BATON ROUGE – Bo Bordelon apologized for cussing.
It could have been a bit out of character for the LSU football junior offensive lineman, but it surely was evident from the phrasing he used when speaking to the media following the group’s fourth preseason practice Saturday that it has been ingrained from the offseason messaging.
And there is good purpose for it. Final 12 months, the Tigers had been useless final in speeding yards and speeding yards per sport within the Southeastern Conference: speak about one thing being out of character.
Performing that poorly was stunning for the offense, particularly with 4 eventual NFL Draft picks alongside the offensive line.
With Will Campbell, Emery Jones Jr., Miles Frazier and Garrett Dellinger out of the door, how can an virtually brand-new offensive line prime what the unit did a season in the past with that a lot expertise on it?
“We’re simply attempting to uphold our customary,” Bordelon mentioned Saturday. “The blokes who got here earlier than us set a really excessive customary and we need to exceed that. We had 4 guys get drafted final 12 months, that is actually exhausting to do and never lots of people can say that they’ve completed that. Operating the soccer, we have now made that an emphasis this 12 months. We’re seeking to execute higher on runs and simply do our job.
“Our job is to guard (LSU senior beginning quarterback Garrett Nussmeier) and run the rattling soccer. So that is what we’ll attempt to do.”
By 4 preseason practices, the identical 5 guys have been operating with the primary group in Tyree Adams at left sort out, D.J. Chester at left guard, Braelin Moore at middle, Josh Thompson at proper guard and Weston Davis at proper sort out. Chester is the one returning starter again and he performed middle in 2024, however Adams did get numerous enjoying time final season.
Adams talked concerning the addition of assistant coach Alex Atkins, who coaches tight ends and is LSU’s run sport coordinator, as a fruitful asset so far for the Tigers up entrance and one thing that would make a distinction of their desired run blocking enchancment.
“He is like an evil scientist,” Adams mentioned of Atkins. “He at all times has his little issues that he needs to place in or right and it really works. No matter works, works and that is all I am right here for.”
The mixture of Atkins and offensive line coach Brad Davis has change into fairly the teaching tandem. LSU’s offensive linemen have already seen a few of the implementation and techniques repay and the expectation hasn’t dipped for the offensive line, regardless of the general turnaround.
And the messaging has come by means of clearly.
“We’ve got to run the soccer. If we will not run the soccer and simply should depend on cross, it is probably not going to work. The emphasis this 12 months is basically operating the ball, operating downhill and you already know you’ll be able to’t cease it.”
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Each day Advertiser as a part of the USA TODAY Community. Observe his Tigers protection on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Received questions concerning LSU athletics? Ship them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.