The exasperation in the voice of LSU football coach Lane Kiffin was still evident two days after his team’s 35-6 victory over Texas A&M.
The Tigers’ first Southeastern Conference victory seemingly tamped down Kiffin’ enthusiasm after the loss of linebacker Whit Weeks for a sizable chunk of the season became a reality.
“I don’t know exactly,” Kiffin said Monday during his weekly news conference on a return of Weeks, who had surgery Monday after suffering a broken fibula in Saturday’s victory. “I know he’ll be out a while. That’s a tough one not just because of the impact on the team. Look at last year. Look at those points per game when he played versus when he didn’t last year.
“It’s not just because of the player he is,” Kiffin said. “It’s the mentality in what he brings around him and how is. That’s probably why I was in the mood that I was in after the game, just knowing the impact and feeling horrible for him. After coming back to have this great year, to get LSU fixed, to get the defense fixed and here it is, right in the middle of getting it fixed, playing great and then this happens.”
Kiffin said Weeks followed a familiar pattern in the first four weeks of the season. The impact that sidelined Weeks came at the hands of teammate Jhase Thomas midway through the third quarter.
“A freak injury,” he said. “Your own player rolling into you.”
Snakebit again
Kiffin said the sight of watching Weeks’ leave Tiger Stadium on crutches, a walking boot and a towel draped over his head to disclose own disappointment, further ‘freaked him out’ given the nature of some of the team’s other injuries that have reached five season-ending injuries with the loss of linebacker Charles Ross suffering a torn ACL against Texas A&M.
“Two guys out with knees (injuries) on kick coverage, not being hit,” he said.
Kiffin said he warned quarterback Sam Leavitt to be cautious once he became gimpy during Saturday’s game with a hamstring pull. He didn’t say whether he could sit Leavitt in favor of reserve quarterback Landen Clark when No. 11 LSU (3-1) hosts McNeese (2-3) in Tiger Stadium at 6:45 p.m. Saturday.
“I don’t know,” was Kiffin’s response to whether Clark would get the starting nod and hold Leavitt a week before LSU visits Kentucky next week at 6 p.m.
Kiffin said he deliberated in great detail Sunday about holding out key players. Of their remaining seven SEC games, the Tigers face No. 1 Texas, No. 7 Alabama, No. 16 Mississippi State and No. 17 Kentucky.
“I don’t know where we’re going to end up on that, but we’ve got seven conference games to go,” he said. “Four more road conference games with five of seven are probably ranked. You have to look at things differently because of what’s happened.”
To start Clark or not?
Clark gave Kiffin plenty to think about, rushing nine times for 41 yards and two touchdowns against Texas A&M. He has completed 7 of 15 passes for 109 yards and one touchdown this season.
“Landon’s done a great job,” Kiffin said. “When he goes into games, he really finds a way to make plays. I joked with him that he had to be the first quarterback in history of college to actually throw two touchdowns that are in guys’ hands, throw another completion in the game and somehow be 0-for-5. That’s hard to do.”
The loss of Weeks and Ross came on the heels of LSU losing tight end Trey’Dez Green to a knee injury and safety Dashawn Spears to an ACL tear the week before in the 32-24 loss at Ole Miss.
Without Ross, who returned an interception in LSU’s opening 51-10 win over Clemson, and Weeks now shifts the responsibility amongst the linebacker to the shoulders of Davhon Keys who made five tackles against A&M.
“You lose your one and four, that’s pretty tough,” Kiffin said.
Changing complexion of defense
LSU lost defensive end Gabriel Reliford and cornerback Aidan Anding to season-ending injuries in the spring and lost the services of wide receiver/kick returner Phillip Wright for the season following the Louisiana Tech game.
“When these injuries happen, everyone knows which person starts in place of these guys,” Kiffin said he told his team Monday. “When it’s much more than that, now some of those were starting on multiple special teams. Now they may come off of that. Now the backup special teams guy’s got to step up and play that. And some guy has to step up to be the backup special teams’ player.
“It’s a lot of people needing to do their job when these significant injuries happen,” Kiffin said. “Injuries happen in this sport, but the majority of the time they’re a couple of weeks (apart). Maybe about a week, or three to four. These are season ending (injuries) of players that have major roles affect a lot of different parts. Sometimes they affect how you call the game. You don’t have to change as much on defense.”
The loss of Green, coupled with reserves that don’t offer similar skill sets, altered Saturday’s offense Saturday and gave Jackson Harris an opportunity to shine.
The transfer from Hawaii had a career-best number in catches (6), yardage (163) and touchdowns (2). Winston Watkins added three catches for 107 yards, while Dilin Jones and Tre Wilson each had three receptions for 22 and 20 yards, respectively.
“Offensively we had to change,” Kiffin said. “Obviously we don’t have another Trey’Dez type skill sets. It’s just a real challenge for a lot of people to step up and play different roles. Play different things and I challenged our coaches, too. This is part of why you’re supposed to be good coaches and get paid a lot. It’s not just coaching the elite player, but now how can you fit our systems to the players that are going to need to play.
“Next man up, just call your plays and then you just blame the player. ‘He’s not good enough,’” Kiffin said of a familiar refrain from coaches in similar situations. “It’s a coach’s job in my opinion to find a way to get other players to get different schemes, to get different things to overcome injuries. It’s challenging in college. It’s not like you can go and replace them.”
Kiffin, already not a big proponent of the SEC’s more grueling nine-game league schedule, took great pride to the numbers of elite players LSU attracted in the transfer portal on defense. The original starting group was one that could shoulder the burden of leading the team until a transfer-heavy group on offense assimilated to the offense under offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., Kiffin said.
That fact that Leavitt missed all of spring while recovering from foot surgery also played into Kiffin’s early reliance on the defense of defensive coordinator Blake Baker.
The Tigers rank in the top three nationally of three defensive categories: sacks (1st with 19), second in run defense at 47.5) and third in total defense at 226.8 yards).
“You put it together and here’s these two significant, unique players out for a long period of time if not out for the year,” Kiffin said of Spears and Weeks. “Guys have to step up and play. It was just a really unique defense. It had great physical and length. We had to practice against them. We had a chance to really win a lot of games as a defensive football team when things are taking a while to come on offense.
“When you build a team now it’s not like you were able to build 10-15 years ago,” Kiffin said. “You can’t build the depth. These injuries are more significant than they used to be because you don’t have the great players at the bottom of your roster that you used to be able to have when you could stockpile. What Georgia’s done in the last five years, that’s so unique, and you may never see those runs again because you can’t stockpile like that. When you have bad years of luck it’s going to be really challenging.”
NOTE
LSU freshman defensive lineman Deuce Geralds was named the SEC’s Defensive Freshman of the Week. The native of Suwanee, Ga. was responsible for five tackles and two sacks, helping the Tigers limit Texas A&M to a pair of field goals and 197 total yards.
