It doesn't come as a surprise, as coach Ed Orgeron has been hinting about it for a couple of weeks now, but Arden Key will not play in LSU's opener against BYU. Orgeron made it official Monday.
Orgeron said that Ray Thornton, Andre Anthony or K'Lavon Chaisson could start in his place. All three are freshmen.
As for Key, no matter who starts for him, he's not easy to replace. Key set a single-season sack record at LSU last year with 12 while also finishing with 14.5 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles. He had shoulder surgery during the offseason, but had hoped to be back in time for the season.
Orgeron expressed doubts about whether or not Key would be available for the BYU game earlier this month because, while Key had participated a bit in practice, he had yet to do any hitting.
Of course, while we know Key won't be playing for LSU this weekend, we still don't know where LSU and BYU will be playing. With Hurricane Harvey making life miserable in Texas, the game will not be played at Houston's NRG Stadium as originally scheduled.
