LSU late coming to correct conclusion

Published 7:27 am Wednesday, September 21, 2016

It didn’t get a lot of air time, but on Monday Danny Etling subtly tiptoed past another milestone in his brave quest to save the LSU offense from extinction and Tigers fans from anarchy.

Maybe you missed it.

These things never work simply with LSU, it seems. Nothing can ever be cut and dry.

After all, it took the news conference equivalent of waterboarding, hot-seating, maybe even some good cop/bad cop media jousting, before late last week head coach Les Miles did sort of kind of admit that it appeared to him that he would not be surprised at all, and might even enjoy it, if Etling now had the apparent reins to the offense.

You still had to call in world-renowned, classically trained interpreters on loan from the United Nations to get a final, definitive ruling, but ?— after exhaustive, word-by-word analysis of a Miles’ answer — it appeared that Etling was now the plan, the future and quite possibly the answer.

This admission — that Etling was the starter — was considered such a diplomatic coup that there was renewed hope for the Middle East, if not the prolonged Hillary/Donald Facebook Wars.

So this week, suddenly feeling empowered, the media went in for the kill.

Miles set it up Monday when he said something about “What we’re going to do is let Danny take the next snaps and continue his path and hope he continues to improve.”

Next question for Miles (a biggie): “Should he be worried that if he makes a mistake, he will get pulled?”

Brother, you could hear a pin drop in that room. There was tension in the air. The interpreters snapped their earphones in place, braced and went on full alert. Veteran reporters shifted uneasily in their chairs, sneaking uneasy side glances at each other.

But there wasn’t even much of a pregnant pause.

Instead, there was that rarest of phenomena, a simple one-word declarative answer.

“No,” Miles said.

That was it. No. N-O.

Not a lot of gray area there. Etling does not have to be looking over his shoulder should one of those inevitable bumps in the road appear.

Twitter was perhaps too stunned to react. There was no champagne or confetti in social media.

But that wasn’t wishy-washy. Etling has the keys to the offense, and is free to build on two encouraging performances.

First impressions can be misleading, but LSU fans can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

There was even a rainbow loitering around Tiger Stadium last Saturday at dusk.

Nothing is guaranteed, but fans are free to dream.

Miles even said, “I hope he continues to improve and at some point in time down the road we’re going to look around and say, ‘Boy, that quarterback play we got was great.’”

Hear that? “Great,” he said.

And, remember, the theory all along has been that all it needs to be is — what? — workmanlike.

Quarterback-starved LSU fans would settle for decent, just a notch above fair to middlin.

And Miles is talking “Grrrrreat?”

It’s like a mystical glow has washed over the LSU Kingdom. The dusty parts of the playbook have been flung open, with untapped talent armed with formations previously undreamed of.

The chains have come off offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. No more Les the Stubborn.

Maybe they could tone down some of the nutty, gimmick plays — or at least save some for next game — but it’s a start. Remember, they’re still feeling their way around imaginative game plans with unpredictable play calling.

Growing pains, perhaps. But the future is suddenly without limitations.

Still, before the Tigers’ offense dives headfirst into this bold, new millennium, there is still an unanswered question.

This season alone we have watched five quarters of Brandon Harris and six of Etling (he hardly played the fourth quarter against Jacksonville State).

Here’s what doesn’t make sense.

Did this coaching staff really spend all spring and then August together with Etling and Harris? They had to be eyeballing them, side by side, not to mention they had hours of practice and scrimmage film at their disposal, constantly prodding and probing with a microscope … and yet still they could come away with the conclusion that Harris was the best quarterback option to win football games?

Now that boggles the mind.

Etling didn’t show enough to even get a bullpen call while Harris was struggling against Wisconsin?

What on earth were they watching? Did they get conned?

Maybe in the dusty days of August Etling didn’t bring an entirely different feel to the offense the way he does with the lights on.

My only guess is that the quarterbacks were not “live” during those scrimmage auditions and thus it was not a particularly accurate indicator of the panic/poise factor in the pocket.

But, still, there had to be glimpses of the Etling we’ve all seen.

“He really came into … the last two weeks, 10 days, executing at a much higher rate and just understanding more,” Miles explained.

That timing seems suspect, not to mention convenient, and it’s not going to bring the Wisconsin game back. But there is hope.

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Scooter Hobbs covers LSU

athletics. Email him at

shobbs@americanpress.com