The 2013 LSU football campaign could bring back a bevy of memories a few years down the line.
Overshadowed by an emotional multiple-loss season will forever be one of the more prolific offenses LSU fans have ever seen.
The squad’s 460.4 total yards per game are the most in the Les Miles era with the closest production coming in 2007 (439.4 ypg).
Senior quarterback Zach Mettenberger has been the catalyst, but the three most dynamic weapons on the LSU offense are the ones who could be making the biggest splash if they jump into the pool of players for the 2014 NFL Draft.
Junior wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry and sophomore running back Jeremy Hill have combined to create a threat that has given opposing defenses headaches since Week One.
“If they want to double those guys, then they’ll give me a six or seven-man box for me to make plays,” Hill said. “If they want to stack the box and try to stop me, then those guys are going to get one-on-one coverage. You just kind of have to pick your poison when you’re going up against us on Saturdays, and that’s been our recipe for success this season.”
LSU has three representatives in the top 10 SEC players in yards from scrimmage this season. In total, the triumvirate combine for 327.6 yards per contest for the Tigers, accounting for 71.2 percent of the total offensive production.
Fifty-nine percent of the squad’s production has been via the passing game this season — Beckham and Landry are accountable for 74 percent of those yards. Hill alone has added 52 percent of the Tigers’ rushing attack.
The three of them, combined with the work of Mettenberger, have been the pulse for a squad that has seen a drop-off in defensive effectiveness in 2013.
“We’ve seen so many dynamic things happen this season,” said junior center Elliott Porter. “It makes you really confident. It makes you confident when you block, and it makes you feel good. It makes you feel dominant and that you can score from anywhere.”
On-field production occurs largely when team chemistry is positive, to keep the mood light and to keep the offense in order, the players tend to participate in activities together away from the stadium.
On Monday night, Hill took his teammates out for wings and discussed the Tigers’ loss to Alabama.
“I think it carries on and off the field,” Hill said. “That bond and that chemistry and that trust definitely relates to the football field. It works for us.”
Transitioning from the college game to the NFL could be a real possibility in the coming months, as Hill, Beckham and Landry are expected to be prospects scouts will have their eyes on as the 2014 Draft rolls around.
Add Mettenberger to the group, and they could very well burst into the league at the same time.
But Hill said he knows there’s still two games remaining in the regular season, so his vision of being in the NFL is still in the distance.
“We don’t really talk about it,” Hill said. “Just being here every day on this grind is more than enough for us. I know each one of those guys have the talent to [go to the NFL], but for now we’re focusing on what we have to do here. When that day comes, we’ll be more willing to take that challenge on.”
“It makes you really confident. It makes you confident when you block, and it makes you feel good. It makes you feel dominant and that you can score from anywhere.”

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Richard Redmann

LSU sophomore running back Jeremy Hill (33) rushes toward a first down Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 during the Tiger's 38-17 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL.