Spring practices will decide LSU QB

It’s been the source of countless migraines for LSU coach Les Miles in the past three seasons.

For the Tigers’ massive fan base, it’s been just as painful, as the purple and gold-clad fans hold their breath with every third and long situation.

The “it” is quarterback play – or lack thereof – as the Tigers threw for just nine touchdown passes last year and ranked near the bottom in virtually every passing statistical category in the Southeastern Conference.

But despite the anemic 2010 numbers, Miles said he believes the Tigers have not one, not two, but rather three options to turn to as the team heads into spring practices, which kicked off this week.

“Offensively I think that there will be great competition at the quarterback spot,” Miles said. “The competition will be a fair one and one that we’ll look forward to seeing how our team comes out and is best.”

The first quarterback in the Tigers’ signal calling merry-go-round is two-year returning starter, senior Jordan Jefferson.

Jefferson has been both the toast of the town and also the source of all of the agony in his two seasons at the helm, flashing both greatness and poor play.

But Jefferson’s 2010 season ended on a solid note in the team’s 41-24 Cotton Bowl victory against Texas A&M, as he tossed for three touchdowns and rushed for one more.

Miles said Jefferson has had a solid offseason and appears ready to carry on that success in his final campaign.

“I think Jordan Jefferson has had as fine a coaching session as I’ve seen,” Miles said. “He’s in the best shape that I’ve seen him in, and I think his attention to detail and his want to be a great quarterback appears to me to be there.”

If Jefferson isn’t able to step up to the plate, fan darling and sophomore transfer Zach Mettenberger might be able to fit the bill.

The former Georgia signal caller tossed for 32 touchdowns and just four interceptions a year ago at Butler Community College after being dismissed from the Bulldogs’ program last summer.

With a fresh start and a massive 6-foot-5-inch, 250-pound frame, many LSU fans want Mettenberger to be LSU’s man this fall.

Miles isn’t quite there just yet, but he admits there’s plenty of reason for excitement in the new kid on the block.

“He’s done a great job in the coaching sessions, and he’s really competing. We think he’s going to be a fast learner,” Miles said. “He’ll pick it up pretty quickly. I haven’t seen him throw it, but our guys that have gone out there and thrown it with him have really enjoyed catching his balls. His abilities, even coming out of junior college, are pretty significant.”

If Jefferson and Mettenberger can’t put points on the board, then there’s still senior Jarrett Lee, who pushed the Tigers to a few comeback wins last season in a reserve capacity.

With increased competition at the position, Miles said Lee has made it clear through his work patterns that he wants to play in 2011.

“He’s in the best shape of his life,” Miles said. “It’s an interesting thing. You have to give a guy his obvious changes, but his body is in better shape than it’s been, and he’s worked hard. He’s deserving of every opportunity.”

Regardless of the Tigers’ quarterback, LSU figures to be loaded in the new season with 15 returning starters off an 11-2 team last season.

Many experts pick the Tigers to open the new season in the Top 5 of the national polls with some analysts, like CBS Sports, having LSU as high as No. 1.

For that prognostication to become reality, Miles said his team knows it starts in the spring, continuing a winning tradition among the program’s veterans – while also instilling that work ethic into the team’s youthful players.

“The point is to improve this team and to really focus on the specifics that can be repeated and repeated and repeated to give them an advantage in coaching and in repetition,” Miles said. “We want to bring a young team, those guys that are young, into doing those things that we will count on seeing them do all fall long and to really focus on not necessarily the wrinkles but the bread and butter. I think that’s the call for the spring.”

Then again, a little bit of increased production at quarterback won’t hurt, either – no matter which of the team’s three signal callers starts the season as LSU’s starter.

That would ease every headache Miles and the LSU faithful have had since the graduation of national champion Matt Flynn.