As usual, LSU has the athletes. The key question ia, as it is for all teams in the country, will the quarterback come through.
Jordan Jefferson has been erratic throughout his career. He only threw for four touchdowns last year against nine interceptions. He’s an outstanding runner which coaches like these days. But can he throw the ball downfield? His Spring game was OK. Made some good throws early. Todd Blackledge of ESPN, who was doing the color for the game, said he liked Jefferson’s confidence after talking to him prior to the spring game. Blackledge said he thought this was a different Jefferson and that he had had a good spring. It just didn’t really translate into the game. He has the build at 6’5″, 224 and the athletic ability; he has a strong arm and great mobility. But does he have the head to get it done? That’s the question I have on him. The other guys behind him, Jarrett Lee and Zach Mettenberger, are, according to Les Miles, clearly behind him. Lee looks pretty erratic still, but Mettenberger, who was dismissed from Georgia after last spring for an assault offense and underage drinking in a bar, looks potentially very good. He spent last fall as the quarterback at Butler Community College in Kansas, and threw for 2,678 yards and 32 touchdowns. He’s 6’5″, 250, not real mobile, but he has a cannon. He looks like the most talented to me of the three, but Miles probably thinks Jefferson is a lot further along with the program and should be the starter. I would still watch the competition very closely in the summer because Mettenberger is highly talented.
Running back looks pretty good, not great. They lost Stevan Ridley and his 1,147 yards and 15 touchdowns. Ridley decided to go pro early. Sophomore Spencer Ware stood out to me. He ran for two touchdowns in the game and caught a nice long pass down the sidelines. Blackledge pointed out that LSU needed more explosive plays this year; plays of 20 or more yards. They were 77th in the country and 10th in the SEC last year in that category. Blackledge noted how hard it is to execute 15-20 play drives in the SEC because the defenses are so good so you have to have explosive plays. They need to get the ball in wide receiver Russell Shepard’s hands. He looks like he’s capable of making explosive plays. Shepard was a five star recruit out of Texas and is a burner on the edges. They need to get Shepard in the open field so he can make things happen. Reuben Randle is another wr they need to step up. Jarrett Fobbs looks like he could be a player on the edges. Alfred Blue is another running back who could be good along with youngsters who didn’t play in the game, Kenny Hilliard, a freshman, and Michael Ford. Tabari Williams is another. There are a stable full of athletes at the skilled positions.
Line looks fine. Didn’t notice much about them. Look big and strong. Very physical group as always at LSU.
Defense lost three big time players who are going pro. Patrick Peterson won the Bednarik Award for best defender in college football last year. He also won the Thorpe Award for best defensive back in the country. He had four interceptions, 42 tackles and six pass breakups along with great work on special teams. The LSU defense was in the top 12 in the country in three categories: scoring, pass and total defense. Linebacker Kelvin Sheppard had 116 tackles, 46 solo, 11 tackles for loss and four sacks. Defensive tackle Drake Nevis was dominant. He had 13 tackles for loss and six sacks to go along with 56 tackles. He was an All American. All of them have left for the NFL.
The guys the LSU coaches are counting on to step up this year are defensive end Barkevious Mingo (6’5″237, soph.), defensive tackle Bennie Logan (6’3″, 280, soph.), linebacker Kevin Minter (6’1″, 225, soph.), cornerback Ron Brooks (6’0″, 179 Sr.), cornerback Tyrann Mathieu (5’9″, 180, soph.) and safety Eric Reid (6’2″, 207, soph.). All of these guys are excellent football players. Mingo, Logan and Minter were held out of the Spring game, but the defensive backs were very good in the game. That is the number one strength of this team: the secondary. Mathieu had a huge bowl game against Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl and he looks like he could be as dominant a player as Peterson was. Think he had a couple of interceptions in the Cotton Bowl. Going to be an All American this year. An interesting stat on the defense was that last year in third and seven situations are longer, opposing teams converted only 18% of those plays. That was tops in the SEC and 12th in the country. Looks like they have the talent to put up those numbers again.
Kicker Drew Alleman was decent. I don’t think he’s as good as Josh Jasper was, but he’ll be fine.
The key is quarterback. Can Jefferson step up and have a good senior year. That and Miles’ decision making will be key factors. Miles has had serious issues with the two minute offense in the last couple years. He seems to bungle those situations. But he’s also run some trick plays that have won games for his team. He’s a tough one to figure out. I have always wondered if Miles is good or just lucky. I think more of the latter, but he was 11-2 last year with a victory in the Cotton Bowl and he can really recruit. There are 67 players on the roster from Louisiana. It’s a state that is loaded with talent. There are 17 more from the ultra talented state of Texas. Baton Rouge is a recruiting mecca and Miles has taken advantage of it. The players seem to like him. He just seems a little goofy to me. He’s pretty humorous with the “Wolf” during CBS telecasts, so that’s always fun to watch. I do like him overall.
The schedule is demanding. The Bengal Tigers open with Oregon on Sat., Sept 3, at 7 p.m. on ABC. That’s a major challenge. Then after a gimme against Northwestern State at Baton Rouge, they go to State and then to West Virginia. Home games against Kentucky and Florida then at UT, home against Auburn, at Tuscaloosa, home against Western Kentucky, at Ole Miss and home against Arkansas.
The defense gave up some big plays that lost games last year. The 70 yard run by Auburn’s Onterio McCalebb and two long pass plays by Arkansas were the led to the only two defeats on the season. But last season was good for LSU overall. I see a 9-3 possibly 10-2 season with a chance to make it to Atlanta. Jefferson has to step up, that’s for sure. There are athletes on offense around him and the defense should be very good.
They also have a new offensive coordinator in Steve Kragthorpe, who takes over from Gary Crowton. Crowton left for the Maryland OC job. Kragthorpe specializes in quarterbacks, so maybe he can have Jefferson playing good ball.
LSU needs to make explosive plays this year on offense and prevent big plays on defense. The talent is there if they can get good play from Jefferson or Mettenberger, if he beats him out this summer. It’ll most likely be Jefferson, so it’ll be up to him.
(Jordan Jefferson must deliver this year if LSU wants to make it to Atlanta.)
Tomorrow: Mississippi State