’TJ nudged Max just a little’ - Orgeron confirms Ponchatoula’s Finley will start at QB against South Carolina

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - LSU head coach Ed Orgeron met with sports journalists following practice on Thursday, Oct. 22, and confirmed the report from Garland Gillen with WVUE that TJ Finley will start for the Tigers at quarterback against South Carolina.

Orgeron called it a very close race and said he wishes he could start both quarterbacks.

“It was a very close battle, but at the end, we felt that TJ nudged Max just a little,” said Orgeron.

Coach O added the team is behind both young men and the intention is still to play both guys against the Gamecocks.

Orgeron talking about Finley’s improvement to put himself in this position.

“He lost some weight; he must have lost, I guess, about 20 pounds, maybe more. He’s gotten in great shape. TJ is a hard worker. He’s very cerebral, always studying football. He’s always had a cannon for an arm. It was more or less putting a little touch and more or less reading the defense. And the accuracy, I think he’s come a long way. Now, live bullets are going to be flying Saturday. They going to come after him. Let’s find out. But I do believe he’ll do well," Orgeron explained.

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The 6-foot-6, 242-pound true freshman from Ponchatoula was the top quarterback in the state of Louisiana coming out of high school in 2019. The three-star pro-style quarterback accounted for 72 touchdowns (58 passing, 14 rushing) during his prep career.

During his senior season, Finley completed a career-high 168 passes for 2,738 yards and 21 touchdowns. He also ran for eight touchdowns.

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