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Through seven games of the 2015 season, LSU QB Brandon Harris resembled his predecessors Matt Mauck and Matt Flynn. Harris stood in the pocket and delivered, completing better than 60 percent of his passes in four of those games.
Only once did he fail to complete 50 percent of his passes over the first seven games of the season, all victories for the Tigers as they moved up the rankings all the way to No. 2.
But lately that confidence has been missing, to say the least. Harris, still only a sophomore, has shown signs of panic and desperation. He completed just 4 of 14 passes for 80 yards against Eastern Michigan in September and in the 2015 regular season finale against Texas A&M threw for only 83 yards, connecting on just 7 of 21 throws with one interception.
So which Brandon Harris are we going to see when the Tigers take on Texas Tech Dec. 29 at the Texas Bowl in Houston?
That’s a good question. A better question might be, which Les Miles are we going to see?
Harris’ performance in the bowl game likely will depend on what kind of game plan the Tigers head coach assembles. After nearly being fired for an antiquated offense that stalled during a three-game losing streak, the longest in his 11 years at LSU, Miles vowed to change things up a bit.
Therefore, Harris will be asked to implement the changes accordingly. How that affects his game will be determined.
What a perfect setup to tinker with an offense. Texas Tech has one of the worst defenses in the country. In fact, statistically, only Kansas is worse among 128 FBS teams. It is atrocious.
The Red Raiders are 112th against the pass, allowing an average of 268.3 yards per game. That’s bad, real bad. But, incredibly, it’s not as bad as its rush defense which ranks 122nd yielding an average of 258 yards per game.
So the question becomes does Miles play it safe and ram RB Leonard Fournette unmercifully into the heart of the Red Raiders defense and come away with a convincing victory to get the wolves off his front porch?
Or does Miles keep his word and turn Harris loose to carve up Texas Tech’s secondary? And if so, does Harris have enough confidence left to do so?
The Tigers are still without some key blockers in the run scheme. Midseason injuries have made it difficult for LSU to maintain the kind of running game that made Fournette the Heisman lock through seven games.
That, too, will factor into what Miles will ultimately decide to do. If the first seven games were any indication, the Tigers will run Fournette about 25 times and allow Harris to put the ball in the air under-20 times.
That might not sit well with fans and administration alike, but it was a winning formula against teams like Mississippi State, Auburn and Florida. Granted that was with a healthy stable of blockers, but those defenses were also far better than what Texas Tech will trot out on Dec. 29.
It will be very interesting to see just how Miles plays this, and just as fascinating to see how Harris is able to handle it.
Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.
