Etling battles sore back

Published 7:23 pm Thursday, November 16, 2017

Maybe LSU head coach Ed Orgeron isn’t the best person to be entrusted with state secrets.

But the great mystery has been solved.

Quarterback Danny Etling had one of his best games as a Tiger against last week Arkansas, so it was puzzling when, for the first time all season, he did not come out for media interviews afterward.

He was, it was revealed, in the training room.

On Monday, while meeting with reporters, Etling was smiling, but coy with reporters when asked what had sent him to the training room.

“Yeah,” he said. “I already called Tennessee and told them where to hit me.”

On Wednesday — on the weekly Southeastern Conference coaches teleconference no less — Orgeron sang like a canary.

“He re-injured his back throwing the ball before the game,” Orgeron said of Etling. “He went through the game with some pain.”

Apparently, it’s no big deal as the Tigers (7-3, 4-2 SEC) prepare for their final road trip of the regular season to play Tennessee (4-6, 0-6) on Saturday.

“It got knotted up on him, that’s all it was,” Orgeron said. “Our trainer Jack Marucci took a look at it.

“He’s a lot healthier this week. He’s better. He’s fine.”

It didn’t seem to affect his performance last week.

Etling was an efficient 11 of 16 for 217 yards, including a pair of key touchdown passes of 45 and 68 yards to D.J. Chark.

The long connections came, Chark said, after he and Etling spent extra time during practice to work on timing after failing to hook up on several long throws the previous week against Alabama.

But Saturday was not the first time Etling has played in pain, Orgeron said.

“He’s one of the toughest guys on our team,” Orgeron said of Etling after the Arkansas game.

Etling had back surgery in late spring after it was revealed that he played most of last season with constant pain in his back due to nerve damage.

Etling said Monday the latest ailment was unrelated to that, and that he was in no danger of making it worse by playing.

“You know the difference between being injured and being hurt,” he said. “Hurting is not the same as being out and injured.

“I recognize that difference. I know my body. I feel a lot better than I did on Saturday. I’m going to be healthier than I was last week.”

{{tncms-inline content=”<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>KICK IN THE </strong></span><span class="s1">… LSU coach Ed Orgeron said he doesn’t know who his placekicker will be Saturday against Tennessee. The competition has been reopened between Connor Culp and Jack Gonsolin. “It’s competition all week,” he said. “We’ll pick a starter toward the end of the week.” Gonsolin began the season as the kicker but after some early struggles Culp took over and had made eight consecutive field goals heading into the Arkansas game. But he missed a short field goal attempt and back-to-back extra points. Gonsolin came on to kick the last two extra points. “Guys kicked well,” Orgeron said of Tuesday’s practice. “Connor kicked excellent, made all of his field goals. So did Jack. We’re looking at both of them.”</span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1"><strong>ROCKY ROAD TRIP:</strong></span><span class="s1"> LSU is doing the customary work this week in practice trying to simulate road-trip crowd noise for the offense, but Orgeron does draw the line. “I won’t play ‘Rocky Top,’” he said of the signature (and often annoying) tune heard in Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium that often gets played dozens of times throughout the course of a game. “We’ll get tired of hearing ‘Rocky Top.’ Good song. I enjoyed it while I was there (as an assistant coach).”</span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1"><strong>MORE THEFTS:</strong></span><span class="s1"> LSU has committed seven turnovers through 10 games, which is excellent. But the Tigers are only plus-3 in turnover margin because they’ve forced only 10 — eight interceptions and two fumble recoveries. “We’re not causing enough turnovers,” Orgeron said. “It’s something I’ve talked to (defensive coordinator) Dave Aranda about. It’s a mind-set. We have the athletes to do it. When you get to plus-12 and plus-13, that’s when you win a lot of games.”</span></p>” id=”b6176386-619c-4765-9c73-624392192e04″ style-type=”info” title=”LSU Tidbits ” type=”relcontent”}}

KICK IN THE … LSU coach Ed Orgeron said he doesn’t know who his placekicker will be Saturday against Tennessee. The competition has been reopened between Connor Culp and Jack Gonsolin. “It’s competition all week,” he said. “We’ll pick a starter toward the end of the week.” Gonsolin began the season as the kicker but after some early struggles Culp took over and had made eight consecutive field goals heading into the Arkansas game. But he missed a short field goal attempt and back-to-back extra points. Gonsolin came on to kick the last two extra points. “Guys kicked well,” Orgeron said of Tuesday’s practice. “Connor kicked excellent, made all of his field goals. So did Jack. We’re looking at both of them.”

ROCKY ROAD TRIP: LSU is doing the customary work this week in practice trying to simulate road-trip crowd noise for the offense, but Orgeron does draw the line. “I won’t play ‘Rocky Top,’” he said of the signature (and often annoying) tune heard in Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium that often gets played dozens of times throughout the course of a game. “We’ll get tired of hearing ‘Rocky Top.’ Good song. I enjoyed it while I was there (as an assistant coach).”

MORE THEFTS: LSU has committed seven turnovers through 10 games, which is excellent. But the Tigers are only plus-3 in turnover margin because they’ve forced only 10 — eight interceptions and two fumble recoveries. “We’re not causing enough turnovers,” Orgeron said. “It’s something I’ve talked to (defensive coordinator) Dave Aranda about. It’s a mind-set. We have the athletes to do it. When you get to plus-12 and plus-13, that’s when you win a lot of games.”

FILE PHOTO: Louisiana State University’s Danny Etling (16) looks down field as University of Arkansas T.J. Smith (52) reaches out while falling down during the annual Battle of the Golden Boot at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Saturday, November 11, 2017. 

AP Photo/Lake Charles American Press, Kirk Meche