LSU loaded with returnees in 2015

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LSU had no shot to win the College Football Playoff in 2014. By the midway point in the season, the Tigers were straddled with losses and were not part of the title picture – a rarity for the team under Les Miles.

But those 2014 Tigers were a young bunch – a group with freshmen and sophomores playing all over the field on both sides of the ball.


The 2015 Tigers are older, stronger and more experienced. This group thinks that it won’t repeat the mistakes of the past. It believes it will play high-stakes games in the final weeks of the season to avenge last season’s 8-5 record.

Hopes are high around the LSU Practice Facility as the start to the college football season draws near. LSU will start the season No. 13 in the USA Today Coaches Poll – a number that Miles said could be even higher as the season progresses, assuming that the Tigers can withstand the pressures that come with playing in a loaded Southeastern Conference that is full of teams in the Top 25.

“Eight wins is certainly not enough,” Miles said at SEC Media Days. “We played some really good ball clubs in that eight-win season, and we played them very close. But our goal is the playoffs. Our goal is the SEC Championship. We’re shy of our goals, and we want more. The things that we’ve done (this offseason) make me think we’re in really good shape.”


The Tigers have just about everything back on offense – for better or worse.

LSU’s offense struggled mightily in 2014, and was one of the worse in college football among Top 25 teams. The Tigers scored 27.6 points per game, but were just No. 116 in the country in passing yards, accumulating 162.9 yards per game.

But with eight starters back, Miles ‘promised’ fans that improvement will be made.


Both quarterback Anthony Jennings and Brandon Harris are back – guys who struggled in 2014, but who have made improvements in the summer, according to Miles. The coach said definitively that LSU will get better quarterback play this fall.

The truth is that it can’t be much worse.

Jennings and Harris combined to complete just 50 percent of their passes last season.


“I think we’re nothing but improved at the quarterback spot,” Miles said.

Perhaps the recipe to make LSU’s quarterbacks better is to not rely on them as much, and the Tigers have a slew of other returnees who can maybe make that a reality.

The biggest name that’s back is sophomore halfback Leonard Fournette – a guy who rushed for more than 1,000 yards as a true freshman last season.


Fournette’s name has been mentioned in preseason discussions for the Heisman Trophy, and LSU players and coaches believe that he’s looked great in summer camp.

Fournette, who won every award possible at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans, said he’s not worried about any individual trophy. He wants the one goal that’s eluded him throughout his career – a championship.

“I’m not focused on the Heisman,” Fournette said. “At the end of the day, the National Championship wins the (Heisman Trophy) for the team. That’s my main goal.”


If teams do bottle the run, LSU returns its entire receiving cast, a group led by Travin Dural, John Diarse and Malachi Dupre. Tigers fans are also excited about sophomore slot man Trey Quinn and 2015 signee Tyron Johnson.

On the offensive line, LSU also figures to be loaded with Vadal Alexander, Ethan Pocic and Jerald Hawkins returning in the trenches.

Alexander said the offensive line has accepted the challenge of being a backbone on the team – a group that makes things easier for the Tigers quarterbacks and skill players.


“We have a lot of talent,” Alexander said. “A lot of guys who are willing to work and do great things. I think we will be OK.”

Defensively, the Tigers have a new boss, but a lot of the same players off last year’s group that was one of the best in the country.

LSU hired Kevin Steele to be the team’s new defensive coordinator after longtime coordinator John Chavis left to take the same job at Texas A&M. Steele was an assistant coach at Alabama last season. He and Larose native and fellow first-year LSU coach Ed Orgeron have delivered spice to the Tigers’ defensive group, which returns six starters, including linebacker Kendall Beckwith and defensive linemen Davon Godchaux and Christian LaCouture.


“We’ve adjusted well to Coach Steele,” Beckwith said. “We’ve been doing a great job working with him and really just working with each other. … (Steele) motivates us and really gets us going early on in practice. It’s been great.”

While Beckwith anchors the LSU front seven, junior defensive back Tre’Davious White will be the man in charge of the Tigers’ secondary. As-always, LSU is loaded in the defensive back line with White, Jamal Adams, Jalen Mills and Rickey Jefferson all back. Also sprinkled into the mix will be freshmen Ed Paris and Donte Jackson – a pair of five-star recruits the team signed this past offseason.

“We have a lot of energy, and very bright guys in our secondary,” Miles said. “That’s a pretty talented secondary group.”


But even with all of that talent, the Tigers will have to overcome a tough schedule.

In September alone, LSU will travel to Mississippi State and Syracuse, while hosting Auburn. To close the season, LSU has dates with Alabama, Arkansas, Ole Miss and Texas A&M on consecutive weeks – all teams expected to contend for the league title.

It won’t be easy, but the Tigers think they have the mix this year to make it happen.


We’ve been working hard and really pushing each other and motivating each other,” Beckwith said. “We’re just trying to put everything together, and I think we’ll do a great job of preparing and getting ourselves ready to play.”

 

COURTESY PHOTO