LSU Tigers: Danielle Hunter
1. Mettenberger adjusts: Quarterback Zach Mettenberger completed 12 of 19 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns, all in the first half, after he evidently adjusted his own game plan.
Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron came up with the idea of allowing the quarterbacks to call their own plays in the spring game, so Mettenberger had some adjustments to make to his own calls.
"It was tough out there," the quarterback said. "Coach Cameron allowed us to call our own plays and it was the first time I've ever done that. It was kind of a slow start to get going, but we turned it around and had a pretty good day."
LSU coach Les Miles said the idea was to allow coaches to get a better feel for each quarterback's preference in certain situations and to allow the quarterbacks to gain a respect, and some insight, in the play-calling process.
"It allows you to see how the quarterback thinks," Miles said. "It allows you to see how he views the game plan, what he would call. I think it was a tremendous exercise."
It didn't get off to a rip-roaring start. Playing against a depleted second-team defense, the White offense managed a single field goal in its first three possessions before threw touchdown passes of 15 and 79 yards from Mettenberger to tight end Dillon Gordon and receiver Odell Beckham on consecutive possessions.
"We turned it around and had a pretty good day," Mettenberger said.
That goes especially for Beckham, who had two touchdown and 202 receiving yards on six catches, and Jarvis Landry, who added 132 yards on six catches.
2. Left out: LSU was without six injured first team players, as the secondary was depleted by injuries that kept out Jalen Collins, Jalen Mills and Ronald Martin. Offensive linemen Elliott Porter and Vadal Alexander also missed the game, as did defensive end Jermauria Rasco.
5 things to look forward to at spring game 
BATON ROUGE, La. -- For the first time since the disappointing loss to Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, LSU will be in action for public consumption Saturday when the Tigers play their annual spring game at Tiger Stadium.
Like many teams in college football, most of the Tigers' preparations are done behind closed doors. For the public, there is no access to practices. For the media, there are a mere 10-15 minutes of open practices most days. For students, there's Thursday's open practice (4 p.m. with student ID).
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BATON ROUGE, La. -- For LSU fans who worry about how the defensive line will look in 2013 after the Tigers lost all four starters, seeing Danielle Hunter walk into a room would ease their minds.
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From Joseph (Seattle): Is it that I'm too LSU focused, or is there a surplus of hidden talent in Baton Rouge? And, coupled with the motivation created by "everyone counting them out," the Tigers are positioned to have a big season?
Gary Laney: When you look at the players stepping up at the areas where LSU lost starters, they were all highly-regarded prospects.
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Practice dates: March 14, 15, 16, 19, 21, 23 (scrimmage), 25, 26 and 28. After spring break, resumes April 9, 11, 13 (scrimmage), 16, 18 and 20 (spring game).
What's new: Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron will install his new offense, and four new starters will man the defensive line.
What's old: The Tigers have eight returning starters on offense, led by quarterback Zach Mettenberger.
Offensive outlook:
Starters returning (8): QB Mettenberger, RB Jeremy Hill, FB J.C. Copeland, WR Jarvis Landry, WR Odell Beckham, LT La'el Collins (moved from left guard), LG Josh Williford (moved from right guard), RG Trai Turner, RT Vadal Alexander.
New starters: TE Dillon Gordon or Logan Stokes, C Elliott Porter. Key reserves -- QB Stephen Rivers, RBs Alfred Blue, Kenny Hilliard and Terrance Magee, FB Connor Neighbors, LT Jerald Hawkins, RG Fehoko Fanaika, RT Ethan Pocic, WR James Wright, Kadron Boone, John Diarse and Travin Dural, TE Travis Dickson.
As LSU prepares to begin spring practice March 14, GeauxTigerNation will take daily looks at aspects of the spring camp. This is the third in the series:
BATON ROUGE, La. -- If you watched the NFL combine, you saw former LSU defensive linemen and defensive backs lining up to take their turns in drills.
So you want to know the areas of need as we head to the spring?
The combine gave you most of the answers.
Defensive end
Players lost: Barkevious Mingo, Sam Montgomery, Lavar Edwards, Chauncey Aghayere
Experience returning: Jermauria Rasco
Other candidates: Danielle Hunter, Jordan Allen, Justin Maclin.
Outlook: LSU won't have all of its candidates until August, when a trio of true freshmen arrive. But it'll be interesting to see who emerges out of the four veterans. Rasco worked his way into the top four last season and Hunter was a nice special teams player. Allen is coming off a knee injury. Any strong play from these four would be great news in the spring.
Defensive tackle
Players lost: Bennie Logan, Josh Downs
Experience returning: Anthony Johnson, Ego Ferguson
Others: Quentin Thomas, Mickey Johnson, Christian LaCouture.
Outlook: LSU is a little more solid here than at end because Johnson and Ferguson have seen plenty of snaps. Ferguson needs to step his game up though. There's a lot of talk that Thomas is a guy who might step up and earn significant playing time, possibly even challenging Ferguson for a starting spot. True freshman Maquedius Bain and Greg Gilmore will arrive in August. Another freshman, LaCouture, is already on campus.
Derick E. Hingle/US PresswireLamin Barrow is one of several options that LSU has to replace Kevin Minter at middle linebacker.Middle linebacker
Player lost: Kevin Minter
Experience returning: Lots of players, but are there any natural MLBs?
Outlook: This position is more a matter of finding the right guy than finding a guy. Does LSU move weak linebacker Lamin Barrow there? Does D.J. Welter, who was second team in the Chick-fil-A bowl after missing the season for academic reasons, get a shot? How about young Ronnie Feist? There are no shortage of candidates. It's just a matter of finding the right fit.
Left tackle
Player lost: Chris Faulk, Josh Dworaczyk
Experience returning: La'el Collins (could be moved from left guard), Vadal Alexander (could be moved from right tackle).
Others: Jerald Hawkins, Evan Washington, Jonah Austin, Ethan Pocic.
Outlook: Like middle linebacker, there are candidates here, but which one is the best fit? Collins was a highly-regarded prospect coming out of high school, but he got comfortable at left guard as a sophomore and there could be a reluctance to move him. Hawkins is a talented redshirt freshman, but do you really want a redshirt freshman blocking quarterback Zach Mettenberger's blind side? Alexander, last year's starter at right tackle, could be an option as well, but that would leave the Tigers having to find a new starter for two positions.
Bain, the No. 6 defensive tackle in the ESPN 150 and the highest-rated of the Tigers' 24 commitments, figures to play at LSU early. And he'll play a position where the Tigers have a tremendous recent track record for getting players to the NFL. Part of the reason there is a need for defensive tackles in this LSU class (Bain is one of four DT commitments in the class) is the presumed early departure of junior Bennie Logan to the NFL.
If Bain does play immediately, it will continue an LSU trend: Tiger freshmen should come ready to play because many of them will play. LSU used 15 true freshmen in the 2012 season, including four who started and a fifth who was a special-teams starter.
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For LSU's vets, special teams still in plan
Derick E. Hingle/US PresswireJust because LSU RB Alfred Blue will see more time on offense in 2012 doesn't mean he will be pulled away from special teams.Now that Landry has become not only a likely starter, but quite possibly a go-to guy, at wide receiver, does that mean his days providing the Tigers with a special teams spark plug are over?
Don't count on it, head coach Les Miles said. For players like Landry, free safety Eric Reid and running back Alfred Blue who once made their mark on special teams, that role doesn't go away just because they've seen their every-down role increase.
"The responsibility of guys like Eric Reid [on special teams] is to make sure that spot you played is played like they would play it, or, they play it," Miles said. "If you looked at our national championship year [2007], Jacob Hester [LSU's leading rusher that season] ran down on kickoffs. Our starting safety ran down on kickoffs.
"It's important enough so that our veterans play those snaps."
The emphasis on special teams pays off for the Tigers, who had an All-American punter in Brad Wing last season, the most accurate kicker in the SEC in Drew Alleman and some of the nation's best returners in Tyrann Mathieu and Morris Claiborne (both now departed). A big part of that is the quality of the players LSU chooses to use on special teams.
They make up a significant chunk of this 2012 LSU team, and many of them are expected to make major contributions this fall. But this 2012 class of Tiger freshmen -- barring some extraordinary circumstances -- won't be heard from again this season after Tuesday's interview session at LSU media day.
That's a funny thought when considering the impact this freshman class could make. The Tigers have high hopes for their youngsters, whether its a four-man linebacker class that is expected to give added depth to a unit that returns just one entrenched starter. The same can be said for the secondary, where LSU doesn't have many proven commodities behind safety Eric Reid and the cornerback tandem of Tyrann Mathieu and Tharold Simon.
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After three days of split practices -- one with veterans in the morning and the other with newcomers and selected veterans in the afternoon -- the entire team came together Sunday morning. For the first time, we saw reserves gathered together as "scout" teams. And we got to see some impressive youngsters like defensive end Danielle Hunter and linebacker Kwon Alexander work with their more established teammates.
We also saw the first look at the "Big Cat" drill, the one-on-one trench battle that is a staple of LSU camps. Seeing wide receiver James Wright lose his helmet in a collision and wide receiver Jarvis Landry and cornerback Corey Thompson get tangled right into the crowd of gathered players and cameras were nice reminders that the physicality of August camp is here.
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In a lot of ways, the afternoon session of LSU's first day of practice was more intriguing than the morning.
None of the Tigers' playmakers were on display in the indoor practice session Thursday afternoon. All of the All-America candidates and key cogs for 2012 wrapped up their day during the morning. But the players who took the field for the later practice were the great unknown.
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When defensive tackle Michael Brockers went No. 14 overall in the NFL draft to the St. Louis Rams, the natural question for LSU fans became, "Can our defensive line be as good without him?"
ESPN's Mel Kiper put some of those fears to rest within a day when he came out with his first Big Board for the 2013 draft and LSU defensive ends Sam Montgomery and Barkevious Mingo were two of his top five picks
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ABOUT GEAUX TIGER NATION
Gary Laney
Gary Laney joined ESPN.com in 2012 after spending a year and a half as online sports editor of the Baton Rouge (La.) Advocate. Before that, he covered LSU sports for the Advocate. He has also been the sports editor at the Beaumont (Texas) Enterprise and covered McNeese State athletics for the Lake Charles (La.) American Press. Laney currently lives in Baton Rouge. Email him at glaneyespn@gmail.com