LSU Tigers

Chris Low talks with LSU Tigers receiver Kadron Boone about the 2013 season.

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Here are things to know as LSU starts spring practice:

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.

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Maybe Johnny Manziel and his Texas A&M Aggies aren't quite ready for their SEC coming-out.

Even in a game they dominated.

Two second-quarter turnovers led to two touchdowns and helped No. 6 LSU erase a 12-point second-quarter deficit for a 24-19 SEC win at Kyle Field on Saturday. Despite a 410-316 yardage edge for the Aggies, No. 18 Texas A&M had five turnovers, including three interceptions for Manziel, who completed 29 of 56 passes for 276 yards.

It was over when: LSU running back Jeremy Hill took a power run 47 yards for a touchdown with 3:12 left. The play was eerily similar to his 50-yard touchdown that gave the Tigers a 23-21 win over South Carolina last week. Manziel was intercepted by LSU's Tharold Simon on the play before -- Manziel's third of the game, doubling his season total.

Game ball goes to: Hill, the LSU true freshman running back who rambled for 127 yards on 18 carries, again breaking out the big run when the game was on the line.

Key stat: 5-0. The turnover margin. After LSU gave up a first-quarter touchdown drive and a field goal drive, the Tigers figured out A&M's spread offense, harassed slippery Manziel and forced turnovers. Texas A&M jumped to a 9-0 first-quarter lead that increased to 12-0 in the second quarter, but it did not score another touchdown until the game's final two minutes.

Key play: Zach Mettenberger's 29-yard touchdown pass to Kadron Boone with 11 seconds left in the first half. After the Aggies had dominated the half, Boone made a nice double move, then a diving catch to give LSU a shocking 14-12 halftime lead.
The touchdown was set up by a Ben Malena fumble, forced by Ronald Martin and recovered by Lamin Barrow.

What it means: Ready or not, LSU (7-1, 3-1) has its showdown with No. 1 Alabama in two weeks, and the Tigers will have a lot to work on in their off week. The Tigers had triple-digit penalty yards and, as has often been the case, could not move the chains consistently.

Texas A&M (4-2, 2-2) is now 0-2 against the SEC powers, both close losses at home. The Aggies have shown they belong, but maybe aren't quite ready for prime time.

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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AUBURN, Ala. -- Walking into LSU’s locker room at halftime gave Sam Montgomery a sick feeling inside.

But it wasn’t because his team was trailing 10-9 to what seemed like an overmatched Auburn team. Montgomery was upset at the long faces and disgusted by the hanging heads that followed him in.

“I’ve seen that before and I refused to have it again,” LSU’s junior defensive end said.

So, like any good leader, Montgomery stood up and addressed his teammates. He urged them to wipe the despair from the faces and expunge the negativity. The game was ugly, but Montgomery reminded players -- and coaches -- that these are the games LSU lives for.

Too close for comfort is something LSU and its head coach have thrived on for years, and to have a rough half spoil a night in Jordan-Hare was unacceptable.

“It’s one of those things where I know being a veteran guy that I’m going to go and give my all,” Montgomery said. “I just need somebody to come with me. And those guys really listened to me.

“That was a great point and time for our team to grow up and be men.”

And for the next 30 minutes of play, the Tigers did grow up, as they shut out Auburn and walked away from Pat Dye Field with their spirits soaring after a nail-biting 12-10 victory.

It’s very cliché, but all championship-caliber teams have these sluggish, uncomfortable games that serve as a pick-me-up.

Saturday night was LSU’s pick-me-up.

It was ugly, sloppy and uncharacteristically bad for a team that has real hopes of making back-to-back trips to the national championship game. But it wasn’t a loss, and it should motivate LSU.

Especially because execution, not talent, was the issue.

There was the opening drive that went 56 yards down to Auburn’s 2-yard line that ended with a Zach Mettenberger fumble. Then there was the second fumble by Mettenberger on the ensuing drive that almost ruined Montgomery’s safety after fumble No. 1.

After Mettenberger’s second turnover, LSU’s offense basically went into hiding, and the mistakes and miscues shined brightly.

At halftime, LSU had three penalties. By the end of the game, the Tigers had committed nine for 80 yards. They weren’t even tolerable ones, as Les Miles called them “knickknack.” They were careless and either gave Auburn hope or stalled what looked like promising LSU drives.

If penalties weren't hurting the Tigers, engineering plays was. When big runs seemed to ignite LSU’s offense, wild passes, drops or more penalties killed drives. After LSU’s Drew Alleman hit the go-ahead field goal early in the third, LSU mustered just 84 more yards on its last four drives.

“We knew it was going to be a dogfight coming in, but we were just shooting ourselves in the foot,” said wide receiver Kadron Boone, who led LSU with three catches for 49 yards. “We have to correct those mistakes because they can hurt us in the back end of the schedule.”

And Boone's right.

Against Auburn, miscues helped a struggling team feel like it could upset the No. 2 team in the country. Against another ranked SEC opponent, they could cost LSU a win.

This team is too talented to let silly mistakes and a lack of poise, as Miles put it, get in the way of wins. A lack of execution irked Miles, but the penalties upset him, and he knows those can break any team in key situations.

“I promise you that’s something we gotta fix,” Miles said.

But with a grind-it-out, grit-your-teeth win like this, there are some positives. Miles' team grew and won a tight game in a great SEC atmosphere on the road.

That goes a long way in the confidence department, and heading into the meat of the SEC season, it served as a wake-up call for Miles' Tigers.

“It’s a tremendous lesson for us,” Miles said. “It’s something we’ll certainly be able to teach from in a very aggressive manner.

“Not perfect. Work to do, but we’ll take a victory on the road at Auburn.

“This is a place that tests you and I am pleased. That’s what we needed to have happened.”

BATON ROUGE, La. -- If you wanted pretty, Tiger Stadium has not been the place to be.

Zach Mettenberger threw two touchdowns, but also a red zone interception and took two sacks. The LSU defense gave up a long touchdown drive and was bailed out only by an interception return for touchdown.

It added up to an ugly 28-14 lead for No. 3 LSU over winless Idaho.

Stat of the half: Three, the number of game-changing interceptions. Ronald Martin intercepted two passes, one to set up an LSU touchown and another returned 45 yards for another touchdown. And, in what's been the play of the game so far, Mettenberger threw a red zone pass right into the arms of Gary Walker of Idaho at the 1, who returned it 94 yards to the LSU 5 to set up a Vandals touchdown.

The Tigers were driving to take a three-score lead when Mettenberger threw the interception and instead found themselves in a competitive game.

Player of the half: Martin, who started for an ailing Craig Loston at strong safety and had the two interceptions of Dominique Blackman, who was otherwise effective, throwing for 99 yards on 12-for-15 passing. A high honorable mention goes to cornerback Jalen Collins, who deflected both passes into the arms of Martin.

What's working for LSU: The Tigers' coverage of Idaho's receivers has been good, keeping Vandals passes short. LSU has mostly shut down the Idaho running game.

On offense, Mettenberger has found the deep touch with throws of 33- and 23-yards to Russell Shepard and threw touchdown passes to Kadron Boone and Jarvis Landry.

What's not working for LSU: The Tigers aren't getting to Blackman, who's finding the time to pick the Tigers apart.

LSU's running game is 3.7 yards a carry (18-67), two yards a carry below its average for the season. Alfred Blue, who had back-to-back 100-yard rushing games entering the night, had just 37 yards on nine carries.