LSU is going to beat McNeese State easily Saturday night.
At the end of the game, I’ll be impressed if the Cowboys are within 35 points of whatever outlandishly large number LSU hangs on the scoreboard. With the result a foregone conclusion, what am I watching for Saturday night?
I’ll watch specific areas of the field and specific players, paying close attention to backups who sub in late in the game. If injuries happen, those are the players LSU will depend on.
This is what I’m looking out for, if you want to play along.
Quarterbacks
All anyone wanted to talk about this offseason is quarterbacks. LSU coach Les Miles confirmed sophomore Brandon Harris would be the starter, and now is the time for everyone to see how much he has progressed. I’ll go back and watch some highlights from his start against Auburn last season and compare it to what he does Saturday (with a grain of salt, of course, because Auburn and McNeese State are at two different levels). It’ll be interesting to observe how much chemistry he has developed with his receivers. Are they on the same page every play? When the game is out of hand, will junior Anthony Jennings come in for some reps?
Running backs
Everyone is watching sophomore running back Leonard Fournette — and rightfully so. But freshman running backs Derrius Guice and Nick Brossette and sophomore running back Darrel Williams should all get some looks. I’m interested to see how the workload is distributed among such a talented group. I’ll be looking at what each player can bring to the backfield that his teammates can’t.
Defensive line
I’m a big believer that defenses should be built from front to back. The success of a defense is heavily dependent on how dominant the defensive line is, no matter how great the secondary. Even a mediocre quarterback can find an open receiver if he has enough time to throw. It’s time to observe if LSU is able to get after the quarterback without having to heavily blitz. How effective will different players in the rotation be? There have been questions about depth after the Tigers lost a few defensive linemen during the offseason, so I’m curious to see how they’ve addressed that issue.
Secondary
I don’t know where or when Florida got the idea that it’s Defensive Back University. LSU is DBU. It’s been DBU for a while, and it looks like it’ll be DBU for years to come. The Tigers’ secondary is loaded with talent, and I’m curious how dominant it’ll be in 2015. How will junior safety Rickey Jefferson fare stepping in for injured junior safety Jalen Mills? How quickly will freshman cornerback Kevin Toliver II and freshman defensive back Donte Jackson adjust to the speed of college football?
LSU will play plenty of tight games as the season goes on, and you’ll want both eyes following the ball at all times. So take advantage of one of the few opportunities to watch a game in the pieces that make up the whole.
Jack Woods is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Ruston, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter @Jack_TDR.