When he wasn’t making a circus catch over a defender’s shoulder against Arkansas, LSU junior wide receiver Jarvis Landry was making game-winning decisions.
It was the play that will be forever remembered by Tiger fans: third down and 10 on the Razorback 49-yard line and 1:22 remaining in the fourth quarter. LSU trailed 27-24.
With true freshman quarterback Anthony Jennings leading the huddle in place of injured senior starter Zach Mettenberger, Landry approached the offense with a plan.
“We hit them with a few seven-routes previously, but we had eight-routes going behind the seven-routes,” Landry said. “Instead of doing that, I kind of handed it to coach a few series before that we could get past them on a nine-route.”
A seven-route involves a receiver running a corner route to the sidelines. An eight-route is a post to the middle of the field. A nine-route, the same one redshirt freshman wide receiver Travin Dural ran before trotting into the end zone, takes the receiver up the field.
Prior to the touchdown play, Landry said he noticed the Arkansas defenders keeping a watchful eye on him. His junior receiving counterpart, Odell Beckham Jr., left the game in the first quarter with an injury, leaving Landry the top target.
When the Tigers needed it most, Landry called for the “Tsunami” play, and the Jennings-Dural combination quickly washed away any hope for an Arkansas upset in Tiger Stadium.
“Jarvis threw it in,” Dural said. “He had been saying it for like three drives. He said, ‘We should run Tsunami. The nine is going to be wide open.’”
On the play, Landry lined up alongside Dural and proceeded to run his corner route.
Arkansas’ safety made a move toward Landry, leaving Dural to go stride-for-stride with Razorback redshirt freshman cornerback Jared Collins.
Only seven seconds after the ball was snapped, LSU had the lead.
“Tsunami” wasn’t a play brought into the system by offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. This design had been waiting around for some time.
“It was a play we ran in fall camp,” Dural said. “It came from the offense last year and it was just the right moment to call it.”
As Landry left Tiger Stadium for what could have been his final game in purple and gold, his contribution to the final score may be forgotten.
NFL squads will likely be drooling over Landry’s 32-yard one-handed catch late in the fourth quarter instead, but Landry said he was just happy the coaching staff heard his request.
“I liked the play a lot,” he said. “In crunch time, coach trusted my assessment, and we made a play.”
“It was a play we ran in fall camp. It came from the offense last year, and it was just the right moment to call it.”