LSU’s offense has had an entirely new look the last two days.
The scholarship quarterback quota has been halved, with the transfers of Lowell Narcisse and Justin McMillan, but the exits of those players has only brought the best out of the two remaining, Ed Orgeron told the media Wednesday.
“I’ve seen a complete difference on our offense the last couple of days,” he said. “There’s more consistency. Guys are playing with a lot of fire. There’s still a long way to go. But I see a pep in those guys step. Obviously, with four guys, nobody knew what was going on or who was going to be the starter.”
The four-man battle is down to two: junior transfer Joe Burrow and sophomore Myles Brennan. One of those two will emerge as the starter, after McMillan and Narcisse each decided to leave LSU following Saturday’s scrimmage. On Sunday, Orgeron and the offensive staff handed out grades to the quarterbacks and established a “pecking order,” which spurred both players to pack their bags.
“I don’t blame them,” Orgeron said. “If they see they’re not going to be the starting quarterback, they want to leave, I don’t blame them. We gave them some grades and there was a pecking order, but there was no decision made (on who would start).”
“We wish them the very best. Two Tigers who gave it their all here.”
Orgeron declined to name either Burrow, the more experienced Ohio State transfer and the odds-on favorite to win the job, or Brennan, the strong-armed second-year prospect with less bulk to his frame but plenty of zip on his throws, the starter.
“We’ll let it play out,” Orgeron said. “Those two guys, now they’re getting all the reps. We’re still going to let it play out until there’s a clear winner.”
Behind those two are walk-ons Andre Sale and Jordan Loving. The latter is a true freshman from Riverside with good athleticism, while Sale, a Tennessee Tech transfer, is now the third-stringer.
“I’m going to need to learn those to share them,” Orgeron joked about details he could share about Sale. “No, he’s a good boy. He’s a team leader. He’s smart. If need be, he could go in there and run our offense. He runs our service team offense just like Danny (Etling) did. I’m not saying he’s Danny, but he’s a similar type young man in terms of demeanor.”
ALSO…
Orgeron on talking with Narcisse and McMillan..
I had two great talks with both of those guys. It was a very positive talk on both sides. Those guys were gracious for LSU, I was gracious for them, and I wished them good luck.
On if there was a package for Narcisse as a runner..
We had a package for Lowell, a Wildcat package for him. We were going to use him in short yardage and goal line. I think he’s a fantastic quarterback, he just has to improve a couple of things. That package may be used for a tailback or someone else.
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