsewhere.

Tiger fans should be happy with how this schedule is set up. As far as SEC schedules go, it’s on the easier side. Missing Georgia and Texas is a plus and you can’t ask for much more than getting your toughest games at home.

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Can USC win a national championship with an ‘offensive minded’ head coach?

Lincoln Riley did not take defense seriously in the past … but it’s different now.

During the Conquest Call-In Show on The Voice of College Football, a caller made the claim this past Friday that college teams, USC included, need a defensive-minded head coach in order to win a national championship. It was a clear, if indirect, reference to Lincoln Riley.

Urban Meyer with Florida and Ohio State in 2014 was an offense-first head coach.  Although Ed Orgeron is a defensive coach, the LSU Tigers won with an offensive identity fueled by Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, Joe Brady, and Joe Burrow in 2019.

Lincoln Riley needs a competitive defense at USC, not a top-10 defense. His defenses under Alex Grinch were so bad that a lot of people think he and USC will never win a national championship. In reality, Riley simply didn’t make the adjustments needed to field a defense which was good enough to supplement his offense. Now, it’s different. Riley has made necessary adjustments. His defense doesn’t have to be 1995 Nebraska or the 1985 Chicago Bears.

It just has to be relatively good and competent.

Here’s our show from last Friday in which we took calls from you, the fans, at The Voice of College Football:

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Check out more NFL draft coverage with the USA TODAY Sports NFL Draft Hub.

Former LSU receiver discusses opportunity with New Orleans Saints

Former LSU receiver Russell Gage is trying to prove there’s still something left after working out with the New Orleans Saints.

Former LSU wide receiver and NFL free agent [autotag]Russell Gage[/autotag] was given an opportunity to work out with his home state NFL team, the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints hosted Gage along with four others for tryouts at mini-camp. Former LSU and Tulane left tackle [autotag]Cameron Wire[/autotag] was a member of the group, too.

Gage is trying to work his way back after suffering a torn patellar tendon during the Bucs‘ 2023 training camp. He ended up on injured reserve and missed the entire season.

Gage spent six combined seasons with the Falcons and Bucs, including the one he missed in 2023. In that time, he proved to be a reliable presence in the receiving corps and on special teams.

In 2020 with the Falcons, Gage caught 72 passes for 786 yards and four touchdowns. The next year, he averaged 11.7 yards per catch with 770 total yards.

His career numbers are 344 catches, 2,491 yards, and 14 touchdowns. Now, Gage is trying to prove there’s still something left in the tank. If the Saints believe there is, New Orleans would mark his third stop in the NFC South.

Gage played at LSU from 2014-18. In his time with the Tigers, he caught 26 passes for 347 yards and four touchdowns while carrying the ball 28 times for 232 yards and a touchdown.

Those numbers don’t always earn an NFL opportunity, but they don’t tell the full story of Gage’s time at LSU. He was a receiver in a run-heavy offense and wasn’t given much of a chance until [autotag]Ed Orgeron[/autotag] took over in the middle of the 2016 season.

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