ORLANDO – LSU (9-3, 6-2 SEC) will square off with Notre Dame (9-3) to claim the Overton Citrus Bowl trophy.
In the 2018 Citrus Bowl, the LSU Tigers play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Monday, January 1, 2018, at 01:00 p.m. ET Citrus Bowl today at Camping World Stadium. Both teams are a long way from home.
“We’ve had a matchup with them before and we know what to expect, one of the top teams in the country. I think it’ll make for great New Year’s Day football, and again, I think our fan base (and) LSU’s fan base will travel in force to see this matchup between two nationally ranked teams.”
Brian Kelly would reflect on its 2014 matchup with LSU in the Music City Bowl.
“Outstanding athletes, physicality up front — certainly LSU’s known for that — a great running back, and they’ve got another one now in (Derrius) Guice. They fit that profile of an SEC team with great skill on the back end, can play man, their front seven is outstanding. And offensively I think Matt Canada has done a nice job diversifying what they do offensively now and Dave Aranda is one of the best defensive coordinators. Ed’s got a great staff, he’s got great talent, and they’re playing really great football. It’s a different team from that 2014 team obviously, but the talent is still there.”
LSU head coach Ed Orgeron respects the Irish although the tigers are the favorite to win the Citrus Bowl.
“You have the utmost respect every time you play Notre Dame. It’s going to be a physical game, it’s going to be a war, but we’re looking forward to playing in it. I have a lot of guys that are excited, it’s a tremendous challenge, and with a tremendous challenge the guys are going to practice harder and practice better and we’re looking forward to the game.”
Orgeron went on to talk about the tigers motivation to play in the Citrus Bowl.
“Just tell our team we play Notre Dame, that’s the best motivation. Any time you play Notre Dame you have a lot of respect for who they are and what they do up there — the tradition, that alone is enough. We’ve been wanting to go to a great bowl, we feel like we’re going to a great bowl, our young men deserve time in Florida, and they’re looking forward to it. I think that anytime you go to a bowl there’s got to be a tremendous mix of working hard and being serious, but you also give them enough time to relax and have fun and enjoy the city. I think we had a great mix last year. Playing Lamar Jackson was a tremendous challenge, playing early in the day was a tremendous challenge, but we’re going to be ready. We have the blueprint we’re going to be ready, but this is a different challenge for us.”
Notre Dame will have it’s hands full when it comes to up front play as the tigers have one the strongest defensive lines in the country.
Notre Dame starting offensive tackle talked about how dominant the tigers defense has been all year and what the Irish will need to do to the tigers defense.
MIKE McGLINCHEY:
“Well, they’re obviously an extremely well coached and disciplined football team especially on the defensive front. They have playmakers all over the field, great defensive linemen, great linebackers, and they’ve had a lot of success and you can see it all over tape. They’re not going to try and trick you. They do a lot of things very well and they line up across from you and see if you can beat them. And that’s exciting for us, especially up front on the offensive line. We’re really excited for another challenge with another great defensive line that we’ve played this year, and very much looking forward to New Year’s Day.”
LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda had some words to offer about his defense and having line backer Devin White back in the line up.
“If we didn’t have Devin White, we couldn’t do three fourths of what we’re doing. When we rotate in and out of practice with our reps, you know, there’s freshman linebackers that go in, and it’s just — sometimes it’s like crickets, and there’s nothing being said, man. You know what I mean? There’s no talk. And we have to really work hard to get communication going. Devin’s the quarterback of the defense. He identifies formations. He’ll communicate tendencies. There’s checks that we have. He communicates those checks. There may be motion that takes that check off. All of that’s being done. And I think there was a time where there was such an overwhelming piece, that it was affecting some of his play at times and I think he’s overcome that. And so (he’s an) integral part, man. I go back to last year and I look at the role that Duke Riley played for us. I think Devin has taken on that role and exceeded that role.”
LSU and Notre Dame are both looking for their 10th win of the season today as they face off in the Overton Citrus Bowl at 1 p.m. on ESPN.
PHOTO CREDITS: Keith Forde and Citrus Bowl media
