If LSU is going to have a successful 2013 season, it needs Zach Mettenberger to step up and deliver.
But Les Miles and the Tigers don’t need a Herculean effort from a Mettsiah to carry them to the promised land; they simply need their senior quarterback to play consistently competent football.
Mettenberger doesn’t need 4,000 passing yards and 35 touchdowns for this team to win games. That’s convenient, because even with Cam Cameron directing the offense, I don’t think the Tigers are built to play that way.
Cameron will make the Tigers’ offensive attack slightly more agressive, but a Miles-coached team will always rely on a run-first offense. I don’t care how many times Les uses the word “balance” in his pressers.
And that’s exactly the way LSU should play. Jeremy Hill and Alfred Blue have the makings of a dynamic running back tandem, assuming both can stay on the field, and even with the loss of Josh Williford to a concussion, the Tigers should still boast one of the most physical offensive lines in the country.
If Mettenberger plays consistently well, the offense should be good enough to win football games because I don’t believe the defense will fall off as far as some others do. It’s a relatively inexperienced group, but the talent is there.
A young defense can thrive when put in a position to succeed, but also has a tendency to make mistakes.
Tiger fans don’t need to look back any further than 2011 for an example. A number of talented sophomore and juniors littered the 2011 roster, much like this one. That defense performed brilliantly, and accompanied by a productive offense, led LSU to an undefeated regular season.
That defense dominanted every game until the BCS National Championship Game. The offense was worse than anemic that day, and then the defense made crucial mistakes.
Mettenberger had a season of peaks and valleys last season, and to avoid overexposing this LSU defense, he needs to eliminate the lows. For example, last season Mettenberger went 11-for-25 for 158 yards with no touchdowns and an interception, wasting a dominant defensive effort in a 14-6 loss at Florida.
That can’t happen if they want to beat the elite teams in the Southeastern Conference.
I don’t think this defense will be as dominant as that unit, but I believe the offense will be better than the 2011 version if Mettenberger is efficient throwing the football. The key will be hitting enough big passes to open up room for the running game without turning the ball over too many times.
This team is not complete enough to hoist the Crystal Ball if Mettenberger performs like a Jarrett Lee-esque game manager, but if he plays more in the range of Matt Flynn in 2007 or Matt Mauck in 2003, this talented team has a shot.