Dual-threat quarterbacks have been taking college football by storm lately — perhaps most famously Heisman winner and former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel.
During Manziel’s college career, he amassed 7,820 passing yards with 63 touchdowns and 22 interceptions, while adding 2,169 rushing yards with 30 touchdowns.
In two games against LSU, he was held to 500 passing yards, one touchdown and five interceptions with 81 rushing yards.
The Tigers also held Oregon dual-threat quarterback Darron Thomas to 240 passing yards with one touchdown, one interception and 12 rushing yards. They continued their dominance against South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw, who threw for 177 yards, two touchdowns and two
interceptions. He finished with negative one rushing yard on 12 carries.
LSU will be facing another dual-threat quarterback Saturday when Sam Houston State comes into town.
“We have to study film as much as we can to try to catch onto any tendencies that he has,” said sophomore cornerback Tre’Davious White.
Sam Houston State sophomore quarterback Jared Johnson comes into Tiger Stadium posing the same threat as Manziel. LSU’s defense will have to stay disciplined if it hopes to halt his effectiveness on the ground.
“You have to be conditioned well when you’re going against a mobile guy,” White said. “Your eyes have to be disciplined when you’re going against a player of that caliber.”
Johnson may not boast the same lucrative hardware as Manziel, but the sophomore leads the Bearkats into the matchup at the top of the Football Championship Subdivision with 43 points per game.
“They have a good quarterback. He can move around, he can throw; he can do a lot of things,” said junior linebacker Kwon Alexander.
In a 56-35 loss against Eastern Washington in the season’s first game, Johnson accumulated 317 passing yards and two interceptions. He added 89 rushing yards, with two touchdowns through the air and one on the ground.
Johnson passed for 386 yards and three touchdowns with 31 rushing yards in a 51-20 win against Alabama State last weekend, to extend the Bearkats’ home winning streak to 23.
“It’s all about keeping him contained. That’s the main thing,” said junior defensive end Danielle Hunter. “We have to play within the scheme of the defense. Everyone has an assignment.”
Without containment, Johnson will look to break free on key downs.
Against Wisconsin, LSU surrendered four first downs out of 15 times the opposers were facing a third down. Sam Houston State has earned a first down 20 out of its 41 attempts in the 2014 season.
Sam Houston State averages 257 rushing yards per game this season, a concern for LSU, who surrendered 268 rushing yards and three touchdowns to Wisconsin.
Showcasing its run-stopping abilities in the second half of the game against the Badgers, LSU held Wisconsin’s mobile quarterback Tanner McEvoy to 12 rushing yards after allowing 28 yards in the first half.
“In the first half of the Wisconsin game, everyone wasn’t keying in,” Alexander said. “But in the second half everyone got it together and played ball for the team.”
LSU hopes to feed off their past success and experience against dual-threat quarterbacks, like Manziel and McEvoy, in the matchup against Johnson and the Bearkats.
“We are going to play LSU defense,” Alexander said. “The defense just has to key in.”