LSU coach Les Miles showed confidence in junior quarterback Zach Mettenberger, and he rewarded his coach with a strong performance in the No. 9 Tigers’ 37-17 victory against No. 22 Mississippi State on Saturday night.
Mettenberger completed 19-of-30 passes for 273 yards with two touchdowns and perhaps most importantly, no turnovers.
“You’re seeing the coaches have more confidence in us,” Mettenberger said. “They are mixing it up, more run/pass and being more balanced. Guys are making plays, having confidence and having fun out there.”
The biggest display of Miles’ new-found confidence came in the last minute of the first half. After State kicked a field goal to cut the lead to 13-10, LSU got the ball at its own 29-yard line.
Miles said LSU had been working on the two-minute drill in practice all week. He decided to let the offense go to work.
On the first play of the drive, Mettenberger hit sophomore receiver Jarvis Landry for 15 yards. On the next play, he completed a 36-yarder to junior receiver James Wright.
Following an incompletion, Mettenberger laid out a perfect pass to junior running back Spencer Ware who made a diving catch on a wheel route into the end zone for a touchdown.
The Tigers took just 35 seconds to march 71 yards in four plays for the score.
“We worked on it and kept on it,” Miles said. “I think we are getting better. The time and effort that is being spent there is paying dividends and is fruitful.”
Mettenberger and the Tigers came out of the gate attacking through the air against a Mississippi State defense that was torched for more than a combined 500 passing yards by Alabama and Texas A&M the past two weeks.
Early on, he led back-to-back 12-play drives, but both stalled in the red zone and ended with short field goals from senior Drew Alleman.
Trailing 7-6 in the second quarter, LSU linebacker Lamin Barrow recovered a fumble and set the offense up with a first down at the State 21-yard line.
Facing a third down and 8, Mettenberger dropped back and zipped a ball over the head of Bulldog safety Nickoe Whitley into the hands of Landry for a 19-yard touchdown to give LSU the lead.
“Receivers are running great routes, offensive line is protecting me and I’m putting the ball where it needs to be,” Mettenberger said. “If we keep executing like that, we should be good to go for the rest of the year.”
Landry has emerged as Mettenberger’s go-to receiver in the last two games.
After hauling in a career-high eight passes against Alabama, Landry set career highs with nine catches and 109 yards against Mississippi State. He caught eight of the passes in the first half.
“I feel really good about the win,” Landry said. “I don’t dwell on individual or personal things. I’d rather focus on team values. I tip my hat to the offense, defense and special teams for the things that they have done.”
Mettenberger finished the first half 12-of-18 for 174 yards with the two touchdown passes.
“We are very confident,” Landry said. “A lot of the guys on offense feel like we got that swag back. That’s something we really want to embrace, let it carry over from the Alabama game and show the world that we can be an efficient and effective offense.”
