It’s hard to put a finger on the right word to describe LSU’s season. Reloading? Regressing? Rebuilding?

The descriptor you choose says a lot about your view on what the coaching staff has done with the inexperienced talent on hand this season.

There are dozens of words you could use to describe the way the staff has handled the quarterback situation this season in Baton Rouge, a sticking point for many LSU fans, but the one that first comes to mind is “regrettable.”

LSU’s passing offense has floundered all season, and it’s been helmed almost entirely by sophomore Anthony Jennings. There have been rare spurts of potency, but for the most part pass attempts have hit the ground at an alarming rate.

LSU inserted freshman Brandon Harris for Jennings on rare occasion. Harris impressed in some situations and flopped in others. He’s shown the skills and promise expected of a touted recruit in his short stints on the field, yet he rides the bench as the offense sputters along.

Coach Les Miles labeled the starting job an open competition before the season, but that’s felt more and more like a farce. Despite Miles’ promises of Harris getting his fair share of reps, Jennings has taken nearly all of the meaningful snaps. Harris got his first real chance to show what he can do against Mississippi State. Even then, he only got into the game when Jennings went down with an injury, and the Tigers were down three scores when Harris finally played.

Harris spearheaded a near-comeback in that game by throwing two quick touchdowns to fellow freshman Malachi Dupre before Mississippi State intercepted a Hail Mary at the end of the game. But even that stint, where Harris led the Tigers to nearly as many points in less than five minutes as Jennings had in the entire game, did not earn Harris the job.

It took Jennings having the worst outing of his career against Sam Houston State the following week for Harris to get extended playing time, during which he finally earned himself a start.

Of course, that start came in one of the most inhospitable environments possible, on the road against Auburn. Harris played very poorly, as he was forced to throw often as the Tigers fell behind. He was lifted for Jennings in the third quarter and hasn’t played a meaningful snap since, despite Miles saying on multiple occasions that he’d find playing time for the freshman.

Miles and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron’s reluctance to play Harris in the month-plus since is somewhat understandable, at least by their logic. All season, the coaches have said that Jennings gives the team the best chance to win. Between the loss to Auburn and Saturday, save for Kentucky, the games have come down to the wire. With the Tigers still having something to play for, they needed to run out a quarterback out that wouldn’t be a risk to turn the ball and the game over to the opposition.

There’s no excuse, though, for Harris riding the bench for the entire Arkansas game. It was like Mississippi State all over again, except worse. The offense could do nothing all night, getting shut out for the first time in nearly three years and putting up the team’s worst offensive output since 1975. Jennings was as bad as ever, although he wasn’t helped by LSU’s play calling in the least.

The most troubling part of the implosion was that Miles had once again promised real playing time for Harris, only to renege (again) when kickoff rolled around. While Miles again after the game said that Jennings gives the Tigers the best chance to win, it’s become vividly clear how untrue that assessment is.

What Miles really means is that Jennings doesn’t generally do anything to lose games for LSU; a 47.9 percent completion rate and 7.0 yards per attempt certainly aren’t going to win many games, even with a strong running game.

Reasons for Harris’ continued presence on the bench has only led to speculation.

Is he bad in practice? Cameron doesn’t speak to the media during the season, so there’s no insight into what goes on behind closed doors. Harris has tweeted messages insinuating that he needs to get better on the practice field and in the film room, but no one has heard it from the mouth of Cameron, regarded as a great offensive mind and a quarterback guru.

Is there a deeper problem with the coaching staff? On Sunday, there was a slight kerfuffle on social media when folks noticed that Harris followed a couple dozen coaches from programs around the country on Twitter. Most dismissed it, as there’s not much to be said about who a 19-year-old chooses to follow on social media, but it was enough to at least cock an eyebrow at.

LSU rarely lands top quarterback prospects, and they have one in Harris. Miles can’t afford to blow it this time around. He’s already wasted one year of Harris’ promising career, choosing to watch his offense suffer under Jennings’ direction instead of giving the talented freshman a chance.

As he looks back on what could have been this season, hopefully Miles feels enough regret to not repeat the same mistakes in 2015.