The old adage says “the battle is won and lost in the trenches,” and evidence from LSU’s losses this past season support this philosophy.
Fans and the media praised the offensive line in the Tigers’ Southeastern Conference wins. But it could have been blamed for the conference losses at Auburn and Florida.
LSU finished the season with a No. 2 SEC rushing ranking averaging 144 yards a game but did not run and block consistently against top SEC competition.
The Tigers had only 42 rushing yards against Auburn and 90 against Florida.
Junior guard Herman Johnson said the Tigers will try to continue the smash-mouth style of rushing attack they had this past season.
“There are no major changes,” Johnson said, “We’re just adding some tweaks here and now.”
LSU will have to replace the right side of the line from this past season as only three full-time starters return from the 2006 team.
Senior quarterback Matt Flynn will have high school teammate Ciron Black, a sophomore returning at tackle, to protect his blind-side. The Tigers allowed only 19 sacks this past season, which ranked No. 3 in the conference.
Johnson and junior center Brett Helms, who have a combined 20 starts in the 2006 season, are returning. Helms is on the preseason watch list for the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s best center.
Three veterans are possible starters expected to fill the void left by the graduation of Brian Johnson and Peter Dyakowski: injury-plagued senior guard Will Arnold, senior tackle Carnell Stewart and sophomore guard Lyle Hitt.
Despite playing only five games this past season because of knee and ankle injuries, Arnold was named to the All-SEC second team and is a highly praised player who many expect to return to the starting lineup this season.
The expectations and hype continue as the Gloster, Miss., native was named to the preseason All-American team. Other awards include the 2005 All-SEC second team, the 2005 Sports Illustrated All-Bowl team, 2004 Freshman All-American Team and Freshman All-SEC team.
He remains optimistic about his recovery.
“I’m still trying to get back into it,” Arnold said, “It’s going well, and there’s nothing unexpected. It just takes time, but I’ll be ready to go.”
Early in camp LSU coach Les Miles said Arnold was “still being kept out of the mix” during scrimmages so his injuries could heal. But Arnold has been making more appearances as camp has progressed. In the Tigers’ final scrimmage of camp, Arnold played every down.
Stewart, who has been thrust into his new role without any starting experience, said he was nervous but felt no real pressure.
Hitt is continuing to learn his position and received the most improved player on offense award this past spring.
Miles said the position has some “exceptional” young players vying for spots.
One of the players garnering a lot of fan and media attention is freshman tackle Joseph Barksdale from Detroit.
As a high school defensive tackle, many recruiting websites rated Barksdale a top-rate prospect. Because of the depth on the defensive line and lack of experience on the offense, Barksdale was moved to the offensive side of the ball during the off-season.
Defensive coordinator Bo Pelini praised Barksdale’s athletic ability, but said he would have more of an opportunity to excel on the offensive side.
Barksdale said he eventually decided on the change after talking with coaches.
“I thought about [the decision], but not too heavily, because I thought we were loaded at offensive tackle.”
This switch is not a completely new experience for Barksdale because he played the position in high school.
Defensive ends Rahim Alem and Kirston Pittman said Barksdale and the offensive line are making their jobs more difficult during scrimmages.
“They’re great,” Pittman said, “They’re really some hard-working guys, and they’re real physical. Going against those guys makes us better.”
—-Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]