LSU Football: What to Watch for in Tigers' 2015 Spring Game
Is it a make-or-break year for LSU head coach Les Miles?
Not quite, but his offensive coordinator—Cam Cameron—might want to kickstart that offense in the final year of his contract; otherwise, he will be the fall guy in Baton Rouge.
Tiger fans will get a good look at their offense this Saturday when the Tigers hit the field in the annual National L Club Spring Football Game in Death Valley.
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What should you keep an eye on when the Tigers hit the field?
It's All About the Quarterback
If you believe the reports coming out of Baton Rouge this spring, the light bulb has gone on for junior Anthony Jennings. The dual-threat incumbent starter from Marietta, Georgia, has impressed the coaching staff this spring thanks to his big-play ability and improvement in his efficiency.
Jennings completed nine of 14 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns in LSU's third scrimmage of the spring, according to stats released by the school. Meanwhile, according to the release, true sophomore Brandon Harris completed just a "handful" of his 22 passing attempts according to Miles.
If the light bulb has indeed clicked for Jennings, that's great news for the Tigers. Could it be more of an indictment of Harris, though?
Harris pulled even with Jennings last spring but was unable to break through that glass ceiling and earn the starting job for good after he struggled in his only start on the road at Auburn. After Jennings completed just 48.9 percent of his passes last year and has posted a sub-50 completion percentage for his career, the job is there for the taking.
Can Harris take it?
It seems like he's fighting an uphill battle this spring, but a strong showing in the spring game for the second straight season would go a long way toward his quest to unseat Jennings from the top spot on the depth chart.
Bring The Heat
LSU finished with the SEC's best defense last year (316.8 YPG), but that number is incredibly deceiving. LSU finished with just 19 sacks (second-worst in the SEC), gave up 20 runs of 20 yards or more (ninth in the conference), has to replace starting defensive ends Danielle Hunter and Jermauria Rasco and needs to install a new defense under coordinator Kevin Steele.
Where will that pressure come from?
Davon Godchaux and Christian LaCouture played well at times along the interior of the defensive line last year in the 4-3 system run by former coordinator John Chavis, but Steele is going to be more multiple. Those guys need to fit in with defensive tackle-turned-defensive end Maquedius Bain and pass-rushing specialist Tashawn Bower.
Watch the front seven, and particularly the front four, during Saturday's spring game. Steele is flexible enough to keep 4-3 elements in place while also mixing in some 3-4, which is likely the path LSU will have to go based on the way it has recruited over the last three or four years.
That means more players in different positions to get in the backfield and disrupt plays, which is something LSU desperately needs.
Options Outside
Travin Dural was LSU's only true weapon at wide receiver last year. The then-sophomore caught a team-high 37 passes for 758 yards and seven touchdowns. The 20.49-yards-per-catch average is nice, but the fact that Dural only caught 2.8 passes per game and that this figure was more than twice the average of LSU's second-most prolific receiver speaks volumes to just how anemic the Tigers passing game was last year.
Things have to change.
It's not like LSU is lacking in the talent department. John Diarse looked good at times last year, Malachi Dupre is a 6'3" former stud recruit who has as much upside as any receiver in the SEC and D.J. Chark is a 6'2" sophomore who has been impressing the coaching staff this spring. Chark had three catches for 99 yards in the most recent scrimmage, including a 70-yarder for a score.
"He's done a nice job of catching the football," Miles said, according to Glenn Guilbeau of Gannett Louisiana. "He's improving each time he steps on the field. One thing about D.J. is that he has speed and ability."
Those guys have to help out their quarterback—whoever wins the job.
Dural is a proven deep threat—that much has been established. If somebody else can emerge as another deep option, it will open up those passing lanes for either Jennings or Harris, keep the secondary honest and help out the running game led by super-sophomore Leonard Fournette.
Offensive Play-Calling
Jennings got the majority of the criticism last year for his inability to consistently complete passes, but it seemed like both he and Harris were square pegs Cameron was trying to fit in round holes.
That can't continue.
Jennings was the dedicated running quarterback behind Zach Mettenberger in 2013, and Harris has the kind of explosiveness on the ground that can make him a bona fide stud when he gets the chance. Cameron is the one who can provide that chance in 2015.
"In quarterback play, you're continually trying to set aside the things you don't do well and focus on the things you do well without being unbelievably predictable," he told Ron Higgins of NOLA.com. "That's the catch.
"You can simplify, which is what you should do, but then comes the ability to be unpredictable. The magic is to be unpredictable but also simple enough so your guys can execute things."
That's clearly easier said than done for Cameron. The only curveball LSU threw last year offensively was in the regular-season finale, when Dural rushed for 49 yards against Texas A&M primarily off jet sweeps and Jennings became more of a threat on the ground by rushing for 119 yards.
Ideally, Cameron would like the light bulb to go off with the quarterbacks and be able to stretch the field. At this point, though, Plan B needs to be in place. That plan should include a more multidimensional rushing attack that features the quarterbacks running more and wide receivers coming off the edge on the jet sweeps.
LSU can't win simply by being "The Fournette Show." Cameron needs to show in the spring game that there's a little more depth to his play-calling ability with dual-threat quarterbacks at the helm; otherwise, he could be out of a job this time next year.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com, unless otherwise noted, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports' composite rankings.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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