With the loss of offensive standouts Matt Mauck, Michael Clayton and Devery Henderson, this year’s 2004 football team will have to find a way to manage without them. And with a new quarterback at the helm, senior Marcus Randall said he is confident in the offense despite the loss of some of its stars.
“I think guys are going out and working hard everyday,” Randall said. “We’re still competing hard. We’re just trying to get better.”
Randall added the team has maintained a good attitude with a new group of players.
“The attitude is still there,” Randall said. “Everybody’s still up and ready to go. Now we’re just trying to break in a whole new group of guys. Positive things are still going on.”
In his first spring as the starting quarterback, Randall has had his ups and downs in practices.
“I struggled a little bit on timing,” Randall said. “We [have] a lot of new guys. With me being new, and the two new quarterbacks, we’re just basically going out and trying to get better and better on timing and things like that.
Randall also said he has benefited from the experience he has had.
“I go up to the line, I know exactly what I’m looking for,” Randall said. “I know what coverage I’m seeing. I know which things are going to work on which plays. I think things are starting to get a lot brighter for me.”
In his sophomore season, Randall started six of LSU’s last seven games following the injury to Matt Mauck at Florida. Following the Auburn game, in which Randall threw four interceptions, Randall then managed to put together a streak of 113 straight passes without an interception before it was snapped in the third quarter in the Cotton Bowl against Texas.
“Now, going in, I know what to expect,” Randall said. “I know the game speed and I’m basically just going out and getting it done.”
With the loss of Clayton, junior wide receiver Skyler Green will now be looked at as LSU’s No. 1 receiver.
Green said he is pleased with what the team has managed to accomplish this spring.
“We came together as a team tremendously this spring,” Green said. “We played hard together. It was a good spring all together, obviously.”
Green added the offense is improving with the three new quarterbacks.
“You just have to work with [the quarterbacks] and work together and you can get on the same page,” Green said. “Therefore, our team can make plays.”
Aside from Randall, freshman JaMarcus Russell and Matt Flynn are also in the quarterback mix.
After receiving catches from Mauck last season in LSU’s national championship run, Green will now have to become accustomed to working with Randall on the field.
“[Randall] goes out there every day and gets the job done,” Green said. “He works hard and he knows he has good guys backing him up. It’s making him work harder, and that’s the type of players we need.”
Green added he has seen significant improvement in all of the quarterbacks.
“I think [the quarterbacks] are working hard, all three of them,” Green said. “All three of them make mistakes, but they don’t build on it. They come back the next play and they get a little more professional.”
In the first scrimmage of the year, Russell threw a 30-yard touchdown to receiver Craig Davis, while Flynn put together two touchdowns, connecting with Shawn Jordan and Paul Coryell.
Despite the losses the team has suffered, the offense believes they can pick up right where they left off. And if LSU’s defense can mirror anything like that of last year’s defense, the success of next year’s team will fall entirely on the offense.