Senior quarterback Zach Mettenberger had the best game of his career against UAB, completing 16 of his 19 pass attempts for 282 yards and a program record-tying five touchdowns.
According to junior wide receiver Jarvis Landry, the biggest contributor to Mettenberger’s increased production is his improved maturity and work ethic.
“It is him buying into everything the coaching staff brings forward,” Landry said. “I came up here at 12:00 today, and he was in the quarterback meeting room already. That just shows his commitment and dedication to this program, to himself and to his family.”
Landry added Mettenberger’s success is a long time coming, and the appreciation he has received recently is well-deserved.
“For the most part you want to stay as consistent as possible, and I think as long as Zach does that, he can limit some of the criticism and for once get praised a little bit,” Landry said.
Younger players see field
LSU coach Les Miles stayed true to his word on Saturday, giving seven Tigers their first opportunities to play in the purple and gold, including Freshmen defensive linemen Tashawn Bower and Lewis Neal and defensive backs Rickey Jefferson and Rashard Robinson
Miles mentioned last week he was not able to insert as many freshmen as he originally intended to against TCU, but it seems he was able to split playing time against UAB.
“A lot of the freshman got a lot of reps,” said junior defensive end Jermauria Rasco. “The freshmen that played the last game, those guys are going to have as much impact the whole season … If you are doing what you have to do, coach is going to reward you at the back end.
The new faces combined for six tackles and 0.5 sacks on defense as well as 10 yards on the ground from freshman defensive back Jeryl Brazil and 11 receiving on from junior-college wide receiver Quantavius Leslie.
Defense works on tackling
Miles expressed displeasure with the Tigers’ ability to tackle the ball carrier against UAB, joking he did not want to remember how many tackles they missed.
Sophomore defensive back Jalen Mills said the defensive will look to work these kinks out this week.
“LSU defense, we always tackle well,” Mills said. “It is like tradition here. In practice, we might work on that a little bit more, because we did slack on that a little bit, but that just comes with more practice and preparation.”