Mike Leach talks LSU, Tigers QB Jayden Daniels ahead of Saturday's matchup
Mississippi State is off to a 2-0 start to its 2022 season and will take to the road Saturday night for its SEC opener at LSU.
The Bulldogs have wins over Memphis and Arizona thus far, but the Tigers in Death Valley will pose their biggest test to date.
Mississippi State coach Mike Leach met with the media Monday ahead of the showdown in Baton Rouge and admitted that LSU is difficult to judge at this point under new coach Brian Kelly.
“LSU is a little bit tough to evaluate from the standpoint they got a lot of new faces,” Leach said. “They were big into the transfer thing. So we’ll see how all of those guys turn out. I think it’s still unfolding.”
Mike Leach on LSU:
"LSU is a little bit tough to evaluate from the standpoint they got a lot of new faces. They were big into the transfer thing. So we'll see how all of those guys turn out and I think it's still unfolding."
— Crissy Froyd (@crissy_froyd) September 12, 2022
Leach was also asked for his thoughts about Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Daniels played at Arizona State from 2019-2021 and Leach has some familiarity with his game from his Pac-12 days at Washington State.
“Good player,” said Leach of Daniels. “… He can definitely help himself out with his feet and when coverage breaks down, he throws it up. … He gives you two things to keep track of.”
Asked Mike Leach about LSU QB Jayden Daniels, who he saw some of while Daniels was at Arizona State:
"Good player… he can definitely help himself out with his feet and when coverage breaks down, he throws it up… he gives you two things to keep track of."
— Crissy Froyd (@crissy_froyd) September 12, 2022
The Bulldogs and Tigers are set for a 6 p.m. (ET) kick off on Saturday.
The game will be televised by ESPN and Mississippi State is currently a 2-point favorite.
State’s a 2 point favorite in Death Valley? That’s got to be unprecedented. Then again, who really knows this early in the season? Could happen…I guess.
It’s very weird to see -2 on State going to Death Valley at night. I haven’t seen much of LSU this year, so I’m guessing their first two games were very underwhelming.
Last time in Baton Rouge (2020, Leach’s first game at MSU), State was an 18-point underdog. K.J. Costello threw for 623 yards (SEC record) and State won by 10. I miss Coach O.
The line this year means nothing. This game is a toss-up.
Google “Outlier”. You will probably get a link to a YouTube video highlight of that 2020 game.
Bo Pelini just couldn’t help himself and kept the LSU defense in man coverage almost the entire game, a sure fire recipe for disaster when an air raid qb is having the game of his life. It didn’t help that all world Tiger DB Derek Stingley Jr. was out.
Don’t expect a repeat of anything like that. To win, MSU will have to run the air raid to near perfection, with plenty of slants, check downs, and other short passes along with some rushing success. And the MSU D will have to show up and show out. Plenty of ways LSU could give the home fans plenty to toast, not that they need much of an excuse to knock back a few.
This game is the definition of a toss up for me. I wouldn’t bet money on it in any direction.
Wise choice, Coozie. I won’t be running over to the Island View sports book to lay down any bets this weekend either.
The first game against FSU was a comedy of unforced errors especially on special teams. There was a snap over the qb head inside the FSU 5 yard line, two muffed punts that were recovered by FSU, a shanked punt, a blocked FG, and a blocked extra point. But they still had a chance to win until getting the tying extra point blocked on the final play of the game.
The second game was against Southern. They were up 37-0 in the first quarter and 51-0 after the first half before taking their foot off the gas. Its hard to take anything away from that game.
They shuffled the offensive line after the FSU game which seemed to help out quite a bit. I still don’t know what to expect from them. I think they only returned about 7 starters from last year and a new coaching staff. It will take some time to get things together. I doubt that it happens this week.