The 99,910 fans in attendance at Tiger Stadium saw something new besides LSU’s gold jerseys on Saturday.
Lined up in the pistol formation, junior quarterback Danny Etling handed the ball off to tailback Leonard Fournette only for the All-Southeastern running back to pitch the ball to junior wide receiver D.J. Chark on a reverse.
Chark ran across field to an array of Mississippi State defenders waiting to tackle him for a loss of four yards.
Instead of No. 7 carrying the ball on the first play of the game, it was a speedy wide receiver trying to get a “feel” for the defense in the Tigers 23-20 win against the Bulldogs.
“We’ve been practicing them,” Etling said about the “counteraction” plays, as LSU coach Les Miles called the reverse. “Why practice them if you’re not going to call them?”
Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron dialed up three different trick plays in the first half.
By the end of the half, Etling wasn’t the only player to throw a pass.
Fournette nearly completed a touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Travin Dural, and junior wide receiver Malachi Dupre overthrew Etling on another reverse pass play.
“I would like to have those reverse calls back if I could get them right now,” Miles said.
Though the trickery the Tigers tried to pull was to no avail, it was a stark contrast from the normal toss dive running plays out of the I-formation LSU fans are used to seeing.
Trickery was just one piece of the puzzle for the LSU offense on Saturday.
Mississippi State’s defensive backs were shown multiple looks. Dupre sometimes lined up in the slot, and Chark moved into the X-receiver position.
“We really were just moving around and looking for different ways we can take advantage of the specific defense,” Chark said.
Chark, Dupre and Dural were successful in their respective roles. Dupre, who had problems with dropped passes in the first two games, lead LSU with 54 receiving yards and had four catches.
The shifting of roles on offense lead to a more relaxed environment for the wideouts, Chark said.
“I didn’t feel that much pressure, because Malachi and Travin were getting open,” Chark said about lining up in different positions. “We were really in sync.”
For the most part, LSU’s attack on offense was balanced, and was able to gain 215 yards on the ground with 36 rushing attempts and throwing 30 passes for 215 yards.
To Miles, stability on offense is always his goal.
“It’s always been my desire to be 50-50 on any given down,” Miles said. “Danny Etling executed the things that we asked him to do, and I think that’s really the story here.”