ARLINGTON, Texas — The last time a pair of LSU wide receivers posted 100 yards receiving in a single game? Current LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger was barely old enough to play peewee football.
It’s been more than a decade since LSU fans witnessed two Tigers surpass the century mark for receiving yards when Michael Clayton and Josh Reed did it in the 2002 Sugar Bowl under the tutelage of Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher. But on Saturday, junior receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry went for 118 and 109 yards, respectively, in LSU’s 37-27 win against TCU in the Cowboys Classic.
“Let me let you know something,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “I think they’ll play really better than that — I think they will. They’re just getting started. I think the chemistry there has improved and obviously they made very significant contributions tonight.”
It was the type of debut offensive coordinators dream about as LSU produced 448 yards of total offense, doubled TCU’s first down total with 26 and controlled possession for nearly a full quarter more than its opponent in Cam Cameron’s first game on the Tigers’ sideline.
Miles and his players gave the typical spiel in post-game interviews about needing to improve, but it was hard to ignore the obvious excitement in their voices when talking about the future of the LSU offense.
“We didn’t click on all cylinders like we wanted to, but you’ve got to start somewhere,” Beckham said. “It was a great start, but it’s like coach says, ‘We haven’t arrived, we haven’t showed up or anything’ we’re on our way and each and every day we have to progress and get better on offense.”
Beckham said he told LSU senior quarterback Zach Mettenberger immediately after the game that the receiver owes him two catches for dropping a pair of deep balls during the game.
He started his reparations for his football sins later in the game when he caught a 44-yard pass and returned a kickoff for 75 yards to set up a Landry touchdown to seal the victory for the Tigers.
Mettenberger looked poised and calm in the pocket on Saturday and even showed flashes of mobility when he scrambled around the field in Cameron’s revamped attack.
The Marietta, Ga. native’s 50 percent completion rate doesn’t sound fantastic on the surface, even when added to an impressive 451 passing yards and no interceptions. But, the fact he dropped back to throw 32 times on Saturday could be an early indicator that the LSU coaching staff is trusting him more with the ball in his hands.
“I think that Zach will have nights like that pretty routinely from this point forward,” Miles said.
Defensively, the Tigers didn’t have the caliber game the program expects at this point allowing 259 yards of total offense and the starting linebackers recording a combined seven tackles on the night.
After the game, Miles acknowledged the sloppy play on defense, but also noted the unit has a lot to build on following Saturday’s performance.
The defense posted two forced fumbles — one of which was recovered — six pass break ups and an interception against the dual quarterback attack presented by the Horned Frogs.
“People have been saying that since we lost eight people to the NFL Draft that defense was going to be our weak point,” said junior defensive end Jermauria Rasco. “I felt tonight wasn’t our best shot, but we showed a lot. Only thing we can do is go up right now. Fix mistakes and come back stronger next game.”