It has been a long road to redemption for LSU junior quarterback Anthony Jennings, and it’s just getting started.
Jennings struggled through his first year as a starter with a 48.9 percent completion percentage and an underwhelming 123.9 yards per game. Jennings finished the 2014 season with 1,611 yards passing, 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions to lead the Tigers to an 8-5 record.
His struggles have been well-documented for many disappointed Tiger fans, but Jennings’ play may be beginning to pick up.
LSU coach Les Miles said after the team’s second scrimmage Saturday he believed Jennings outplayed his counterpart, sophomore quarterback Brandon Harris, for a majority of the evening.
Miles’ outspoken confidence on Jennings’ performance Saturday has led to speculation Jennings has greatly improved his game, but the junior holds himself to a higher standard.
“It was decent from my perspective, but I could have done a lot of things better,” Jennings said. “I’m continuing to get better in each and every practice we have in the spring. Coach Miles said I look pretty crisp, but my standards are even higher than his and I have to play better, practice better in order to get those guys around me ready.”
Jennings is learning from his mistakes a season ago. He said he doesn’t want to forget last season, but instead learn from it and figure out the ways he can get better.
An aspect of Jennings’ game he’s looking to improve is his running. After sailing an incomplete pass on fourth down in an overtime loss against Alabama on Nov. 8, in which Jennings had a wide open running lane to the first down marker, Jennings has sinced learned from the mistake and hopes to use his legs more often to make his play more effective.
“I spun out on a scramble and I accelerated passed the defensive line and linebackers and I kind of felt like ‘OK I have to get better at those things to open up the offense even more than it will be,’” Jennings said. “That explosion from me is going to help everyone around us.”
Jennings’ goal is to become a more confident quarterback, and he said he can feel his confidence grow with every practice.
“I just came in more confident,” Jennings said. “I’m just coming in trying to get more and more completions, run the football when I need to and throw it away when I need to, and not putting guys in compromising positions. I’m trying to get everybody lined up and just show that leadership that I have.”
Linebackers adjust to Kevin Steele
New defensive coordinator Kevin Steele comes to Baton Rouge with plenty of experience with linebackers, most recently as Alabama’s linebackers coach a season ago.
Steele’s new influence has left a mark not only on the defense as a whole, but with the linebackers as well. With Steele’s experience, he spends a majority of his time breeding the linebacking corps into the style that best fits his system.
Senior linebacker Lamar Louis said the first thing he has noticed since Steele’s takeover is his professional coaching style.
“We’re treating practice like a game,” Louis said. “A little less talking, and if we are talking, it’s with our position coaches. It’s all about reps and executing. It’s more of a pro type approach. He’s going to tell you what you did wrong, but he’s not going to holler or scream too much. If you can’t get it done, it’s next man up.”
Louis, who comes into this season looking to be a full-time starter on defense, has spent a lot of time studying Steele’s new schemes and tendencies.
Louis said when the team first started spring practice, a lot of the things they were learning were completely different than what he was used to.
“When [the schemes] were first presented to us, it was very complicated,” Louis said. “It looked foreign. But now it’s beginning to become ours and we’re getting better and better every scrimmage and every practice, so when it’s time to play, we’ll be ready.”