After unexpectedly being forced into action early in the season, LSU junior quarterback Danny Etling managed the offensive game plan fairly well for the Tigers down the stretch, including having his best performance in the regular season finale against Texas A&M.

In that game, Etling threw for 324 yards and two touchdowns on 20 of 28 passes. The Tigers scored 54 points in that game and look to carry that momentum into the Citrus Bowl with Etling under center against Louisville. However, despite several strong performances this season, Etling failed to lead LSU to any points against Alabama and only managed to help the team score 10 in a loss to Florida.

During his final radio show of the season, LSU head coach Ed Orgeron praised the junior for the work he did against the Aggies.

“Danny had a tremendous game, operating within the scheme of the offense,” Orgeron said according to James Bewers of The Advocate. “He has a lot of confidence. Our team has a lot of confidence in Danny right now.”

Despite the vote of confidence from his coach, Etling will have to win over the approval of recently hired offensive coordinator Matt Canada before being handed the job in 2017.

“What’s good is we have Matt Canada coming in, and he’ll be able to assess all the quarterbacks that are there,” Orgeron added. “Obviously, we’ll be able to answer that question once he puts in his offense, sees the specific skills that each quarterback has.”

With fellow junior Brandon Harris announcing he would return for his senior season, the two seniors will likely be battling with redshirt freshman Lindsey Scott, as well as incoming commits Lowell Narcisse and Myles Brennan – assuming of course they both sign with LSU as expected – for the starting role in Canada’s offense.

During his introductory press conference with the team, Canada conceded he has no preference for the type of quarterback to run his system, simply saying he wants a winner at quarterback. Canada’s main objective this offseason will be determining which quarterback best defines that he constitutes as a winner under center. The hopes and dreams of LSU’s 2017 season very well could rest on his decision.