Defending a national championship was bound to be difficult for an LSU squad that needed to replace senior quarterback Matt Flynn, even more so when the Tigers also lost their quarterback of the future.
When coach Les Miles decided he could no longer risk further off-the-field distractions from the talented but troubled Ryan Perrilloux, the Tigers were left to face an always challenging Southeastern Conference schedule with virtually no experience under center.
LSU also had to replace former defensive coordinator Bo Pelini, who had taken over at Nebraska after the Tigers closed out the 2007 season with their second BCS title in five years. The adjustment to a new co-defensive coordinator setup proved difficult as well.
With a 7-5 regular season that included lopsided losses to Florida, Georgia and Mississippi, LSU went from being the best in the land to unranked in less than a year.
Still, there were signs of hope in Wednesday night’s Chick-fil-A Bowl. LSU’s resounding 38-3 win over No. 14 Georgia Tech served as a reminder that the Tigers remain a talented bunch. It also provided indications that a new quarterback of the future has emerged in freshman Jordan Jefferson.
Jefferson “really responded” to becoming the starter, Miles said.
“He’s got good feet. He can throw the football,” Miles said. “The best thing is, he’s a cool customer.”
Jefferson got his first start in LSU’s regular season finale at Arkansas and nearly led the Tigers to victory. He passed for 143 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for an additional 50 yards. The Razorbacks needed a 24-yard touchdown pass with 21 seconds left to pull out a 31-30 win, a result that served more as an indictment of the Tigers defensive shortcomings this season.
In the bowl victory over the Yellow Jackets, Jefferson passed for 142 yards and a touchdown to go with nine carries for 33 yards. His athleticism and heady knack for making plays was most evident when he scrambled away from pressure and used an underhanded flip with his left (and non-throwing) hand for a 12-yard completion to running back Charles Scott.
“When my opportunity came, I had to do what I could do,” Jefferson said after the Chick-fil-A Bowl. “It felt good that the players and the coaches felt confident in me, and that the team played well enough to win the way we did. … It was very exciting. My adrenaline was pumping. I just wanted to put points on the board.”
LSU’s much maligned defense also showed what it could do with a few weeks to prepare for Georgia Tech’s triple-option, not allowing a touchdown to a team that had averaged 377 yards and 26.2 points per game.
It was huge swing in performance for a unit that gave up 50-plus points each in losses to Florida and Georgia, then gave up more than 30 points each to Mississippi and Arkansas.
Those earlier results led co-defensive coordinators Bradley Dale Peveto and Doug Mallory to seek work elsewhere. Peveto was named Northwestern State’s new coach weeks before the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Miles said after the bowl game that Mallory has been offered the defensive coordinator job at New Mexico.
Miles is expected to go back to a single defensive coordinator, and the likely candidate this week was John Chavis, who was Phillip Fulmer’s defensive coordinator for 14 years at Tennessee. On Thursday, LSU had yet to confirm the hiring, which had been reported by several media outlets.
On offense, LSU was explosive in spurts and consistently strong in the running game.
Scott, a powerful inside runner, rushed for 1,174 and 18 TDs, including three scores in the bowl game.
