LSU sophomore running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire is with the Tigers in Arizona one week after he and walk-on linebacker Jared Small were involved in a fatal shooting in Baton Rouge. Authorities have ruled the shooting justified and Coach Ed Orgeron gave his comments on the situation.
“It’s a legal matter that’s been taken care of,” said Orgeron. “Clyde and Jared are two of the best young men on our football team. We believe in Clyde and Jared and we support them totally.”
Defensive back Kary Vincent Junior is also with the team, despite the death of his father, Kary Vincent Senior, who died at the age of 49 after a months-long battle with pneumonia. Orgeron says the team is getting through these tough times, because of good character.
“We support each other, one team one heart beat, we’ve been through adversity before, we know how to handle adversity, obviously these are extreme situations, but it seems like the team is handling it very well.”
LSU is missing several players on defense. Greedy Williams and Ed Alexander are skipping the bowl game to get ready for the NFL draft. Defensive lineman Breiden Fehoko is injured and cornerback Kelvin Joseph is suspended. So the Tigers might have to rely heavily on their offense to beat U-C-F. Orgeron says they put in a few new wrinkles on offense.
“We worked hard on our pass protection, things that we needed to improve, worked hard on our passing game, quick controlled passing game and continued to expound on our run game.”
LSU faces UCF at noon on New Year’s Day.
