LSU OL Josh Dworacyzk hopes to rebound from Auburn game
LSU center P.J. Lonergan (64), and offensive guards La'El Collins (70) and Josh Dworaczyk (68) prepare to block for quarterback Zach Mettenberger against Washington on Sept. 8.
The Auburn game was a tough one for No. 3-ranked LSU, and no tougher for any Tiger than left tackle Josh Dworaczyk.
The sixth-year senior gave up a pair of sacks, the first one by defensive end Corey Lemonier led to a Zach Mettenberger fumble that led to Auburn’s only touchdown in LSU’s tense 12-10 win.
One potential change that has been bandied about is moving starting left guard La’El Collins, a highly recruited left tackle at Redemptorist, to left tackle and shifting Dworaczyk back inside to guard, where he also has sigificant playing time.
LSU coach Les Miles said more than once at his Monday media luncheon that he has no plans to shake up his team’s starting front five.
Dworaczyk said the first sack, on which he took Lemonier down but not out of the play, was poor technique on his part.
“Coach Stud (offensive coordinator Greg Studrawa) talks about waiting until you see the whites of their eyes,” Dworaczyk said. “Maybe I cut too early and could have set it up better. It was all on me.”
Later in the game, LSU put in backs like Jeremy Hill to help Dworaczyk off the edge.
“That’s another part of our pass protection,” Dworaczyk said. “That definitely slows down a speed rush. Going forward, we’re definitely looking to doing that again.”
Copeland: I had the ball
Add another entry on the list of questionable calls against LSU when it plays at Auburn.
LSU fullback J.C. Copeland claims he had possession of the ball after the botched center-quarterback exchange between Elliott Porter and Mettenberger on LSU’s first drive last Saturday, but said as he got up an Auburn player swiped it and was awarded possession.
The recovery was credited to defensive tackle Jeffrey Whitaker at the Auburn 2.
“I was on top of it and everyone could see me on top of it,” Copeland said. “I get up and one of the Auburn players said he got it.
“They (the referees) just said, ‘Auburn ball.’ ”
“We definitely had the ball in that situation,” Mettenberger said. “He (Copeland) was on top of it and my arm was around it. The Auburn defender kind of ripped out between both of us as he was getting up. It was a really unfortunate situation.”
Before the game, Auburn players spoke unhappily about comments attributed to Copeland from last December about how he thought Auburn’s defense played soft in losing 45-10 to LSU in Tiger Stadium.
Copeland said he didn’t get any jawing or cheap shots from Auburn players.
“Their whole defense played well,” Copeland said. “They gave us everything we could ask for. They’re a good team.”
Still, he didn’t think much of players resorting to bulletin board material to fire themselves up.
“I feel you shouldn’t need another man’s words to make you play great,” Copeland said. “We’re in the SEC. You’re supposed to bring your best game no matter what. I don’t think that had anything to do with the game at all.”
LSU-Florida on CBS
CBS picked up the option Monday on LSU’s Oct. 6 game at Florida, the Tigers’ first appearance on the network this season.
Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CDT at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville.
The Gators (4-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) are ranked No. 11 and idle this week after a 38-0 win over Kentucky last Saturday. LSU hosts Towson this Saturday in a 6 p.m. game on ESPNU.
CBS picked LSU over a huge SEC East showdown between No. 5 Georgia and No. 6 South Carolina. That game fell to ESPN, which will show that contest in its 6 p.m. CDT slot.
The rest of the SEC TV schedule for Oct. 6 includes Arkansas at Auburn (11 a.m., ESPN or ESPN2), Mississippi State at Kentucky (11:21 a.m., SEC Network), Texas A&M at Ole Miss (6 p.m., ESPNU), and Vanderbilt at Missouri (6 p.m., FSN).
Tracking Towson
The Towson Tigers come into Tiger Stadium on Saturday with a 2-1 record after hammering St. Francis (Pa.) last Saturday 46-17.
Towson, which is also 1-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association, is No. 12 in The Sports Network FCS poll.
SEC tabs Sonic Sam
LSU defensive end Sam Montgomery was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday for his performance against Auburn.
Montgomery, whose nickname is “Sonic,” had four tackles (3.5 for minus-14 yards in losses) including a first-quarter safety on Auburn’s Tre Mason.
For the season, Montgomery has 11 tackles with a team-high six for losses.
Video showed that Kevin Minter may have had as much to do with Mason’s safety as Montgomery, but the Tigers middle linebacker wasn’t complaining.
“I’m not going to be greedy,” Minter said. “I’m going to give it to him.”