BATON ROUGE – The LSU offense had a big day on Thursday as head coach Ed Orgeron put the Tigers through their second scrimmage of the spring here in Tiger Stadium.
Thursday’s workout was a situational scrimmage and consisted of LSU working on a variety of situations including short-yardage, third-down opportunities, first downs, red zone, and goal line. The scrimmage marked LSU’s sixth practice of the spring and also served as the final workout before LSU takes next week off for spring break.
“I thought the offense had a tremendous day,” Orgeron said after the scrimmage. “The quarterbacks made tremendous improvement today and it was due to the protection of the offensive line. I thought the offensive line did a good job of protecting (the quarterback). It wasn’t perfect but we made tremendous improvements.”
Overall, LSU’s three quarterbacks combined to complete 25-of-45 passes for 431 yards and three touchdowns with only one interception. Myles Brennan led the way by connecting on 12-of-16 attempts for 224, yards and a pair of TDs, including an 80-yard scoring strike to Racey McMath.
Junior Justin McMillan had another solid outing, completing 7-of-15 passes for 169 yards and one touchdown, while Lowell Narcisse was 6-of-14 for 38 yards.
“Myles had his best day today and Justin had his best day (last) Saturday,” Orgeron said. “Lowell continues to improve. We don’t even have our total offense in. This (quarterback competition) is going to go all throughout camp and we will announce a quarterback at the end of camp unless one is the clear winner. Right now, I don’t see that.
“We need to put a lot more of our offense in to see what they can do. We need to put them into the fire.”
McMath led all receivers with six catches for 169 yards and a TD, while Drake Davis followed with four catches for 102 yards, including a 75-yard TD reception from McMillan. Justin Jefferson added four receptions for 54 yards and Stephen Sullivan caught two passes covering 51 yards.
Nick Brossette rushed for 58 yards and five touchdowns, the majority coming during the goal line portion of the scrimmage, while Clyde Edwards-Helaire had 86 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. True freshman Tae Provens added 29 yards on seven carries, while McMillan accounted for 48 yards on four carries.
Orgeron attributed much of the offense’s success to the play of the offensive line.
“No. 1 it was the protection. There was no question,” Orgeron said. “(In first scrimmage) there were some routes that were open, and the quarterback could have got it to him, but the quarterback didn’t have the time to throw the football. Today, he had time to throw the football when the wide receiver was open. We got some empty sets and made some plays down the field. Overall, I thought it was the direct result of better protection.”
Defensively, Neil Farrell led the way with 10 tackles, which included five tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. Safety John Battle had seven tackles, while outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson added six tackles and a sack.
“The guys have been working very hard and they have been very intent on their days off with film sessions,” Orgeron said. “Overall, I thought it was a pretty good day. We practiced specifics and got better.”
