BATON ROUGE — LSU coach Ed Orgeron is not planning a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with his players as Dallas quarterback Tony Romo did with teammates and then-girlfriend Jessica Simpson during an open week before a 2008 NFL playoff game.
But Orgeron is giving his team a few days off this week, as the No. 4 Tigers will be open Saturday after their grinding 19-3 win over No. 22 Mississippi State on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium and before playing No. 1 Alabama (8-0, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) on Nov. 3 here.
Romo and the Cowboys lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants, 21-17, after his mini-vacation, and he has never heard the end of it.
Orgeron saw a tired team — emotionally from a watershed, 36-16 upset of No. 2 Georgia last week and physically from eight straight weeks of football — do enough to win comfortably Saturday. But it wasn't easy and did not look beautiful.
LSU's offense was sluggish and struggled. It took four interceptions — two by safety Grant Delpit, one by safety John Battle and one by linebacker Michael Divinity Jr. that set up the game's only touchdown — and four field goals by Cole Tracy to win it.
"I know this was going to be tooth and nail," Orgeron said after his team was outgained 144 yards to 79 in the first half and 260 to 239 for the game. "We were tired. I knew it was going to be a fight. They were fired up, and we were flat. We couldn't run the ball in the middle. Those two defensive linemen are about as dominant players I've seen in a long time."
That would be Jeffery Simmons and Montez Sweat, who combined for 17 tackles with two for losses.
"They were all over the place," Orgeron said. "Obviously, Alabama's going to have a great defensive line. So we have to get better. Next week is about fixing us."
But first — Cabo? More like the LSU weight room.
"We need to get away from football," Orgeron said. "Get refreshed. We need to get in the weight room and get healthy. We'll get back to practice probably on Wednesday."
Alabama, which handled Tennessee by 58-21 for its 12th straight win in that series, will have an open week, too, as it will try to beat the Tigers for the eighth straight time.
Battle, a fifth-year senior who is 0-for-4 as a Tiger against the Tide, vows this year can be different because of Orgeron, who is just 0-2 against Alabama as LSU's head coach with a 10-0 loss in 2016 and 24-10 last year.
"I’ve been here for a while, and I can tell you the culture is completely different now," Battle said. "Coach Orgeron brought it in, and the guys have bought into it. The team morale is just extremely up right now versus the previous years. It’s going to be an exciting game.”
Unfortunately for LSU, it will be without one of its very best players for the first half against Alabama. Linebacker Devin White will have an open date and a half because he has to miss the first half of the Alabama game by NCAA rule because he was ejected in the fourth quarter against Mississippi State for a targeting, helmet hit to the head of quarterback Nick Fitzgerald.
White leads the Tigers with 76 tackles and is constantly, legally disrupting opposing offenses.
"We are going to fill the gap," said Battle, who had to miss a half of the Louisiana Tech for targeting during the Auburn game. "It is going to hurt us with Devin out, but we are going to be all right."
During the open week, Orgeron and staff may focus on reviewing how to tackle without leading with the head, which was why White drew the penalty. He is the third such LSU offender in the last seven games.
In addition to Battle and White, LSU also lost middle linebacker Jacob Phillips for the second half against Southeastern Louisiana after he was guilty of targeting in the first half against Southeastern. But Tech and Southeastern are not Alabama.
"You can't lead with your head," Orgeron said. "That's the rule."
Sophomore Patrick Queen will likely replace White.
"It's going to be a big challenge for him, but I think he is going to be ready for it," Battle said. "He's a kid that is extremely aggressive and is a great tackler."
LSU athletic director Joe Alleva has been in contact with the SEC office about the suspension of White, but he has no recourse and would need to contact the NCAA anyway instead of the SEC.
"It's an NCAA playing rule," SEC associate commissioner Herb Vincent, a former LSU associated athletic director, told the USA TODAY Network in a text Sunday. "And the NCAA does not have an appeal process."
Vincent also said he knew of no precedent where a targeting suspension is later lifted.
"I'm not aware of any targeting calls that have been reversed in the days after a game," he said.
Replays clearly showed White lowering his helmet before contact with Fitzgerald. The play was reviewed and confirmed.
"The call was the call," Orgeron said. "They reviewed it. They said it was definitely targeting. Devin's a really good football player. It's just a rule."
Orgeron was not going to let White's suspension bother him on this night, though. The Tigers won their seventh game Saturday with four regular season games to go after predictions of 6-6 and 7-5. They are alone in second in the SEC West at 4-1 after being picked to finish fifth at the SEC Media Days in July.
And the Tigers rose to No. 4 in both polls on Sunday with No. 2 Ohio State's 49-20 upset blowout loss to Purdue on Saturday night.
"We won the game. I'm not going to focus on it (White) yet," he said. "I'm happy. We're 7-1."
