Ed Orgeron definitely helped his job status on Saturday with the huge win over Auburn in Death Valley.
A few weeks ago, LSU head coach Ed Orgeron was all but a dead man walking in Baton Rouge. His Tigers team had just been upset at home during homecoming weekend by the Troy Trojans of the Sun Belt, which is very much unacceptable. To many at that point, Orgeron would never save the job he was awarded last year following the firing of Les Miles.
Well, especially when it comes to college football, never say never. Saturday afternoon at Death Valley, Orgeron very well may have saved his job … at least for the time being.
One week after they went on the road to knock off the Florida Gators of the SEC East, Orgeron and his team had the tough task of welcoming in the No. 10 Auburn Tigers, considered the definitive second-best team in the conference by most up until this point. Early on it appeared as if Coach O was in for another embarrassment, as Auburn steamrolled to a 17-0 first quarter lead. But he was ultimately able to help guide his team to the amazing come-from-behind 27-23 win over the Tigers.
Absolutely, the question for everyone coming out of that victory pertains to whether or not this win was big enough for Orgeron to save his job. Well, the answer is yes … for now.
There’s no doubt whatsoever that this win on Saturday puts Orgeron back in the good graces of the administration and most of the fanbase (can’t always please them all). But the fact remains there are still five games on the schedule the rest of the way, and we know attention spans can be short when it comes to college football for both administrations and fanbases.
So what does Orgeron have to do to keep the good standing he earned on Saturday? Basically, just avoid any sort of head-scratching speedbumps — such as losing to Ole Miss, Arkansas or Tennessee — and don’t get embarrassed by Alabama on Nov. 4. Sure, the last point there is asking a bit much, but as the coach of the LSU Tigers, that’s what’s expected. He just needs to show that this LSU team which looked rather shaky to start the season is progressing in the right direction, giving hope for a much better overall 2018.
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Or, who knows, maybe they run the table including knocking off Alabama in Tuscaloosa and everyone’s favorite lovable coach makes everyone eat some crow.