Opening Statement…
“I
can tell you that I have been looking forward for this day. It marks
the beginning of game week. It allows a football coach, staff and team
to focus on the task at hand. I felt like we had a very good camp. It
was a very physical camp. One in which there was some conditioning. I
think our guys are looking forward to playing another team. Off of the
distractions of camp and the issue that involved a number of our
players, I think our guys understand fully the mistakes that we made.
It is a very interesting one when you describe what can happen, and you
do so repeatedly, so that the lesson can be learned. That being said, I
think all of us are looking forward to football. This team is looking
forward to playing in Dallas in Cowboy Stadium again. They’re looking
forward to playing a marquee team in college football in Oregon. The
50,000 plus tickets that were sold to LSU fans, we look forward to
going into that stadium and preforming very well.”
“Our
opponent is a 12-1 team and a runner up to the National Champion is
Auburn (last year). They return 13 starters, seven on offense and six
on defense. They are very talented. Chip Kelly has done a magnificent
job since he has been there. He has recruited extremely well. I watched
all three of their phases and they have talent at every spot. Again,
Chip does a great job of preparing them. Offensively, they can get the
ball snapped in six to eight seconds. They return maybe the marquee
back in the country in LaMichael James. They return a very talented
playmaker at quarterback in Darren Thomas. They return a number of
offensive linemen and have playmakers at wide receiver. Defensively,
I’d like to tell you they are less talented, but they’re not. They have
great speed and they attack the ball. They had 21 interceptions and
forced 16 fumbles last year. They are an athletic group. They play
their defense as well it is played. They play in zone and in man. They
come from all over the field. Although that offense is touted, that
defense plays as well and is as difficult to attack as any. On special
teams, they lose a returner, but their back ups are great returners and
I don’t think that they will miss a beat there. They have great speed
on coverage units. They return their punter and kicker, who was 10 for
13 on field goals. I think our guys are looking forward to a great
challenge. Our guys are looking forward to playing in that one. It will
be a great matchup.”
On Jarrett Lee’s poise…
“I
think in the three games that he played significant football a year ago
he showed poise. He threw the touchdown pass at the end of the game
against Florida. He was responsible for the drive that came down at the
end of the game to beat Tennessee. And he made a third and long play
late in the Alabama game that depicts a guy that plays in pressure
situations. I think there is an every play responsibility at the
quarterback position, and it is one that he is talking about. Going
into his senior campaign as the new starter, he is looking forward to
having a complete year.”
On the offense without the running option at quarterback…
“It
is interesting because we have to make an adjustment, but I don’t know
if it is necessarily different guys. I think the responsibility at the
tight end spot to block and catch the balls increases, certainly
Deangelo Peterson is one of those guys that will have to block well and
receive. Rueben Randle and Odell Beckham, a new name, are guys that we
expect to be receiving balls. We’re going to run the football. Our
tailbacks are going to have to step in there, possess the ball and
allow us to push the ball on our opponents on the ground. It is a
different style of quarterback. It is still the same issue: get the
ball to the guy with the opportunity to make plays for us.”
On scheduled snaps for Zach Mettenberger…
“We’re
seeing how Zach is coming. I would not want to forgo the competition to
allow this week to play out some, but I think that at this point
Jarrett has some advantages especially in the offense and how we call
things. I think there are some advantages to Jarrett now.”
On distractions…
“It
is kind of what we have asked our teams to do in several different
events here. Katrina, Rita, Gustav and really a number of different
times where we have had to deal with adversity. I don’t think it is
young players stepping up so much, but an understanding that when we
get onto the practice field it is about playing football, developing a
team and pursuing excellence. That commitment has not changed.”
On what the team feels about losing Jefferson and Johns…
“There
is a heart filled loss among the team for losing two teammates. I think
with that being said, it is just about going forward and going with a
little bit of a different cast of characters. There are some things we
can control and some things that we can’t. Right now there are two that
aren’t in the huddle. We’ll line up and play in their absence.”
“They
possess a great variety of plays from option to zone read to the
ability with a real mobile quarterback to use play action. They can do
so in six to eight seconds. They can put the pressure of the next snap
on you. I think that we have addressed it as best we can and will
continue to do so this week. It is a great challenge in handling the
speed of the game as well as the tempo of the game. We’ve had several
periods in every practice since last spring that he been designed to
give our defense an up tempo game. Obviously, Oregon will run it the
best.”
On inserting Jarrett into key situations last season…
“We
felt that he was really throwing the ball well and that the style of
football that we would use with him in the game was the style of
football needed to win that game. We went with Jarrett, and certainly
it benefitted us.”
On if any freshmen are going to play against Oregon…
“I
think there are a number of freshmen that will play on special teams
that will go down there and make big plays. I think Odell Beckham just
has a comfort in competition that comes from a great family where
competition is routine in their house. I don’t think there is any venue
that will take him out of his focus on what he needs to do. I think
La’el Collins is a guy that will play some as well. It is a group of
freshman.”
On Stephen Rivers…
“He
is in position now to be our third quarterback. Today we’ll get rid of
the veterans somewhat short of full practice and go with some of the
young guys. We’ll start looking at his snaps and see if we can improve
his being ready to play.”
On special teams…
“Drew
Alleman I expect to be very competitive. He will handle our kickoffs,
field goals and extra points. I think that he will be ready to do that
and compete with any of the country. He may be as good as we’ve had.
We’ll have to wait and see on that. Brad Wing and DJ Howard will handle
the punting, with the edge towards Brad Wing.”
On an indication on Russell Shepard’s return…
“We’re
following the procedure that the NCAA allows for a member institution.
We declared him ineligible and we seek reinstatement immediately. That
is the next part of the process and is ongoing. Hopefully there will be
some relief.”
On La’El Collins and Josh Dworaczyk…
“I
think Josh will be out for some time. There has been an evaluation on
his injury, and he should be operated on in the next ten days to 14
days. Collins has the ability to step in and play as a young player.
You look at T-Bob Hebert and Will Blackwell in front of that, but La’El
Collins has the ability. We don’t want to slow him up. We want to get
him to the field quickly.”
On the defense with Sam Montgomgery back…
“Sam
is a competitive man that will give us great play at the defensive end
spot. I am really looking forward to seeing our defense play. I think
they have gone against this style of offense for quite some time.
They’re looking forward to getting onto the field and Sam is certainly
one of them.
On the national perception of LSU following the recent incidents…
“I
don’t think that over time the reputation has changed significantly.
They recognize that a mistake was made and that there is an opportunity
to make a correction. The body of work has been done here and has not
changed over time. I think people will understand that this is a very
quality team.”
On linebacker Karnell Hatcher…
“A
lot of guys that come down from safety don’t necessarily have a natural
feel for a linebacker spot. Karnell Hatcher does. He is very athletic
and defeats blockers with athleticism when he can. At the same time he
is very physical at the point of attack. He takes guards on and
does it extremely well. He has been a real pleasant surprise. He has
taken to the linebacker spot very effectively.”
On quarterback Jerrard Randall and running back Jakhari Gore’s contributions to scout team…
“Gore
is as close to LaMichael James as we got. He does a great job in terms
of making those cuts and making some of those plays. Randall has a
Darren Thomas feel to him. We ran some live go against some of our
defense, and he is very elusive and is a tough player. I think this
week they’ll give our defense a great look to what Oregon would do.”
On Coach Studrawa and the offensive staff…
“I
think there is a great cooperative attitude in that staff room. I think
all of the guys, Steve Ensminger, Frank Wilson and Billy Gonzales have
all chipped in. There is a very comfortable working relationship there.
The skills that Steve Kragthorpe has have not been minimalized at all.
Coach Studrawa has taken the responsibility to heart and has done a
great job with it. The adjustments will continue. The progress has
improved. Kragthorpe will take a guy like Jarrett Lee, like any guy
going into their final campaign who has a base knowledge of plays, and
refine him and fine tune him to make sure that he is operating at those
margins that give him an edge.”
On the speed of Oregon’s defense…
“I
think this is as talented of a team that we’ve seen. They have speed at
all of the key positions. They play outside linebackers that are very
fast on the edge. Their safeties have the speed. Their corners are new
to the field, but I’m sure they are as talented as they’ve had. They
match up with the fastest teams that we will line up against.”
On how Jarrett Lee has responded to being the starter…
“He
is pretty excited. Certainly he did not want this to happen. This is
not how you want to insert anyone into the quarterback spot. If there
is a guy that was baptized under fire, that had to come to the field
very quickly and that had to learn on the run, that was Jarrett Lee. As
an example from the three games that I mentioned from last year, he is
really looking forward to playing full games. He is excited to have the
opportunity that he came here to do. He is upset about our team’s loss
but excited for his opportunity.”
On freshman wide receiver Jarvis Landry…
“What
I know that he is a talented player competing like heck. I don’t know
if he is currently under any difficulty with the judicial system in any
way. All I know is that he has spoken candidly to anyone that has
asked. We plan to have him unless we hear anything differently.”
On Oregon’s returning starters…
“We’ve
seen a lot of the guy that they bring back. They bring back a talented
five-technique tackle and a talented wide linebacker. Both safeties are
veteran guys that are tough tacklers and decorated guys. They have a
talented core of defenders. They miss guys, but the guys they return
are very talented.”
On this summer…
“I
think our team took the lesson that they needed to prepare more this
summer. In the preseason they understand that this team we are going to
play is talented. We could not go into a game like this not ready to
play. We are in great shape and have had a great camp. Those are the
lessons. We are looking forward to playing. If they are anything like
their coach, they feel like they’ve been pent up and ready to pursue
victory.”
On Jarrett Lee staying at LSU…
“There
is a strong commitment to want a degree from LSU. He wants to be
remembered as the quarterback, the player or the student athlete at
LSU. In the view of what could have been a transfer or at another
school, just didn’t match his friends and experiences that he has had
here, difficult and good. He felt that his abilities would serve LSU
and non-other. That was a very unselfish thing. Few men have the
capacity to be a great teammate, to be loyal to a school and now have
the opportunity to do the things that he came to school to do. I’m,
really excited for him.”
On what Auburn did against Oregon to slow them down…
“The
Auburn team in my opinion possessed the ball. They threw the ball
extremely well in that game. They came up with big plays. They had
great answers on offense. I did think that their defense played very
well. There was an explosiveness at the line of scrimmage where several
of the Auburn players made some great plays. They were deployed at a
position to make great plays. There are some similarities between our
defense and theirs when looking at the game. Their front four really
made enough negative plays and made it sticky to run inside. It changed
the course of the game in some regard.”
On Cowboys Stadium…
“We’ll
get into the stadium Friday. That evening we will be there briefly.
We’re fortunate to have played there before. We’ll try not to strain
our necks to look at the jumbotron that spans the field. With that
being said, I think our guys enjoy playing in big time venues. I can’t
imagine anyone would not be excited to play there.”
