Saturday served as a showcase for the revamped Tiger offense when the LSU football team took to Tiger Stadium and split up for the National L-Club Spring Football Game.
The White team, boasting a majority of the starters, defeated the Purple team, 24-17.
The approximately 33,000 fans in attendance weren’t the only ones who went home impressed by the culmination of the team’s spring football program,
“I like the spring,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “I’d say the overall view of the spring is a good one. I think we have proven that we can throw the ball and we can run the football.”
In his first competitive showing as a starter, junior quarterback Zach Mettenberger, playing for the White team, went 14-of-25 for 270 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
After being picked off in the end zone by sophomore cornerback Ronald Martin midway through the first quarter, Mettenberger rebounded on the next drive with a 49-yard touchdown toss to sophomore wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., and a 19-yard touchdown strike to Russell Shepard – the senior receiver’s only catch on the day – to cap off a seven-play, 84-yard drive later in the half. Beckham finished with three catches for 115 yards, while fellow sophomore wide receiver Jarvis Landry caught six balls for 120.
“[Mettenberger] knows what he can do and he knows that he can make those deep ball throws,” Beckham said. “We have a certain type of chemistry, and I think today it just showed.”
Usually the dominant facet of the offense, the diverse rushing attack took a backseat to Mettenberger’s arm. The Purple and White teams were almost even in rushing yardage, gaining 119 and 111 yards on the ground, respectively.
Sophomore running back Kenny Hilliard had eight carries for 40 yards to lead Purple, and junior back Alfred Blue paced White with 9 for 73. Freshman rusher Jeremy Hill may have found a place for himself in the deep stable of backs, running for 37 yards on six carries for Purple.
Hilliard said his running mates made a conscious effort to get their new teammate back into the swing
of things.
“We all, as a running back unit, picked [Hill] up and taught him the playbook,” Hilliard said. “In high school, everybody knows he was able to run. He came out, performed and did what he had to do.”
The White team’s defense initiated the back-up quarterbacks by racking up four sacks on the day. Junior safety Eric Reid took an errant throw from Purple’s redshirt freshman quarterback Stephen Rivers for a touchdown with 8:05 left in the second quarter to make it 21-0.
After a pair of field goals by senior placekicker Drew Alleman, one for each team, White took a 24-3 lead into halftime.
The defensive backfield is looking for a new contributor with the loss of Morris Claiborne to the NFL, and Miles said freshman cornerback Jalen Collins “would be a third corner.”
Collins was burned by Beckham on the first touchdown but bounced back later by breaking up another deep pass to Beckham in the same spot.
“I think his abilities will be there,” Miles said. “You absolutely have to respond, and I think he did today. … He needed to have this one because frankly, better in our stadium against our guys than anyone else.”
 
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Contact Alex Cassara at [email protected]