LSU Tigers

BATON ROUGE, La. -- There's a new wrinkle to the Russell Shepard saga.

The blue-chip, dual-threat high school quarterback turned underachieving college receiver was worked out by NFL scouts Wednesday during LSU's Pro Day at, of all places, defensive back.

"Never played there in my life," Shepard said. "About six teams asked me to work out there. I thought I did pretty good. Like they told me, it's added value."

Shepard gave NFL teams reason to look for places he might fit. He excelled during physical testing, joining a list of LSU players who had good days.

Shepard ran a 4.5 electronic 40-yard dash and also had a 38.5-inch vertical leap, results that do not suggest a player who struggled to get involved in LSU's offense in his four years and was so marginalized, he was not invited to the NFL combine.

He wasn't the only Tiger to test well. Running back Michael Ford ran a 4.44 40-yard dash and had a 39.5-inch vertical leap, both results slightly better than his combine results. Linebacker Kevin Minter ran a 4.67 40 and had a 34.5-inch vertical leap, both significant improvements over the combine.

"We were at home," Minter said. "Makes all the difference."

Here are some other notables:

• Defensive end Barkevious Mingo did not participate in testing, but like former teammate Tyrann Mathieu got involved in position-specific drills.
• Defensive end Lavar Edwards ran a 4.78 and hit 21 repetitions in the bench press, looking like the next LSU player who might be drafted after not starting for the Tigers.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- It's only going to look like an all-comer's combine.

LSU's Pro Day on Wednesday will feature a whopping 28 participants, the result of a year where the Tigers sent 13 players to the NFL combine. Among the players will will participate is former LSU player Tyrann Mathieu.

Of the 28, 21 were members of LSU's 2012 team, while seven more participants were members of past LSU teams and are trying to catch the interest of teams as free agents.

Fans can watch the event live on ESPN3 at 1 p.m. ET.

Here are the players who are participating, according to LSU:

2012 team members: DE Chauncey Aghayere, K Drew Alleman, TE Chase Clement, DT Josh Downs, OT Josh Dworaczyk, DE Lavar Edwards, OT Chris Faulk, RB Michael Ford, DT Bennie Logan, C P.J. Lonergan, DB-KR Tyrann Mathieu, DE Barkevious Mingo, LB Kevin Minter, DE Sam Montgomery, S Eric Reid, WR Russell Shepard, CB Tharold Simon, RB Spencer Ware, P Brad Wing, DT Cleveland Davis, TE Tyler Edwards

Past Players (last year at LSU): OG Will Blackwell (2011), LB-DB Karnell Hatcher (2011), OL T-Bob Hebert (2011), QB Jordan Jefferson (2011), QB Jarrett Lee (2011), DS Alex Russian (2011), RB Charles Scott (2009).

BATON ROUGE, La. -- There's a popular t-shirt floating around Baton Rouge that says "There's Nobody in the Conference that has Swagga Like Us." with LSU in gold letters.

In postseason games, that was largely true...until last season.

When Alabama dominated the Tigers, 21-0 in the BCS National Championship Game, it not only ended LSU's dreams for one of the great seasons of the BCS era, it also put a damper to the notion that the Tigers, 5-1 in bowls under Les Miles, were at their best in postseason games.

That part of its swagger compromised, LSU will look to regain some of that reputation in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, the site of two of the previous five Miles LSU bowl wins.

"Our football team really is anxious for a quality game. We’re looking for a bowl game that’s a great matchup, and certainly those Clemson Tigers are a very, very talented football team," Miles said.

The Tigers coach has certainly done a masterful job of motivating his teams for bowl games. In 2008, an LSU team that limped to the finish in the worst year of the Miles tenure gouged Georgia Tech at the Chick-fil-A. Miles' Tigers teams have maimed Miami at the Chick-fil-A, knocked out Notre Dame at the Sugar Bowl, tamed Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl and, of course, owned Ohio State in the 2008 BCS national championship game.

The one blemish in all that came in the 2009 season when LSU met Penn State on a field that was so muddy, it was nearly unplayable, and lost 19-17 in the Capital One Bowl, the only loss to a non-SEC team in Miles' eight years as head coach at LSU. That's what it seemed to take to beat LSU in the postseason, a freakishly muddy field that negated LSU's speed advantage and took away the edge the Tigers seemed to have when Miles had time to prepare.

But that was before Jan. 9, 2012, the day that changed everybody's perception about how Miles-coached LSU teams prepared in bowls. LSU was so inept on offense, it crossed midfield just once. The Tigers looked lethargic, over-matched and ill-prepared at the tail end of what some were calling the greatest regular season college football has seen.

With LSU facing a 10-2 Clemson team averaging 42 points a game, Les Miles will have a chance to prove that last year an anomaly. And maybe restore that swagger.

Any chance Tyrann Mathieu had of returning to LSU's football team likely vanished with his recent arrest for simple possession of marijuana.

Mathieu, also known as the Honey Badger, was arrested and charged Thursday along with three former LSU football players, including former quarterback Jordan Jefferson, after officers found the marijuana in Mathieu's apartment, according to the police report. The report also said that officers found a marijuana grinder, a digital scale and 10 bags of high-grade marijuana inside the apartment.

Mathieu was dismissed from LSU's football team over the summer, after reportedly failing a drug test. He then entered a rehab center in Houston and later returned to LSU to resume classes with hopes of playing football somewhere in 2013.

That place likely won't be LSU now.

Remember when coach Les Miles said he expected there to be a happy ending for Mathieu in all of this? Well, this certainly isn't what he meant. Mathieu appeared to be doing all the right things. He was getting help and getting back to school without focusing on football. While it looked like he wanted to return to LSU's football team in the future, he knew it was going to be a tough road back.

He had to stay clean -- and he had to show he was ready to put his team first. Thursday's incident proved that Mathieu wasn't ready for that, and it really is sad to see someone with all that ability waste it again and again.

The Honey Badger was such an iconic figure in college football. As the original YouTube video claimed, Mathieu really did take what he wanted when he stepped out onto the playing field. Wherever the ball went, he was sure to follow. If LSU needed a spark or a big play, the Honey Badger was there to provide it.

Now, it looks like LSU can kiss any hope of that returning in the future goodbye. If Mathieu wants another shot at football, it might be best at this point if he and LSU officially part ways. His name was already muddied after a Sports Illustrated story revealed that Mathieu might have violated NCAA rules by promoting a nightclub while he was still a member of the team, and this arrest all but shuts the door on the Honey Badger's return to LSU's football team.

It wasn't the ending he was looking for, but here's to hoping he eventually finds one that makes him happy.

BATON ROUGE, La. -- In the season's first six games, LSU wide receivers have caught 65 passes -- not many when one considers that the Tigers have dropped close to 20.

Still, wide receiver Jarvis Landry doesn't want to portray the group as "struggling."

"We're not struggling at all," Landry said. "We're just trying to put [quarterback Zach Mettenberger] into a rhythm."

It seems, right now, each part of LSU's passing game is dancing to its own song, perhaps a step off the beat. The offensive line has struggled to protect Mettenberger, both in terms of physically handling assigned blocks and getting to the proper block. Receivers have struggled to consistently run the right routes or run them well, and have struggled to hang on to catchable throws. Mettenberger tries to do too much and turns the ball over.

It adds up to a passing game that is 12th in the SEC (195.7 yards per game) and eighth in pass efficiency.

One would think the Tigers need to drastically improve to have any chance to rebound from last week's 14-6 loss to Florida. The Tigers continue to face a gantlet going forward, starting with Saturday's home game against South Carolina and continuing with games against Texas A&M and Alabama.

South Carolina leads the SEC in sacks, while A&M has the SEC's individual sack leader (Damontre Moore). Alabama has the nation's best defense.

It's hard to imagine LSU being able to simply run at any of the three. And if the Tigers are to balance the run with the pass, they will have to be much more in rhythm with each other than they have been, particularly recently.

The problems, they say, are largely ones that are correctable, which had many of those involved in the passing game frustrated a bit this week.

"We're so close to being a good offense," Mettenberger insisted.

What keeps it from happening?

"Little things," Landry said.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- In the second quarter Saturday, with LSU's offense trying to climb out of a miserable funk, Odell Beckham, Jr., got open behind the Towson defense.

The only receiver out for a pass on the play-action throw, he got free on a post pattern anyway and ran with nobody near him toward the back of the end zone, just in front of, and smack in between, Tiger Stadium's iconic double goalposts. The pass from Zach Mettenberger wasn't perfect -- Beckham had to turn and extend over his head to make a stumbling catch -- but he did haul it in nicely for a 27-yard touchdown, his first of the season.

With it, the dark clouds over Tiger Stadium and the LSU passing game seemed to lift.

He added another touchdown on a 53-yard bomb from Mettenberger in the fourth quarter of the 38-22 win, capping a night in which he seemed to put the troubles of a bad game a few weeks earlier against Washington behind him and, perhaps, shook LSU's passing offense to life.

"It's definitely a confidence builder," said Beckham after he caught five passes for a career-high 128 yards and also added a 30-yard punt return. "You have to take it as a learning experience and keep working every single day."

Beckham has had to learn to deal with the humility of a bad performance this season. Coming off a freshman season where he was second on the team in receiving with 41 catches for 475 yards and two touchdowns, the New Orleans native had struggled since the season's second game, when he fumbled the opening kickoff and dropped three passes during the Tigers' otherwise near-flawless 41-3 blowout of Washington.

The Towson game was the first all season where Beckham led the Tigers in receiving, a sign that he was getting back to his old self.

"Receiver, it's all about confidence," Metterberger said. "He had a great week of practice. He came into the week with confidence."

Self-confidence is not something that had been lacking for Beckham. He quickly made a name for himself as a true freshman in 2011, passing by many older receivers to become the Tigers No. 2 receiver and the starter opposite Rueben Randle. He was a reliable secondary target for both Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee when defenses focused their attention on Randle.

Mettenberger said Beckham's natural self-confidence was part of his freshman success and he saw it again against Towson.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- The carries keep coming for LSU fullback J.C. Copeland.

After getting just two carries -- for no yards -- in his first two seasons, the junior already has two rushing touchdowns in his junior season with six carries for 35 yards in the first two games.

"I worked on it all summer," said Copeland, a converted defensive tackle. "I worked on catching the ball, hanging on to the ball, being a better overall player."

He had little background in anything involving ball skills. When offensive line coach (and now offensive coordinator) Greg Studrawa asked Copeland if he had ever played fullback during his freshman year, Copeland said he had in high school, but only as part of a "crazy package" his prep team put together. He embraced the move and got playing time, splitting time last season with senior James Stampley. But he was mostly called on to be a battering ram at the position.

This season, not only have his snaps gone up as he's become the unquestioned starter, but also because of a change of offensive focus. After the departure of Jordan Jefferson, a quarterback whose talents led to the Tigers running a lot of plays from the spread, LSU has been more of an I-formation team this season with drop-back passer Zach Mettenberger at quarterback. That means more plays for Copeland because fullbacks would normally not be part of the a spread personnel package.

LSU has run only 30 offensive plays this season that have not included the use of a fullback. Opponents have struggled to slow down a rushing attack averaging 5.7 yards a carry, most of which come behind Copeland, who has slimmed down to a still-powerful 272 pounds this season.

"It's great," running back Kenny Hilliard said of following Copeland. "A fullback, 270, in front of you, crushing linebackers ... you know what I'm saying? I'll run behind him any day of the week. I just love what he's doing."

Now, Copeland added ball skills to his game. With two touchdowns in two games on the ground, the next step would be to catch a pass, something coach Les Miles said is in his repertoire.

"He's capable," Miles said. "It's an advantage to have a guy who can run as well as he does and block as well as he does and, we'll see if we can get him some receptions because we really think he's that guy."

ULM provides lesson: Don't think for a minute that Louisiana-Monroe's upset of Arkansas won't be a topic of conversation at LSU this week as the Tigers prepare to play Idaho.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- If there weren't enough expectations built up for new LSU quarterback Zack Mettenberger and the Tigers' new-look passing game, there probably will be after LSU's final scrimmage Tuesday.

Mettenberger, getting extended action in the last full scrimmage before the start of the regular season, completed 26 of 36 passes for 336 yards, "a number of touchdowns," and one interception according to LSU coach Les Miles, in a closed and long scrimmage at Tiger Stadium.

As is the case with all LSU scrimmages, the workout was closed from both the public and the media. Statistics were provided by Miles.

Playing against second-team defenders, Mettenberger threw for almost as many yards as he did in the first two scrimmages combined and also played more as the LSU coaches looked to fine tune things in the last "camp" practice before their attention gets turned to the Aug. 1 opener against North Texas.

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