Head coach Ed Orgeron give his thoughts on the team’s ninth win of the season.

After a less than memorable game against Arkansas, the No.7 LSU Tigers returned back home to Baton Rouge for Senior Night to take on the Rice Owls. Eighteen seniors played there last game in Tiger Stadium, including starting running back Nick Brossette.

Brossette said it was “an unreal moment” when referring to playing his last game in Tiger Stadium.

Rice came into this game 1-10 with their one win coming against the Prairie View Panthers. With Rice’s caliber of play this season, many expected LSU to remind the general public why they are still that team the beat three top ten ranked teams this season.

On the Tigers’ first possession, they marched down the field and scored in 12 plays. The defense played with the same energy, holding the Owl’s first possession to three plays for one yard.

This trend would continue throughout the game. With more than eight minutes left in the second quarter, LSU had 28 points on the board and the defense had allowed a grand total of 30 yards for Rice’s offense.

LSU’s head coach Ed Orgeron said he was impressed with his offense.

“I thought our offense did pretty well tonight,” Orgeron said. “I was pleased to see the play. Our offense got back on track.”

Rice did not find the end zone in the second half, but were able to muster a 51-yard field goal with less than two minutes left in the second quarter.

Something LSU’s head coach stressed this game was throwing the ball and throwing it deep. LSU quarterback Joe Burrow said that it was part of Orgeron’s game plan.

“Coach E came to me this morning and said to he wants to throw the heck out of the ball,” Burrow said.  

In part for Orgeron’s reasoning for throwing the ball so much was “getting the rhythm back.” Burrow played just about how anyone would expect against the Owl’s defense, throwing for more than 300 yards and two touchdowns.

The second half was more of the same for the LSU Tigers: the defense enforcing their will. Rice’s offense totaled less than a 200 yards of offense at the end of the game. LSU’s offense still found the end zone with ease just not at the high rate they did in the first half. LSU’s defense did let up for one touchdown, making the final score 42-10.

After the sluggish performance at Arkansas and the win tonight, Orgeron said LSU’s got back on track and found their identity, but he said it in the most concise, direct way possible: “Run the ball. Deep passes. I think we did a good job of that. Protect the quarterback.”

Now at 9-2, Tiger fans have to start thinking about their probability of making the College Football Playoffs. Though LSU dominated this game from the beginning to end and will most likely win against the Aggies next week, winning out the rest of their schedule will not be enough to move them into the College Football Playoffs.

Essentially, they do not control their destiny; their resume is more than worthy of being top four in any other season, but the teams ahead of them are undefeated and Michigan with one loss. A lot of pieces will have to move and the probability of that happening, with so little time, is slim to none.

It is more likely that we will see the LSU Tigers in the New Year’s Six bowl.

Video: Fanatics View