Fans may have left Tiger Stadium on Saturday afternoon shrugging their shoulders, but it wasn’t necessarily because the play on the field wasn’t good.
The overriding feeling of the day was neither of the two men vying for the most important position separated himself from the other.
Both junior quarterback Anthony Jennings and sophomore quarterback Brandon Harris were effective commanding the first-team offense but struggled to lead the second team as the White team defeated the Purple team, 45-6, in the National L Club Spring Game.
The quarterbacks’ numbers were nearly similar, but the bulk of their production was garnered while under center with the White squad. As a whole, Jennings completed 13-of-20 passes with two passing touchdowns, while Harris completed 11-of-17 passes with two passing touchdowns and an interception.
“Both quarterbacks really executed their throws at a very high level,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “They still were not perfect, but both moved forward and both played great. We are much better than were offensively.”
With the White team having a clear advantage against an inexperienced Purple team, the domination was swift.
Jennings wasted no time in his first possession with the White team, completing a touch pass on his first attempt to junior tight end Collin Jeter for a 33-yard gain. A play later, sophomore wide receiver Malachi Dupre broke free into the secondary, and Jennings floated the easy, 37-yard touchdown to give the White team a 7-0 lead.
“[I would grade my performance] a B or a C,” Jennings said. “There’s so many things I can improve on that y’all don’t see…I missed some throws that could have been big touchdowns. I just have to continue to put the ball where it needs to be.”
Against the first-team defensive line for the White team, the second-team offensive line struggled to protect Harris in his first three possessions with the Purple team. Harris was just 3-of-5 for 32 yards passing as he was often forced out of the pocket, netting 12 yards on the ground and taking one sack in the first quarter.
For the game, the Purple team’s offensive line allowed quarterbacks to be sacked five times.
But Harris’ first rep with the White team was nearly as efficient as Jennings’. After two rushes from sophomore running back Leonard Fournette for a total of 13 yards, Harris completed three consecutive balls for a total of 52 yards. The drive was capped off by a full-extension, 35-yard touchdown grab from Dupre – his second of the day – over double coverage.
“I’m not saying it wasn’t difficult at all, but that’s catches we make on a daily basis,” Dupre said. “We practice it. It wasn’t up there with my best, but it was a difficult catch.”
With the White team leading 14-0, Harris found success again on his second drive with the White team, but the drive ended on a much easier scoring play. Seven straight rushes from Harris and sophomore running back Darrel Williams pushed the White team past midfield, and Harris found junior wide receiver Travin Dural, who beat sophomore defensive back Russell Gage, streaking down the left sideline for a 41-yard touchdown.
After Harris hit sophomore receiver D.J. Chark on a diving, 45-yard reception, Harris technically recorded his third touchdown on his third possession with the White team four plays later. But Miles elected to erase a naked bootleg, 5-yard rushing touchdown from Harris, allowing Williams to plow into the end zone from the same spot to give the White team a 28-0 lead.
In total, Harris was a perfect 7-for-7 for 141 yards and two touchdowns with the White team in the first half.
“When we’re going against the first team defense, it may not be starting receivers out there,” Harris said. “You got to go out and show that you can perform under the lights in tough situations, where it’s third down, fourth down or whatever the case may be.”
After three possessions with the Purple team, where he was sacked three times with the porous second-team offensive line, Jennings led a six-play, 84-yard field goal drive with the White team to end the first half. Dural’s 70-yard reception down the left sideline, which Jennings lofted to him after he beat Gage again, highlighted the possession and allowed Delahoussaye to give the White team a 31-0 lead.
“Good decision making [by the quarterbacks today], bottom line,” said offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. “The quarterback position is a decision-making position. There’s no way around it. Our guys are tough enough, athletic enough and throw the ball well enough. Now, we got to make great decisions, and I would think other than half dozen plays we made good decisions.”
Despite going 5-for-6 with the Purple team in the first half, Jennings grabbed the majority of his first-half yardage with the White team, going 4-for-9 for 142 yards with the White unit.
With a running clock in the second half, freshman quarterback Justin McMillian got in on the scoring on the first possession of the second half. On third down, McMillan’s first pass of the game from the 50-yard line was a strike over the middle to sophomore Desean Smith for a touchdown, giving the White team a 38-0 lead.
After freshman cornerback Kevin Toliver II picked off Harris on his first possession of the second half with the Purple team, Jennings led a five-play, 73-yard drive resulting in an 8-yard touchdown reception by Dural.
Though the Purple team accumulated only 91 yards as a whole, Miles kept the offense on the field in the final possession of the game to tack on a two-yard touchdown run from freshman running back David Ducre.
“This was a good ending to a quality spring, and we are looking forward to the fall,” Miles said.