LSU lifts interview ban, QBs Anthony Jennings, Brandon Harris answer questions
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The media was barred from attending Saturday night’s full-contact scrimmage at LSU, but quarterbacks Anthony Jennings and Brandon Harris were allowed to be interviewed for the first time during fall camp Sunday at Tigers media day in Baton Rouge.
Les Miles said Harris took a couple more first-team reps than Jennings, but no starter has been named. Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron also answered questions about his offense and where he’s leaning under center.
All quotes direct from LSU Media Relations:
Les Miles
On overall quarterback play: “Quarterbacks came out of green when they operated with the first team versus the first team defense. Both guys performed well, scrambled out of the backfield, made big plays, made some plays with their arm. Really had one turnover, and it was a — almost a forward — it was just a two‑minute play that stopped the drive.”
On which quarterback took majority of snaps: “Well, Brandon Harris had the advantage there in number of snaps, by half a dozen or so. Statistically, we were 20 for 34 with five drops. So 25 for 34 would have been certainly a lot better, but five drops, I think our guys will catch the ball better beyond our first scrimmage. We rushed the ball 42 times for 193. So we’re basically 200 yards apiece, both run and pass. That kind of balance is really what we were kind of looking for.”
On possible game plan changes for each player: “I think there’s more similarities than there are differences. I would not hesitate to make a call if it there was a real advantage to one over the other in a situation. Again, I think they’re both competing towards that — for that first game. Again, I think they’re very similar. I think Brandon is obviously a little bit more explosive, but Anthony is a little bit more veteran.”
QB Brandon Harris
On the overall preparation: “We’ve definitely improved. We came in with a mindset that we wanted to get better and have a dominant offense with our running game to passing the ball as well. The guys have really gone in and the receivers fought hard this summer. I was tough on them by getting them up to catch passes with me every chance I got. All in all we had a great summer and a great fall camp.”
On being a leader: “We just know everybody around here has the same goal, and we know in order for us to get there we’ve all got to get to common ground and they responded very well.”
On adjustments he has made in his second season: “I think not trying to look for a long shot down the field every play, taking the ball down with Leonard (Fournette), Derrius (Guice), Leonard (Fournette) and others and giving them the opportunity to catch it and run. I kind of figured it out last night (at the scrimmage) that if you kick it down to them they can carry it a long distance.”
On what he has done to improve in the offseason: “I put in a lot of work with George (Whitfield) over the summer. I’ve been working on my footwork and continuing to improve on my accuracy, not gunning the ball to the guys. They come to the ball, so they can just catch the ball and run underneath and do different things like that. In reality that’s what it’s all about. I can throw the ball hard every game, but if you give them a nice comfortable ball and let them run with it and just give it accurately they can run with it.”
QB Anthony Jennings
On the quarterback competition: “I think competition always makes the best of everyone. Obviously, Brandon (Harris) is a great quarterback, and he’s been improving steadily throughout fall camp and throughout the summer. He’s smarter now than he’s ever been, and I’m continuing to help him and we are working together to help the team win.”
On Brandon Harris’ improvement: “I think he’s throwing the ball with more touch. He’s getting the drops and getting the reads correctly and on a more consistent basis. Everyone knows he has the talent, so I think he’s coming in with a different mindset and I think he’s been playing very well throughout fall camp.”
On waiting to know the starter: “I think everybody when they come here they want to start, but anybody Coach Miles deems as a starter is okay with me because I know that we have both put in the time and the effort and we are going to support each other either way it goes.”
Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron
On Saturday’s scrimmage: “There’s so much riding on every game, and the way college football is set up, as we all know, the playoffs start week one. Nobody is going 9-3 and getting into the playoffs. Every game counts. I think that puts a lot on young quarterbacks, but I think our guys are more ready to handle it this year than in the past. Based on last night, I was most pleased with how comfortable they were and their body language. It wasn’t perfect by any stretch, but for a first scrimmage, it rivaled the first scrimmage we had two years ago. That one was a pretty special one in most people’s minds. I thought last night was a huge plus.”
On Brandon Harris’ maturation throughout camp: “I think a lot of lights went on in the spring. When you can sit back and reflect on any season, especially a season that has some ups and downs, if you’re the right kind of kid and the right kind of person, you’re going to reflect, take it personally to a degree and you’re going to let that help you grow. I think both of those guys shouldered everything that took place. That’s part of every quarterback’s maturation—the good ones at least. I think some lights started to come on last spring. Again, last night was a great indication of where we are headed, but it’s still a work in progress.”
On being comfortable calling certain plays: “Practice tells you that. It’s easier now to go to a young guy and say ‘Of these 15 things, give me the five you like the most, give me the next five and then, we can do without the other five.’ Of 15 things, you’re not going to need all 15. When they are first coming in to any system, there are things they just have to learn. There’s no way around it. You have to give some things a chance. You may take some lumps in practice, learning a scheme that ultimately leads to something helping us in a game. Now, it’s asking them, getting more feedback from them and trying to help them get into the right play against the right coverage and the right front. Then, it’s getting the ball distributed throughout the offense. I think that’s the thing you’ll see more than anything this year. You’re going to see our quarterbacks with the ability to spread the ball to backs, tight ends, receivers and not so much driven in one direction in any particular game.”
On the glimpses of the offense from Saturday night’s scrimmage: “Pleased. Not satisfied. Pleased. These guys are maturing probably more normally than would matter to a lot of people. Reality is, the opening game is coming, and they all count. Our sense of urgency is beyond whether the guy is a sophomore, a junior or Justin McMillan, a freshman. Our urgency here is completely different than in a lot of places. What we are playing for, we have to be hitting on all cylinders in week one and carry that in to week two, no matter who the quarterback is. Pleased. Not satisfied. They aren’t satisfied. I was just in a quarterback meeting, and you could see the look in their eyes. They were excited about the things they did and excited about the things they can improve on because we could have easily had one of the better first scrimmages, at least since I’ve been here, with another six or eight plays made.”
