Coming in to the 2014-15 season, a multitude of questions surrounded the No. 22 LSU football team.
By the end of the regular season, the offense raised more questions than answers, while the defense left fans and coaches with no doubts.
The Tigers (8-4, 4-4 Southeastern Conference) ended the regular season ranked No. 23 in their first year without at least nine wins since 2008. With one of the youngest rosters an LSU team has had in recent memory, many wondered how this youth would translate in a strong SEC schedule.
The most glaring debate entering the season was at quarterback. Coach Les Miles publicly announced before the season sophomore Anthony Jennings and freshman Brandon Harris would compete for the starting job.
Jennings beat Harris for the starting job and began the season with a 239 yard, 42.9 percent completion performance against Wisconsin. The opening game was a high point in Jennings’ season, and he didn’t pass for more than 200 yards in any other games.
Jennings finished the regular season with a completion percentage of 48.8 and passed for 1,460 yards, ten touchdowns and seven interceptions. This was a significant drop in production from the previous year, where Zach Mettenberger had a completion percentage of 64.9 and threw for 3,082 yards, 22 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Harris saw time in eight games and performed measurably better than Jennings. When he took the field late in the Tigers’ 34-29 loss to Mississippi State, he spurred on a comeback attempt that fell just short.
Miles, however, stuck to his initial decision and kept Jennings as the starter for the rest of the season after Harris struggled against Auburn.
The decision affected the offense as a whole, but no position more than the receivers and tight ends.
With 758 yards on 37 catches, sophomore Travin Dural emerged as Jennings’ go-to receiver. The other three main receivers, freshmen John Diarse, Malachi Dupre and Trey Quinn combined for 710 yards on 44 receptions.
The tight ends were essentially non-existent in the offense. With only eight receptions, the tight ends had their least-productive season in the past six years. Senior Travis Dickson was one of two tight ends with a catch, and the other, senior Logan Stokes, had only one reception. But Stokes’ one catch was the game-winning touchdown against Ole Miss.
Junior Dillon Gordon and sophomore DeSean Smith were the only other tight ends who were targeted with a pass, but neither could pull the ball in for a reception.
The bright spot on offense, however, was the running game.
LSU’s rushing offense picked up 2,634 yards and 23 touchdowns on the season, averaging 219.5 yards per game.
Freshman Leonard Fournette had a breakout season for the Tigers. He ended the regular season 11th in the SEC in total yards with 891, and third in total yards among freshmen.
The two older backs, seniors Terrence Magee and Kenny Hilliard, also had important roles for the Tigers’ offense. Magee, who Miles presented with the coveted No. 18 jersey, was utilized heavily in some games but not in others. His best game of the season came against Kentucky, when he scored two touchdowns and picked up 127 yards.
Hilliard started explosively with a 110-yard performance against Wisconsin in the season opener, but cooled off and didn’t break 65 yards in a single game the rest of the season. He sat out the last two games against Arkansas and Texas A&M after suffering a shoulder injury in the Tigers’ 20-13 overtime loss to Alabama on Nov. 8.
Part of the Tigers’ success in running the ball came from the increasingly positive performance by the offensive line.
Junior Vadal Alexander showed improvement, and sophomore Ethan Pocic gained valuable experience starting for senior Elliott Porter during his two-game suspension to at the beginning of the season and increased time at center toward the end.
Unlike the offense, the defense had an impressive year.
LSU’s defense finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the SEC in yards allowed per game with 305.8, No. 2 in total yards allowed with 3670 and total passing yards allowed with 1948.
Arguably the best game defensively for the Tigers came in LSU’s win against then-No.3 Ole Miss. The Tigers kept a powerful Ole Miss offense to only 176 passing yards and 137 yards on the ground, the Rebels’ lowest offensive output of the season.
The success of the defense started on the line. Although it struggled early in the season, just like the offensive line did, it slowly got better throughout the year. Senior Jermauria Rasco and junior Danielle Hunter controlled the outside, with the two ending the season ranked fifth and fourth on the team in tackles, respectively.
The two strongest positions on the defense and throughout the entire roster were the linebackers and defensive backs.
When sophomore Kendell Beckwith took senior D.J. Welter’s position at middle linebacker half way through the season, it was a spark that the corps needed. Junior Kwon Alexander and Beckwith combined for 147 tackles, while junior Lamar Louis and sophomore Duke Riley also made big plays.
The defensive backs held teams to less than 200 passing yards in nine games this season and shut down strong passing teams like Ole Miss and Alabama.
Juniors Jalen Collins and Jalen Mills, sophomore Tre’Davious White and freshman Jamal Adams were the stars of the defense. Collins shut down Heisman candidate and Alabama receiver Amari Cooper, White intercepted the ball twice and Adams became a national star after falling and drawing two personal foul penalties.
Teams had trouble scoring against the defensive backs, throwing for only nine touchdowns against the group on the season. The stingy performance by the Tigers ranks them fourth in the nation.
The leading scorer for LSU was sophomore kicker Colby Delahoussaye with 67 points.
Through the first eight games of the season, Delahoussaye was perfect, making seven field goals on as many attempts. In the last four games of the season, however, he began to unravel. He only made four of eight field goals and missed both his tries in Arkansas’ shutout of the Tigers.
The player who emerged as the most consistent special teams member was junior punter Jamie Keehn.
Keehn’s average of 45.01 yards per punt was the eighth best in the nation, and his 3,061 total punting yards put him first in the SEC and 15th in the nation. Twenty-five of his 68 punts landed inside the 20 yard line.