It’s now or never for LSU junior quarterback Zach Mettenberger.
He bided his time holding a clipboard on the sideline; now it’s Mettenberger’s time to shine and become the face of the 2012 LSU football team.
Tyrann Mathieu checking out of the LSU football program and checking into a Houston drug rehab center leaves a huge void on the field and an even bigger one in the locker room.
Mettenberger will now be called upon to carry the team on his back and bring a national championship to Baton Rouge.
The junior signal caller will be tasked with taking over as the team’s new vocal leader.
He needs to be encouraging to his offensive line after every series, slapping the defense on its back when it makes a stop and making sure no one gets distracted from the Tigers’ ultimate goal of hoisting the crystal football Jan. 7, 2013, in Miami, Fla.
It’s Mettenberger’s job to make people forget about the last time an LSU quarterback lined up under center. Jordan Jefferson’s minuscule 53 passing yards in the Allstate BCS National Championship last season made me throw up in my mouth in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome press box.
LSU fans won’t have to worry about a quarterback controversy this season.
The only way Penn State transfer Robert Bolden or redshirt freshman Stephen Rivers will see playing time is if LSU is blowing a team out by 30 or if, knock on wood, Mettenberger gets injured.
For the first time since former signal caller Ryan Perrilloux was booted from the team in 2008, LSU has a solid starter behind center.
It’s almost scary how much confidence the Tiger faithful have in a player who has only thrown 11 meaningful passes in his LSU career so far. But I can’t blame them.
In the past two spring games, the rocket-armed Mettenberger has lived up to the hype. His 60-yard touchdown bomb to Kadron Boone in 2011 and the 49-yard strike for a score to Odell Beckham Jr. in the 2012 game was only a foretaste of the feast to come.
LSU offensive coordinator Greg Studrawa hasn’t been shy about how much of an impact Mettenberger will have on the Tigers’ offense in 2012.
“In the past, we check it down, but Zach zipped both of those balls in there over the linebackers…both were 60-yard touchdowns,” Studrawa said at LSU Football Media Day. “We would have never thrown those balls before.”
With the Tigers’ stable of running backs, Mettenberger won’t be called on to throw the ball 50 times a game. But his ability to throw deep will keep defenses from crowding the box to try and stop the run.
Mettenberger has a quiet cockiness about him, and he plays with a chip on his shoulder. Before he was dismissed from the University of Georgia, he challenged current starter Aaron Murray for playing time. He now gets his shot on a national stage to prove he’s among the best quarterbacks in the country.
Leaving the Bulldogs might have been the best thing for Mettenberger. Spending a year at Butler Community College allowed him to clear his mind and body. I mean, what else is there to do in El Doredo, Kan.?
Mettenberger can only gain from the experience of leading his team to a deep postseason run, much like Cam Newton did in his stint at Blinn College in 2009. Newton used his success at the junior college level to help him bring home a national championship to Auburn in 2010.
Now is the time for “Mettsiah” to take the reigns of this football team and deliver a national championship.
