It makes perfect sense that sophomore wide receiver Malachi Dupre and sophomore quarterback Brandon Harris are good friends.
The pass-catching battery came to LSU in the same recruiting class and trudged through the low points of an arduous freshman season. They spent time tinkering with the once-maligned passing game, pushing through a 4-for-14 performance in LSU’s 44-22 win against Eastern Michigan University on Oct. 3.
They both even entered the world on the same day: Oct. 12, 1995.
The duo assisted detouring motorists driving through the heavy Baton Rouge downpour on Oct. 25, and attempted to help one woman retrieve insulin for her son as her car was trapped by the flooding.
And as friends sometimes do, Dupre works as somewhat of a psychologist for the ultra-competitive Harris, who gets worked up by outside noise. Harris hasn’t spoken to the media since LSU’s Oct. 17 win against the University of Florida, but Dupre said he knows Harris isn’t afraid to speak his mind about media skepticism.
“As a football player, you don’t really worry about the media as much as wanting to do the interviews,” Dupre said. “But I will say, if he got the opportunity to do them, he would tell y’all how he really feels. That’s just how he is.”
Harris may play with an unrelenting chip on his shoulder, but the critics of LSU’s passing game may be changing their tune. Over the Tigers’ last three games, Harris completed 42-of-67 passes for 716 yards and seven touchdowns. Thirteen completions, 275 yards and four touchdowns went to Dupre.
Dupre was also on the receiving end of six “chunk plays” — completions of 15 yards or more — in the three Tiger wins against the University of South Carolina, Florida and Western Kentucky University. On the year, the New Orleans native has nine such chunk plays, aiding to a 18.91 yards-per-reception clip, which ranks second in the Southeastern Conference.
After two-straight games with touchdowns of more than 50 yards, Dupre adds home run-hitting ability through the air that sophomore running back Leonard Fournette brings on the ground.
“Hitting home runs in games is awesome, just like any other big play in sports — like a home run [in baseball],” Dupre said. “It just gives extra momentum for a team. Like you said, a 10-yard slant for a touchdown, that’s exciting. You’re putting points on the board. But if you’re on the 50-yard line and you get a 50-yard touchdown, I feel like those aren’t always as expected as if you’re in the red zone and score.”
To be second in the SEC in receiving touchdowns while playing in the fifth-best rushing offense in the nation seems like a difficult task. But Dupre, Harris and LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron have figured out ways to exploit run-committing defenses as the Tigers rank in the top 30 in the nation in total offense.
Even with Fournette’s success and the running game, fine tuning the passing game, especially before Saturday’s test with No. 4 Alabama, was still the priority. Harris’ growth continues to evolve in Dupre’s eyes, which is beyond statistics.
“Definitely not the stat sheet at all,” Dupre said. “That’s just a testament to the coaches calling plays and us executing. I just feel like I can see him growing on the practice field as a leader and doing all the little things well. If he doesn’t make a throw that he feels is the best for him, he can coach himself.
“I think the coaches can see it also. Maybe at one point in his career, if he messed up, the coaches might have tried to coach him at that point. Now, they let him coach himself. That just shows maturity and the coaches having trust in you to coach yourself.”