Roberta Mott
May 4, 2018
TIME TO BRAG
May 4, 2018
If Saturday night’s spring football game was a clue as to how things will look in the 2018 football season, guess what?
LSU will throw the football – a lot.
The Tigers showcased their new offense on Saturday at their spring game and the results were pleasing to a fan-base which has craved offense and explosive plays for the past several years.
The Tigers combined for more than 500 passing yards and all three quarterbacks – Lowell Narcisse, Myles Brennan and Justin McMillan had a touchdown in the game.
LSU coach and Larose native Ed Orgeron said it was a good day for the offense, but cautioned that there’s a lot of work that still has to be done.
“I think we showed that we’re going to be a good football team when we execute,” Orgeron said. “The theme for the summer is going to be execution. We have to do things the right way. When we do, I think we will be successful.”
The Tigers’ offense looks drastically different than it has in the past.
Under first-year coordinator Steve Ensminger, LSU operated heavily out of pro-set formations, but unlike the Tigers of the past, this team threw far more frequently than it ran.
That put all eyes on the Tigers’ quarterbacks and each had both their high and low points throughout the game.
McMillan took the first snap of the game and, statistically, was the best of the three.
He completed 13-of-27 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown. McMillan also made plays with his feet, rushing nine times for 69 yards.
The conditions for LSU’s quarterbacks weren’t exactly easy.
The Tigers return several players in the front seven and each quarterback was heavily harassed by pressure throughout the game.
McMillan evaded that rush late in the game and scored a touchdown with his legs – one of three scoring drives he led in the game.
“Justin had a good day,” Orgeron said. “I thought he handled himself well and I thought he was composed. He did a lot of things right for the offense.”
But the other two guys did some good things, too.
Narcisse had arguably the biggest play of the game – a 95-yard touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson in the first half of Saturday’s scrimmage.
Like McMillan, Narcisse also led three scoring drives. He finished the scrimmage 6-of-13 with 205 yards and a score. He also made several plays with his legs, but had problems hand
dling several snaps under center, which may be a problem during the season.
Narclasse played in a spread offense at St James High School Rarely, if ever, did they operate under center.
“We love to throw it deep” Orgeron said of the strike from Narcisse to Jefferson “We really want to be able to take the top off the defense and punish them when they come at us and play man-to-man coverage.”
And them there was Brennan. Probably the favorite to be LSU’s starter coming into Saturday’s game, Brennan struggled at times in Saturday’s spring game, including the only interception of the day.
But later in the scrimmage. Brennan found his rhythm and showed his powerful right arm, completing a touchdown pass to JaCory Washington
For the day. Brennan was 11-of-2l with 125 yards, the touchdown and the interception
Orgs ran said the story of LSITs spring practices was exactly what we saw in the game. Each quarterback had his own share of moments, which is why he said the quarterback battle will continue into the summer with no dear leader in sight.
“If we had one QB who was better than the others, we’d name a started™ Orgeron said. “But we draft They’re all battling/”
But while the eyes of the LSU fan base were entrenched on the quarterbacks, a lot of other guys shinedin the spring game.
LSU halfback Clyde Ed-wards-Helaire ran beautifully inside the tack Inn, toting Id times for 71 yards and a score.
The Tigers’ deep receiver poor was also showcased.
Jefferson had five grabs for 127 yards and a scare. Derrick Dillon and Stephen Sullivan also shined and had 97 yards and 97 yards, respectively.
LSU’s defense pushed back, too
The Tigers had several sacks and hurries in the game – even though contact with the quarterback was not allowed per rules of the game
Lavon Chaissan had’s tack-lea officially, but Orgeron said the rush-end “held back” several times because he knew he couldn’t hit the quarterback.
In a real game, Orgeron said. he would have had five sacks.
“He’s coming into his own,” Orgeron said.
The Tigers also showed good things in their secondary, making several nice plays in coverage.
But there was cue loss – safety Grant Delpit went down in the first half of the game with an injured shoulder.
Orgeron confirmed the injury after the game but didn’t give details about severity. With an upper-body injury it’s likely that Delpit will be able to heal throughout the summer and make an impact in 2018
