One big question: Can LSU beat Alabama?
Published 6:02 am Sunday, August 28, 2016
It’s that time again, less than a week now before the college football season opens.
So gather around this campfire and we’ll get to as many questions about LSU as possible.
If you missed it, Les Miles is still the head coach, the rumors of his demise at the end of last season having been greatly exaggerated (or at least foiled in mid-act).
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So the Mad Hatter is back, optimistic as ever and actively embracing the highest preseason expectations the Tigers had dealt with since at least 2011.
You know the rules here. One question at time. Remain calm and we’ll get to as many of them as possible.
You there, on the front row. I know you’ve been waiting a long time.
QUESTION: So why is it that every year LSU can recruit every position on the field — even deep snapper — and stack blue chips to the ceiling and yet still struggles to find a decent #@$^%@ quarterback?
ANSWER: Watch your language. This is family hour. But that, my friend, is one of the great mysteries of the new millennium. It’s a conundrum that has eluded
authorities of far higher intelligence than you’ll find hanging around this joint. And don’t forget that it doesn’t deter a whole new crop of five-star wide receivers from lining up at the campus gates every February. But it’s a bit philosophical for this discussion, where we intend to focus on this particular season.
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Q: Well, is LSU’s quarterback play going to be any better this year?
A: Brandon Harris, you mean?
Q: Still him, huh?
A: Yes. And he almost has to be better with another year under his belt.
Q: All you hear is, How much has he improved this year? Players, coaches, they all say …
A: Right now it’s just talk …
Q: And rave about how he’s taken over the team. More mature. Is it his team now?
A: Yes, yet it still seems like the coaches don’t really trust him. They still shield him from media interviews, for the most part. He didn’t even go to SEC Media Days, unheard of for a returning starter at quarterback.
Q: Well, why all the talk?
A: Party line. They’re going with Harris. They know it. Part of the offseason, no doubt, has been dedicated to boosting his confidence.
Q: How’s he looked in practice?
A: Who knows? LSU might as well practice on Mars for all the media and public get to see.
Q: What’s he need to improve on?
A: Little known fact: Harris led the SEC in average yards per completion.
Q: Really?
A: But that’s not necessarily a good thing, particularly when the completion percentage was 54 percent.
Q: Why?
A: Basically, it seemed like when the primary receiver was covered, Harris’ next option was to chunk it as far as he could, which is a long, long way. Guys like Malachi Dupre and Travin Dural could go up and get a lot of them. So they completed a fair share of deep ones.
Q: Sand lot football?
A: Yeah. You’ll know Harris has improved when he starts checking down to an 8- to 12-yard completion, particularly on third down, to keep a drive going. Even with Leonard Fournette making the short ones gimmes, the Tigers were only seventh in the SEC in third-down conversions last year.
Q: What about the transfer, the one from Purdue? I guess he didn’t work out?
A: Danny Etling. It did seem like he kind of disappeared midway through the spring. But I wouldn’t dismiss him. Could be part of the whole ploy to build up Harris’ confidence. Etling looked fine in the spring game. Put it this way: Last year Harris wasn’t coming out of the game for anything less than decapitation on the 50-yard line. If he struggles big-time in a game, I think you’ll see Etling out of the bullpen. At the least, there is another option.
Q: Will Miles leave Cam Cameron alone and let him run the offense?
A: That part is probably overrated. I don’t think Miles meddles as much in it as most assume.
Q: Then will they open it up?
A: Tough one. Miles sure was talking a good game about it after his near-death experience at the end of last season. Maybe he saw the light. But, like the new and improved Harris, that’s one we’ve got to see with our own eyes. The likely answer is yes, but it might not jump out at the naked eye in the cheap seats.
Q: Can Fournette win the Heisman Trophy this year?
A: Sure. Clemson’s Deshaun Watson is probably the favorite right now. But Fournette can win it the same way he lost it last year — against Alabama. But Nick Saban isn’t going to let Fournette beat him. That’s the big game where Harris might have to step up.
Actually, it wouldn’t surprise me if Fournette has fewer carries than the 300 he had last year. That was out of character for Miles, who believes in keeping running backs fresh. And backup Derrius Guice proved as the year went on he’s a nice change of pace.
Q: Well, what’s the other question marks?
A: What would you say if I told you that LSU — aka, DBU — finished higher in the SEC in passing offense last season than in pass defense?
Q: I’d call you a liar.
A: The Tigers were 11th in pass offense, which tells you Auburn, Vanderbilt and Missouri were evidently trying to complete forward passes with ping-pong balls. And, as a matter of fact, LSU was 12th in pass defense.
Q: That makes no sense.
A: Yes, particularly since there was enough talent at defensive back to fill two or three SEC secondaries.
Q: What was the problem?
A: Mostly confusion. Lack of communication. Classic paralysis by analysis. Last year the secondary often as not finished a play with hands up in “Who-me confusion?” like it was a secret fraternity sign.
Q: Is there a cure?
A: Dave Aranda, the new defensive coordinator. Last year Kevin Steele’s defense was too complicated for a state land-grant college. Aranda is the goods.
Q: Do we have to see this with our own eyes?
A: I guess. But I’m buying in on this one sight unseen. Aranda is a classic football lab rat, always tinkering. His life’s work has been coming up with a defense that can attack from anywhere, confusing poor offenses, while keeping as simple as A-B-C for his own minions. The 3-4 alignment — as opposed to the 4-3 —is probably overanalyzed. To the naked eye, it always looks like a team portrait stacked up around the line of scrimmage anyway.
It might take a game or two to get totally comfortable with it, but this is going to be a good defense. You should be as excited about this defense as seeing the new and improved Harris … without the anxiety.
Q: So what’s the key game of the season?
A: You have to ask?
Q: Alabama?
A: Nov. 5, Tiger Stadium.
Q: And?
A: This just might be the year.
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Scooter Hobbs covers LSU
athletics. Email him at
shobbs@americanpress.com
Follow Scooter Hobbs on Twitter at twitter.com/ScooterAmPress
