Was he all he was cracked up to be? No. But he shouldn’t have been cracked up in the first place.
LSU freshman quarterback Anthony Jennings didn’t look like the next big thing in LSU’s Outback Bowl victory Wednesday. He made it blatantly obvious that he’s not at the same skill level as the strong-armed Zach Mettenberger who spoiled Tiger fans all season with his elite play. And he didn’t even look like the same quarterback that led the LSU offense down the field for a game-winning drive against Arkansas.
But before jumping to conclusions about Jennings’ future or the state of the quarterback position at LSU, step back and remember that the kid is a 19-year-old freshman making the first start of his career.
Not everyone can be Johnny Manziel or Jameis Winston in their freshman year, despite what those two have proven over the last two seasons. And a quarterback certainly can’t be expected to lead his team to a high-flying, flawless offensive performance when he hasn’t been running first-team snaps in practice the entire season.
Jennings did everything any normal freshman quarterback should be expected to do. He held onto the ball too long, took sacks when he should have thrown the ball away, overthrew wide-open receivers and the list goes on.
But Wednesday wasn’t about Jennings. Wednesday was about a much-maligned sophomore running back who had a career performance on possibly his final game for the Tigers. Wednesday was about a defense that had one of its best games of the season when it was needed most, giving the freshman in question a chance to win.
It’s unfortunate that Jennings’ performance will be scrutinized, toiled over and over-analyzed for the next eight months until he takes the reigns of LSU’s offense for his first full season as a starter.
Jennings was the starter of LSU’s future before this game started, and he was going to be the starter of LSU’s future no matter the outcome Wednesday afternoon.
So instead of giving themselves an ulcer worrying about which Anthony Jennings will show up next season, LSU fans should save their worries for more important matters like replacing the nation’s best receiving duo and improving on defense.
Anthony Jennings will be fine, and even if he’s not, save the worries for when that time comes.