And cue the quarterback debate.
Jordan Jefferson exited late in the fourth quarter. Jarrett Lee entered. Three plays and 82 yards later, LSU had six points on the board and a 27-3 lead.
Who should start at quarterback for LSU now?
Let’s start off this heated discussion by breaking down that epic drive.
Stevan Ridley rushed for a yard. Lee passed to Rueben Randle right up the middle of the field for 16 yards. Ridley got the ball again and took it 65 yards up the right sideline for a touchdown.
Not too shabby for Lee’s first drive of the season.
For one, it ended in a touchdown for LSU and not the opponent.
Secondly and more importantly, it was the most efficient the offense looked all night. Lee’s one pass was right on the money, and Ridley looked as fast as anyone on either team.
Thirdly and most importantly, Lee did look pretty good handing that ball off to Ridley. You have to give the kid that much. Did you see how well he rolled away after he placed the ball in Ridley’s chest? Picture perfect. I don’t know if Drew Brees could have done it better.
Now let’s move on to Jefferson’s night.
The junior threw for a whopping 96 yards on 8-for-20 passing with an interception.
He once again couldn’t hit his open targets. He also has got to learn when to throw the ball away. He has had trouble with that throughout his career, and it hasn’t stopped this season. He is now a veteran quarterback in the Southeastern Conference, and there is no excuse for those kinds of mistakes.
However, Jefferson did contribute to that rushing attack with 13 yards. The problem is that it took him 13 rushes to get those yards.
With all of that in mind, here comes my final assessment.
Draw!
Wait, what?
Remember that time when Lee was a freshman and threw more pick-sixes than you could count on one hand?
Remember how everyone wanted him to leave campus and never come back? Good times.
Remember that time when Lee started off last season 2-for-2 for 11 yards and a touchdown before finishing the season 14-for-38 for 197 yards, a touchdown and an interception? Good times.
Now you are all going to start praising him, aren’t you?
Yes, he’s now a junior and two years removed from all those interceptions. But the same could be said for Jefferson, who should by now have learned from past mistakes and still hasn’t.
I’m not trying to bash Lee in any way. I like the guy. He’s a lot better than everyone gives him credit for, and I think that if Les Miles would stick with him, he could be a pretty decent SEC quarterback. Honestly, if I had to choose between him and Jefferson, I would probably say give Lee a chance to prove he can lead LSU.
If the move is going to be made to Lee, it needs to be made now. Les Miles doesn’t need to start this whole two quarterback system thing again. It doesn’t work.
But I’m also not going to even begin yelling blatantly for either guy to start. I’ll leave it to the Tiger Rant message board on Tigerdroppings.com to start 50 new discussions on that, none of which will go anywhere.
Actually, maybe Les should hop on the Rant, get a head count of who wants Lee to start and who wants Jefferson to start.
Then, logically, whoever has the most shouldn’t start.
 
 
 
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Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]