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BATON ROUGE, La. — From Brandon Harris’ perspective, LSU’s defense must have looked like Texas Tech on Saturday.
If you’re a Tigers fan, don’t let that scare you. It’s not so much that LSU’s defense looked bad during the National L Club Spring Game at Tiger Stadium, it’s just that Harris continued to show the improved play that started in LSU’s 56-27 win over the Red Raiders in the Texas Bowl.
The rising junior completed 11 of 15 passes for 106 yards as the Tigers offense produced three touchdowns and a field goal in the two-hour workout at Tiger Stadium that flowed more like a modified controlled scrimmage than a game.
Watch Brandon Harris throw to D.J. Chark pic.twitter.com/z6coGmnxhW
— LSU Sports from The Advocate (@LSUnow) April 16, 2016
It was a continuation of his solid play against Tech, when he completed 14 of 23 passes for 261 yards.
More importantly, said LSU coach Les Miles, it was a continuation of the improved quarterback quarterback play LSU enjoyed all spring.
“I just know the quarterbacks were always throwing for percentages higher than they did a year ago,” Miles said. “It’s two things: One, the receivers took on the responsibility to catch the ball and, two, that quarterback room is so much better with Danny Etling, with that experience he has allowed him to learn quicker and with Brandon having more experience, more poise, just a little bit more comfortable.”
The potential quarterback controversy between Harris and Etling did not materialize. Etling completed 6 of 12 passes for 106 yards and the only touchdown, a 70-yard bomb to Dee Anderson. But he also threw the game’s only two interceptions.
Noteworthy
- The “game” did not take on a game format. One unit would finish a drive, then the coaches would choose another matchup of units, almost like a scrimmage. So there was no score. Touchdowns were scored by Leonard Fournette (1-yard run) and Bry’Keithon Mouton (5 yards) along with Etling’s touchdown pass to Anderson. The other score was a 42-yard field goal by Trent Domingue.
- Spring games continued to be less of an attraction at LSU than they are at other SEC venues. Just 21,000 fans, mostly scattered in the lower bowl of the West side of the 102,321-seat stadium, made their way to the game.
- As LSU’s defense continues to adjust to new defensive coordinator David Aranda’s 3-4 scheme, one notable change from late in the spring was the move of Davon Godchaux from end to nose tackle and Christian LaCourture from nose tackle to end. Miles and Aranda said they like Godchaux’s athleticism at nose tackle and LaCouture’s ability to take on offensive tackles at end.
- Senior defensive back Dwayne Thomas seems to have found a niche at safety in the new scheme, disrupting several offensive plays — including a couple of sacks — while pressuring from the back side.
- Fournette was efficient when he played (8 carries, 49 yards), but his younger brother Lanard Fournette was the game’s second-leading rusher (31 yards on six carries).
- Malachi Dupre led the receivers with five catches for 77 yards, including a nice 32-yard catch-and-run to set up LSU’s final touchdown.
They said it:
- “There were good things today, things we can build off of. But we’re still learning each other and learning what we can do. I feel good about the foundation and feel good that, we don’t really pressure a lot, it’s not five or six (rushing), it’s always three or four and guys trading jobs in our base … and we have the flexibility of guys who can drop and do those jobs. That’s exciting.” — Defensive coordinator David Aranda
- “We weren’t looking to do anyting outrageous or crazy. We just went out there to play as a team. The sky is the limit for this team we’re going to regroup and battle throughout the summer and into the fall,” — Safety Jamal Adams
- “We’ve given a lot of time to the passing game and I think it showed. I think we’re improved and I like where our quarterbacks are. We’re improved there and I like the path we’re on.” — head coach Les Miles
- “We’ve had four scrimmages up to this point and I think I’ve managed them well. Sometimes scrimmages focuses on third down or red zone passing but today had more of a game atmosphere and I thought I handled it well.” — QB Brandon Harris
- “I like our spring practice as a whole and even though our game is not a game, we got functional work with ones versus ones to start. That will be some film that we have not had in several years here and I look forward to see how our first teams played against each other.”
