Ed Orgeron on how the connection between Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase developed

On3 imageby:Steve Samra01/15/22

SamraSource

Ed Orgeron watched as Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase cultivated one of the best relationships between a quarterback and wide receiver that college football ever saw. Now, the former LSU duo is translating their success to the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals.

However, it didn’t happen overnight. In an appearance on Postseason NFL Countdown, Orgeron detailed the origins of the duo’s connection.

“I think Joe had to earn his way here at LSU. He came here to compete and he was the fourth string quarterback,” stated Orgeron. “Won the team over with his toughness. With his grit.

“Ja’Marr Chase was just an excellent football player with an excellent work ethic when he came here. Those two guys hooked up and they were unstoppable.”

Moreover, the former LSU coach revealed Burrow and Chase were proving to be leaders in ways formerly unheard-of to Orgeron.

“The will to be great,” Orgeron responded, as Randy Moss asked what set them apart. “When they came here, those guys did things that we’ve never seen.

“It was a Saturday morning, we’re having a recruiting weekend, and my recruiting person asked me if they could go watch the team — if she can bring the recruits to watch the team practice. I said we don’t have a practice. She said oh yeah, the whole team’s practicing Saturday morning by themselves. They worked together. In the summer before the championship games, Mickey Jones – who did a great job in recruiting Ja’Marr Chase – had those guys catch each ten-thousand balls in the summer with Joe [Burrow]. You’ll know it — Thaddeus [Moss] had to do it.

“I think that’s where they got the connection. That’s where they knew the ins and outs. The positives of each player.”

Finally, Ed Orgeron filled in the blanks of Burrow and Chase’s origin story.

Orgeron: ‘Here’s where I think the turnaround happened.’

Furthermore, Burrow wasn’t always regarded as the savior of LSU. However, one moment sticks out in Orgeron’s mind as the moment things changed for the Tigers legend.

“Here’s where I think the turnaround happened. We’re playing in the Fiesta Bowl – New Year’s Day Bowl, big Bowl for LSU – we’re playing UCF. They’re won a bunch of games in a row. Joe Burrow gets hit. It’s a blindside hit. I call timeout, I want a targeting penalty. And I said hey, get the second-strong quarterback – Myles Brennan – ready. And Joe gets up and he used a couple of words that I’m not going to say on TV,” stated Orgeron. “He said that ain’t happening. And we went down to score for the next three series.

“That became his football team. Gave his team confidence in his toughness and ability to lead the team.”

In the end, Burrow led the Tigers to a 40-32 victory over UCF in the aforementioned Fiesta Bowl. The star quarterback passed for 394 yards and four touchdowns. It was the beginning of something special.