For many Tiger fans, the 2017 LSU Spring Game was the first time they have seen the LSU offense coached by new offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
Senior quarterback Danny Etling led the white team’s offense to start the scrimmage which had most of the first team offense on it.LSU utilized the jet sweep with senior wide receivers D.J. Chark and Russell Gage. There was motion after motion in the pre-snap wit receivers, tight ends, and running backs in motion almost every play.
For the purple team, sophomore quarterback Justin McMillan led the offense. Canada had them play a run-and-gun style offense with minimum , if any, time spent in the huddle. McMillan alternated some snaps with Zachary native, sophomore quarterback Lindsey Scott Jr. Sophomore running back Lanard Fournette led all rushers with 8 rushes for 38 yards.
While the fans were accomidating themselves with the new offense, the quarterbacks struggled, throwing a collective 5-14 for 63 yards in the outside portion of the game and it did not improve much when the game moved indoors. The one interception on the day was thrown by last-year’s starter, Etling.
With Chark being the first option at wide receiver, the search was on to see who could fill the second spot in the Spring Game. Drops haunted the wide-outs on both teams, and Coach Orgeron says it was all about nerves.
“Those guys looked nervous tonight” Orgeron said. “I’ll tell you what, Drake Davis had an excellent practice on Thursday. Then again, we got underneath the lights, we had some dropped balls, too many dropped balls, too many missed passes, timing wasn’t good, but again, it’s preseason game number one.”
Losing talent like Travon Dural, Leonard Fournette, Malachi Dupre and others on the offensive side of the ball can be difficult, but Orgeron said he was pleased with the offense’s performance in spring practice.
Orgeron also said that he is ready to see this team complete with all of its players including those who are injured and the new freshmen.
Canada’s new scheme may take a while to perfect, but they have from June, when they get the rest of the incoming Freshmen, until September 2, when they open the season in Houston versus BYU.