The first full day of the Tigers’ first full week of fall camp was certainly a hot one, and it is just not the temperature that was heating up. The action certainly was heating up today as during practice, Kyren Lacy and Harold Perkins were involved in a skirmish that escalated with most of the team participating it. Also, another wide receiver in Malik Nabers along with Major Burns got involved too. As a result, the two starting receivers in Nabers and Lacy immediately got sent to the locker room while Perkins was on the sidelines the remainder of practice. The Tigers three starting receivers did not practice the rest of practice outside as Brian Thomas Jr. was also unavailable due to injury.
Certainly, Brian Kelly was not pleased with how long the fight lasted. Two of his players Mason Taylor and Saivion Jones met with the media after practice to talk about it.
“That is something you can’t have. BK addressed it and we will move past it. We are using it as a steppingstone from where we are at right now to where we need to get to in order to become a championship program.”
“It’s hot out there. It’s humid. People aren’t in their right mind. We just need to use that as a pushing tool to where we need to be.”
LSU DE Saivion Jones
“It’s just high emotions. Everyone is excited to get out there. It’s the fourth day of fall camp. They are just excited to be out there. It’s not a big deal and we will be fine.”
LSU TE Mason Taylor
That was not the only time that the Tigers got chippy today as Maason Smith also got into it with some of the offensive linemen during the indoor session.
While the skirmishes and the intense tussles were the biggest takeaway from today’s practice, today was also a big day for a lot of guys.
The biggest winner today offensively has to be Chris Hilton Jr. In 7v7, the speedy Hilton made a tone of grabs today including one acrobatic grab he made down the left sideline. His performance today was a statement to everybody to not forget about him in this deep and talented rotation.
Aaron Anderson continues to open up some eyes as he showed some good hands today catching a pass in the middle of the field and also schooling a defensive back in one-on-one coverage with an impressive route.
Kyle Parker’s name continues to fly under the radar, but the talented freshman has been great not only in the fall, but also in the spring, and today, he makes a great over the shoulder catch down the field. Then, before the tussle that has made headlines today, Kyren Lacy had another nice practice until the skirmish with Perkins.
As far as how the two quarterbacks looked today, both were good in their own ways. Jayden Daniels was efficient in taking what the defense was getting him and finding the open receivers while also connecting on a couple of deep shots. Meanwhile, Garrett Nussmeier displayed his rocket of an arm and showed why he is the gunslinger of the group. Nussmeier’s big play arm resulted in a couple of big plays throughout the 11v11.
The only turnover during the 11v11 session turned out to be a great defensive play made by Andre Sam as he made a great break on the football and intercepted Nussmeier. The McNeese State transfer was today’s biggest winner on the defensive side of the football and took advantage getting first team reps at the position as Greg Brooks was dealing with an injury today. Brooks did return back to practice with the team, but did not take part in the rest of practice.
In speaking of injuries, JK Johnson was seen today on a scooter during practice and there is no timeline for his return. Because of the Ohio State transfer being out, it gave some more opportunities for guys like Zy Alexander, Duce Chestnut, Javien Toviano, and Laterrance Welch to get even more reps. Alexander and Chestnut were out in front getting the most first team reps. Sage Ryan was also getting starting reps at nickel.
On the defensive line, the front looks to be scary good as along with the inside guys of Mekhi Wingo and Maason Smith, both Saivion Jones and Quency Wiggins have the ability to form a dynamic duo at defensive end.
“The guys behind me, it is slowly getting pieced together. As the season moves on, it is going to start coming together.”
LSU DE Saivion Jones
Not to mention, guys like Ovie Oghoufo and Dashawn Womack are also making an impact. Womack, who was mentioned earlier in an article I wrote about impact freshmen, is certainly putting his name out there already as he has played both defensive end and “Jack” in practice. He also was able to put pressure in the 11v11 session by sacking Garrett Nussmeier.
Shifting gears back to the offensive side of the football, the tight end position is already making a lot of strides in adding the depth where the team really wants to be. Led by Mason Taylor, three other freshmen tight ends are all making plays when they are out there, especially Ka’Morreun Pimpton, who has constantly shown that he won’t drop a single ball.
“He (Pimpton) is good. He has a lot of potential and is a big play guy. He is a little slim right now because he’s a freshman, but he is going to put on some good weight. He is tall so any ball that is thrown at him, he can definitely go get it. He has shown a lot of potential already in a few practices that we’ve had.”
LSU TE Mason Taylor on Ka’Morreun Pimpton
On the offensive line, the starting rotation is the same. There was some switching around with the second group as Bo Bordelon was getting reps at left tackle, Mason Lunsford was getting reps at right guard, and Kimo Makane’ole was getting reps at left guard in the indoor session. Lance Heard also opened up some eyes with Saivion Jones even pointing him out as a guy that has already caught his eye during the media session. The Neville five-star recruit also got the best of fellow five-star Dashawn Womack on a 2v1 lineman drill.
At running back, Logan Diggs was getting the first team reps today along with Josh Williams and Armoni Goodwin, but with so many mouths to feed and especially having a dynamic runner at quarterback, expect no running back to get way more carries than the others.
Finally, the coaches made sure to have a whole session dedicated to special teams. After seeing special teams, it was a lot to be desired as there were a couple of muffed punts during the couple of reps we were able to see, but there was also some potential. After muffing a snap, Peyton Todd boomed a punt that left freshman Kyle Parker backing up to the end zone to field it and getting the first reps at returner was Aaron Anderson, who showed off his twitchiness and explosiveness during the reps. Also getting returns was Greg Clayton, Javen Nicholas, Kyle Parker, and Jalen Brown.
Having access to the entire practice today gives the media a lot of insight into what really goes on, especially when the competition and the action heats up.
Click below to read our other practice reports through fall camp!
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