2 days Ago
LSU offensive lineman Will Campbell (66) stands in the tunnel before the game against Arkansas on Saturday, October 19, 2024 at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Until last weekend, Will Campbell had never lost three straight games in his life, not even when this now 6-foot-6, 323-pound left tackle was a pee wee quarterback.
He is not used to losing as much as LSU has over the past month, and his frustration came through when he spoke to reporters Tuesday night. “No matter whose feelings get hurt or whatever it may be, we have to figure it out,” Campbell said. “And we're the only people that can.
” LSU has lost three straight games for only the third time this century before it plays Saturday against Vanderbilt , and the players met earlier this week as they try to salvage what’s left of their season. Tight end Mason Taylor said senior running back Josh Williams, senior linebacker Greg Penn and redshirt junior quarterback Garrett Nussmeier called the meeting to "reset" with two games left in the regular season. Campbell spoke further about the meeting, LSU’s issues running the football, problems scoring in the red zone and why it still matters to him to end the year strong.
“We have to finish games, and that's something that we haven't done," Campbell said. "And it's not a coaching problem. It's not a scheme.
It's none of that. It's us. We have to be able to do the little things right, and when you don't, you don't deserve to win, quite frankly.
" Here are the highlights of his interview. What do you feel like the mood of this team is, and how are you trying to correct things? We’re eager to win. Nobody around here, whether that’s people in the building or people outside the building, wants to lose.
We have a good opportunity this week. We’ve got to come out and play our style of football for four quarters and get this stain off of us. Where do you think the issues in the run game have come from this season? LSU ranks 114th in the country and last in the Southeastern Conference in rushing at 113.
9 yards per game. Lack of communication upfront between the five guys. We’re given the looks.
It’s just something that we have to handle in the game. The coaches have put us in the right positions. It’s up to us now.
Why has that disconnect lasted so long? At the end of the day, that’s football. A lot goes on. We’ve got two opportunities this season to fix it, and that’s something we intend on doing.
How do you keep your head up and lead? If you don’t win a championship here, it’s a failure. And I agree with that. But we still have a lot to play for.
I mean, 6-6 is a lot worse than 8-4, so we have to go win two more games. Everybody else can doubt us. But we know what we have to do to finish this year the right way and get into a good bowl game.
That’s the bottom line. There was a players-only meeting earlier this week. What was the purpose, and how did it go? We got up and talked in front of the team.
We talked in front of the offense. We had a unit meeting with the coaches. We're just talking things out, trying to get everybody on the same page because we have to have all 11 guys clicking as one to make this thing go.
We've been in this situation to win a lot of games, but at the end of the day, we have to finish. That's the thing. When you go back and look, not a lot of people pay attention to that, but we've led going into the fourth quarter out of three of the four losses that we have.
We have to finish games, and that's something that we haven't done. And it's not a coaching problem. It's not a scheme.
It's none of that. It's us. We have to be able to do the little things right, and when you don't, you don't deserve to win, quite frankly.
I think against Florida, we had 13 negative plays. Whether that's penalties, missed assignments, whatever you might call it. You don't deserve to win an SEC football game on the road in a hostile environment against a good football team with a good coaching staff.
This isn't high school football. If we want to win, we have to do the little things right for four straight quarters. How have you tried to get everybody on this team on the same page and communicate what you're feeling? This isn't just me.
You work from January to win. We lost to A&M and had a bye week, so we're going on our fifth week and it feels like we've got a cloud over our head that we have to remove ourselves. It's nothing that anybody on Twitter can say that's going to make it any better or whatever everybody's narrative wants to be.
It's on us, and it has been since the day we got here. At the end of the day, that's what we got to do. I'm not happy.
Nobody in this building is happy. This is people's livelihood that you're playing with here. At the end of the day, it's our job — the people in this building — to get everybody on the same page and get everybody rolling in the same direction and go get a win this weekend.
You were part of a team last year that was really good in the red zone. What do you think the difference has been this season? LSU was ninth nationally in red zone touchdown percentage (75.4%) last year.
It has dropped to 76th by scoring touchdowns 60% of the time. Even though the Tigers are Nothing. We have playmakers here, just like we did last year.
Garrett's a great quarterback, Jayden's a great quarterback. Kyren's a great receiver, Malik was a great receiver. At the end of the day, everything boils down to consistency and details.
At some points of the game, we won't have that. It's not scheme. It's not coaches.
Our coaches put us in the best possible positions to win a football game. We have to do it. Like I said multiple times, it's on us to do that.
And that's something we have to do and that's something that we're doubling down on, is the consistency and the consistent application of our process...
because it works. It worked last year. It worked the year before.
It worked for 30 years on Coach Kelly's journey, and every other coach that coached under him does parts of it, too. It's up to us to go and make this happen. Nobody else can do it.
They put us in the position, but at the end of the day, nobody's on that field with us. None of y'all, no fan, no student, no coach, except the players that walk out there. Campbell pounded his chest three times.
Look in the mirror. We've got to go handle the business..
