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DBU tries to learn lesson from La. Tech game

LSU likes to proclaim itself DBU — Defensive Back U. — but the Tigers’ secondary went away with a little egg on its face last week.Giving up 330 yards passing to Louisiana Tech will do that to you.It also set off alarms, given that the Southeastern Conference’s best passing team, Ole Miss, is headed to Tiger Stadium on Saturday.The Rebels (3-1, 0-1 SEC), although they don’t scare you with a lot of defense, average an SEC-best 348 yards per game through the air and haven’t had any trouble scoring points — 42 per game.LSU head coach Ed Orgeron gave Louisiana Tech credit for a good scheme last week. But Ole Miss will bring what is widely regarded as the nation’s best trio of receivers — A.J. Brown, DaMarkus Lodge and D.K. Metcalf — for quarterback Jordan Ta’amu to choose from.“Ta’amu is a better drop-back passer than we’ve seen,” Orgeron warned, “and these (wide receivers) are first-round draft picks, legit. Probably the best set of receivers that we are going to see … and their tight end Dawson Knox gave us problems last year.”Orgeron said defensive coordinator Dave Aranda took last week’s humbling eye-opener personally and, even by his workaholic schedule, has been burning the late-night oil.“Dave is a man of few words,” Orgeron noted. “Obviously, he was not pleased and he is going to work hard and do better. I could see his demeanor today and I really liked it.“It is his defense and we are going to do what he wants to do … I totally trust Dave to do what he has to do. There are some technique and alignment things that we could do better and we are going to do that.”A thorough investigation didn’t absolve the secondary, but it did spread the blame.“Pass rush,” Orgeron explained, or the lack thereof.“We did not have a good pass rush and I am part of that (he often gets personally involved with the defensive line) so I’ll take the blame for that. We were not rushing the passer the way we should have.“We are going to get it fixed this week.”Fifth-ranked LSU (4-0, 1-0) also played almost two quarters without starting safety Grant Delpit, the secondary’s quarterback, but Orgeron said replacement Ed Paris played well, including a tipped interception.“Our coverage consisted of a lot of one-on-one coverage and we did not get it done,” Orgeron said. “We have to clean up what we’re doing. I think we started the game fast. We did not let them run the ball well but we gave up too much in the passing game.”LSU managed two sacks against Tech, but both came on the Bulldogs’ final drive with the outcome no longer in doubt.It was a different story when the Bulldogs were scoring 21 unanswered points to make it a 24-21 game early in the fourth quarter.“One time I counted it was 5 seconds the quarterback held the ball,” Orgeron said. “That’s on the rush, so we got to get better. A better combination or a better rush.“This is a total defensive effort. It can’t be just all on (the secondary). When you do get a rush and the ball has to get out of the quarterback’s hands in 2.5 seconds, that’s when there will be some short throws where we can come up and tackle him. We can’t give the quarterback that much time to throw the ball.”Orgeron said it’s not as simple as designating star cornerback Greedy Williams to do his flypaper routine on Brown, probably the best of the Rebels’ bunch.“But if you put one guy on him then you have trouble with the other guy in D.K Metcalf, who is probably just as good,” Orgeron said. “It is hard to double one guy because then you open up a can of worms with the other ones.“We’re going to have to mix things up, but it all starts with the pressure. We have to get pressure up front.”