When the Tigers take the field Aug. 30 against Appalachian State, redshirt freshman quarterback Jarrett Lee should start under center.
While he lacks the years of playing experience of his main opponent for the position, sophomore Andrew Hatch, Lee is clearly the best option for the Tigers if they want to continue the success of the 2007 season.
College stats are negligible in this argument since neither quarterback has taken a meaningful snap on the varsity level.
Hatch had one appearance this past season, but it came as the third-string quarterback on the depth chart and in garbage time against a terrible football team in Middle Tennessee.
If one were to look at high school accomplishments, it is clear who is the better option.
At Nevada’s Cimarron-Memorial High School, Hatch played like someone better suited to cheer for a Southeastern Conference team than to ever step on the field for one.
In his senior season in 2004 – on a .500 team – Hatch completed slightly less than 50 percent of his passes, throwing 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions. The Henderson, Nev., native only averaged 167 passing yards per game.
Hatch was not even good enough to appear on Harvard’s varsity team when he enrolled there, but he did have a stellar performance in the Harvard-Yale junior varsity game. That is almost like playing Auburn.
But not really.
Only one school, BYU, actively recruited him as a quarterback, where LSU offensive coordinator Gary Crowton was on the coaching staff at the time.
Lee, on the other hand, faced stiffer competition and succeeded at a much higher rate.
That is if we are under the assumption that Texas high school football is tougher than Nevada high school football – see “Friday Night Lights” and “Varsity Blues.”
The high school phenom passed for more than 6,000 yards and 70 touchdowns in his two seasons, destroying the previous records by nearly 4,000 yards and 42 touchdowns, respectively.
He was a highly touted prospect coming out of high school, receiving scholarship offers from more than 30 schools and earning a four-star rating and being ranked the No. 7 pro-style quarterback in his class by Rivals.com.
In Lee’s one head-to-head face off with Hatch, Lee showed why he should start.
In April’s spring game, Lee had a nearly identical amount of passing yards and the same amount of scores in fewer attempts.
When Lee performed with the first-team players, his numbers improved significantly, completing 75 percent of his passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns while his counterpart threw for only 71 yards with no scores with the same players.
These two men’s histories tell me one thing: Lee is a proven winner who led his high school football team to the state semifinals his senior season, and Hatch is overall just a nice guy who lucked into LSU but does not deserve to start.
—-Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]