90-plus years of service
July 3, 2017
Robinson off to St. James
July 3, 2017
To be a starting quarterback in the SEC is hard.
To do so in a pressure cooker like LSU’s Tiger Stadium where the fans are starved for a quality player at the position, it’s even harder.
To play that high-stress position at that school while injured and unable to fully express publicly how much the injury is limiting your play on the field? That’s literally the worst.
But Danny Etling did it – last season to be exact.
Now healthy, the Tigers senior is ready to roar as a senior in 2017.
Etling underwent minor back surgery after spring practices to fix a problem which had been causing him pain for a while – a problem Etling said sometimes affected his ability to throw the football with proper mechanics and technique.
Now several months removed from the operation, Etling is medically cleared and back on the field – working to regain strength so that he can prove to LSU fans and college football pundits that he is the stabilizing force the Tigers have lacked at the position for several seasons.
Etling attended the Manning Passing Academy last week and told reporters about some of the hidden struggles he’d faced, while also expressing optimism for the future.
“I feel great,” Etling said. “I don’t think I’m all the way back to where I am going to be when 100 percent. But I feel great. I don’t have any pain. I’m cleared and I’m working hard to get stronger, get better and do what I need to do to have a great senior season with my team.”
Etling’s back doesn’t hurt now.
It did last year, though – from the first days of the season.
Etling said the issue was a lingering one and he doesn’t know exactly when he hurt himself originally.
The quarterback said the pain bothered him, but he didn’t want to sit out because the Tigers were putting in a new offense and he didn’t want to miss any reps.
In the lead up to the season opener last year at Wisconsin, former LSU coach Les Miles said Etling had a sore back, but would travel with the team and be available to play if called upon.
Etling didn’t play in the game, but did get thrust to duty the next week against Jacksonville State after Brandon Harris continued to struggle.
With a chance to shine, Etling never yielded his position, starting all of LSU’s remaining games, while leading the Tigers to a 9-3 record, which included a dominant bowl victory over Louisville.
Etling completed 160-of-269 passes for 2,123 yards as a junior. He had 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.
The Tigers’ quarterback ended the season on a high note, as well, tossing for 200-plus yards in three-straight games to end the season, including a 20-of-28 showing against Texas A&M, which also featured 324 yards and two touchdowns.
But the back pain never fully ceased and Etling concedes it affected him physically.
“In the game, you’re feeling good. You have things rolling through your body and there’s really no looking back,” he said. “But after the game, there was some pain. The day after the game, it was hard. And that spilled over into everything else. It affects your preparation, which affects the final result a lot of the time.”
Etling said after the season ended, he knew he’d likely need a procedure, but with new head coach Ed Orgeron and first-year offensive coordinator Matt Canada on board, he waited until after spring practice so that he could get as many reps in the new offense as possible.
Etling played in LSU’s spring game, but struggled – in part because he said he tweaked the back in the game.
A few days later, Etling finally had the surgery, which eliminated the problem for good.
He said as soon as the operation was done, he was relieved – in part because of how he felt once it took place.
“I felt great right away,” Etling said. “It’s really been no looking back since then.”
Now, Etling is hungry to go to work against opposing SEC defenses.
Etling said he thinks the 2017 Tigers can be special – a sentiment shared by many around the country.
With Etling back under center and all-everything halfback Derrius Guice toting the football in the backfield, the Tigers have explosiveness and big-play ability.
We said Etling was “under center.”
But reality is that in Canada’s new offense, he’s probably more accurately described as “behind center”, because it’s widely expected that LSU will heavily use the shotgun, pistol and other spread formations to try and unclog the middle of defenses – something Miles and former coordinator Cam Cameron couldn’t quite crack in the final few years of their tenure.
“We like Coach Canada,” Etling said. “He demands a lot and pays close attention to detail. But I think we had a good spring and I think we’re going to carry that into the fall and be ready for the season.”
Etling also knows that his position as starter is solid, but not all the way concrete, thanks to Blue Chip true freshmen Lowell Narcisse and Myles Brennan – both players who drew the praise of their elder for the desire to get better.
“They work hard,” Etling said. “They’re both talented kids and they have the work ethic. I think the future is bright here at the position.” •
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