LSU Football Coach Ed Orgeron wants the Tigers offense to be as explosive as it was in 2019 when the Tigers won a national championship with Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Joe Burrow. In Saturday’s spring game, Orgeron saw signs of that 2019 offense as LSU’s four quarterbacks combined to throw for 512 yards and four touchdowns.
Sophomore Max Johnson had the best statistical day out of the four, throwing for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Johnson completed 11-of-17 passes. Myles Brennan was 12-of-20 for 116 yards and one touchdown. T.J. Finley was 10-of-18 for 84 yards and newcomer Garrett Nussmeier threw for 132 yards and a touchdown, but was intercepted three times.
There were five total interceptions in the game. Derek Stingley, Jay Ward, Jared Small, Antoine Sampah and Ray Jones picked off passes. Small returned his interception 34 yards. Small a linebacker from Catholic High in Baton Rouge had 14 tackles. Another product from Baton Rouge also had a big game on defense. Former University High standout Jaquelin Roy had three sacks. Former Southern Lab star Damone Clark had a dozen tackles.
New Iberia native Kayshon Boutte was the leading receiver with 11 catches for 162 yards and a touchdown. Jontre Kirklin had a nice game with 10 catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns. Ty Davis-Price led a limited ground attack with 15 carries for 76 yards.
As far as the quarterback battle goes, that is far from being decided. The coaching staff gave all four quarterbacks an equal number of snaps with the first team offense. But Orgeron says when preseason camp arrives, they want to identify the top two guys and give them the snaps with the first team. Based on what we saw on Saturday, Johnson and Brennan will battle for the starter role heading into the season opener against UCLA.
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