Throughout the first five games of the No. 15 Tigers’ season, the offensive spark has come from an unanticipated source — two different duos of quarterbacks and wide receivers.
For the first three games, the Tigers’ focus in the air was the connection between sophomore quarterback Anthony Jennings and sophomore wide receiver Travin Dural.
Jennings and Dural connected for four passing touchdowns against Wisconsin and Sam Houston State. The duo’s success during the stretch was highlighted by the longest passing play from scrimmage in Tiger Stadium history, when Jennings hit Dural for a 94-yard touchdown pass on the first play against Sam Houston State.
But, in the last two weeks, freshman quarterback Brandon Harris and freshman wide receiver Malachi Dupre have taken over the role of igniting the offense through the air. The pair connected for a 27-yard touchdown as LSU trounced New Mexico State, 63-7, on Saturday night.
“Each week progressing mentally and physically is a big thing, and I feel like I do that,” Dupre said. “I feel like I’ve grown leaps and bounds since my first game.”
After failing to produce a passing touchdown against University of the Louisiana at Monroe, the Tigers’ offense became one-dimensional against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs stacked the box and stuffed the run, allowing the Tigers only 89 yards on the ground.
But Harris came in with 3:43 left in fourth quarter and threw two 30-yard touchdown passes to Dupre in less than thirty seconds to put LSU in position to win the game on a Hail Mary.
“I enjoyed the fact that [Harris] gave us a tremendous lift,” said LSU coach Les Miles on Sept. 22. “He came in a position that was very difficult, and we said to him, ‘OK, make some deep throws and really use your arm, use your feet to see us win this game.’ He did exactly that.”
After Jennings committed three turnovers in the first quarter against New Mexico State, Miles made the decision to put in Harris.
“We had predetermined that we would play [Harris] significantly in this football game,” Miles said. “We felt like we wanted to bring him in, in the position where he could step on the field and go.”
When Harris came into the game with 9:28 left in the second quarter, the Tigers had managed only 84 yards of total offense including 73 yards on the ground.
Harris opened up the game with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Dupre after handing the ball off on 10 out of 11 plays on his first drive, which ended with a 17-yard touchdown run by freshman running back Leonard Fournette.
The chemistry between Harris and Dupre is the product of hard work during the offseason, which included training together with quarterback coach George Whitfield in California in late May.
“It is very rewarding when we both do well,” Dupre said. “It seemed like every touchdown I caught from him, he was the first one there to celebrate with me. He was a long distance away from where he threw the ball. It just speaks volumes about all the hard work we put in all summer.”
After Harris came in, the Tigers’ offense exploded for 178 yards in the air and 290 yards on the ground.
“The reason why we had so much success passing the football is because we had such a great running game,” Harris said. “Starting this week, we wanted to come out and be dominant on the offensive line, on the defensive line, on everything. We wanted to just push people off the ball, so I think it opened up lanes for Leonard [Fournette] and company.”
Although LSU will probably continue to depend on its rushing attack, the spark provided by Harris’ deep throws to Dupre gives balance to the offense. The chemistry between Harris and Dupre makes Harris effective and dangerous to opposing defenses on broken plays, a skill he showed against the Aggies.
“I felt like Brandon Harris came in and did just exactly what we needed him to do,” Miles said. “He performed well, handled all the communication and a multitude of things we ask a quarterback to do. He made plays, and it was very positive.”