After receiving critical acclaim from teammates and coaches alike during the last two spring football sessions, junior wide receiver D.J. Chark’s long-awaited breakthrough finally came on Saturday during LSU’s 23-20 victory against Mississippi State at Tiger Stadium.
Chark reeled in a 37-yard strike from redshirt junior quarterback Danny Etling in the back of the endzone, jetting LSU (2-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) out to an early lead and its first points in the first quarter this season. The reception served both as Chark’s first career receiving touchdown.
“I knew I had a deep post on the play, and I knew what [junior wide receiver Malachi Dupre’s] assignment was,” Chark said. “He did a good job for taking his guy, so it was one-on-one. And Danny threw a great ball. I was just trying to look in until the tuck, like coach always tells me, and try to get my feet inbounds.”
Chark was targeted five times and finished with three catches for 52 yards and a touchdown. His performance booked him a ticket to the post-game media room. The soft-spoken speedster still isn’t used to the attention and offered a sheepish laugh while reporters flocked to his post.
“Go D.J.!” senior and fellow wide receiver Travin Dural yelled from beyond the wall of reporters.
Chark’s transcendence has been promised since the spring of 2015, following the former four-star prospect’s freshman season. But he only appeared in five games last year with no starts or catches.
Then came “the play.”
Chark’s jets were on display in last season’s Texas Bowl, when he took an end-around 79 yards to the house on his first career touchdown.
LSU coach Les Miles tried a similar look on the first snap from scrimmage on Saturday — this time a reverse on a pitch from junior running back Leonard Fournette. Tiger Stadium roared when its darling son took the pitch, but the Bulldogs sniffed out the play and corralled Chark for a four-yard loss.
The 6-foot-3 wideout said he doesn’t quite understand “Tiger Nation’s” affinity for him, but it’s what fuels his play.
“When I’m out there, I try to just stay in the game, but it’s hard to ignore the eruption that I hear,” Chark said. “It motivates me to do it the next play. We have one of the best fanbases in the country … Knowing they’re on my side is a great feeling.”
Chark appeared ahead of Dupre, who struggled reeling in the ball early in the season, lining up in most of LSU’s two-wide sets with Dural and staying on the outside when showing a three-wide look.
“Just trying to see different talents and skills and move those guys around just gives it a different look,” Miles said. “All three of them know how to play those different spots, so we’re fortunate to be able to mix and match. What we found worked with those skills and talents of each guy.”
A second touchdown could have improved his career day, but Chark, who said he’s struggled with consistency, showed a lack of focus, dropping what would have been an 18-yard touchdown.
Chark told his teammates on the sideline that play was behind him and he was purely focused on catching the next ball that came his way — and he did, he said.
“I’m really just grateful that I can actually be in there this year,” Chark said. “I went through a lot of ups and downs, and now that I’m out there, it’s a great feeling knowing that I’m playing with two guys that I’ve really look up to since my freshman year.”