Tag: LSU spring game

Brian Kelly expalins the structure for LSU’s 2024 spring game

Here’s how LSU will structure its spring game on Saturday.

LSU football will put on the uniforms and take to Tiger Stadium on Saturday, but it will look different than you’re regular football game.

Over the years, we’ve seen coaches get creative, structuring spring games in different ways, whether it be with personnel or adjusted scoring systems.

[autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] explained what LSU’s spring game will look like, saying it will be offense vs. defense, but keep the same creative scoring from last year.

Scoring was as usual for the offense, but the defense was awarded five points for a stop or sack.

Kelly said this game isn’t about the score, but rather giving certain players the opportunity to compete.

It’s hard to glean much from spring games. A lot can change between now and Labor Day weekend. More important than anything else, it is critical that LSU leaves the scrimmage healthy and intact.

In recent years, we’ve seen LSU use the spring game to bring back some prominent alumni to meet with top recruits.

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LSU wide receiver named a spring practice standout by On3

Kyren Lacy could be poised for a breakout in his second season with the Tigers. 

[autotag]Kyren Lacy[/autotag] transferred to LSU last year after spending two seasons playing for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns.

In 14 games as a Tiger last year, he hauled in 24 passes for 268 yards. He spent last season mastering the new offensive scheme. This year, with the loss of [autotag]Kayshon Boutte[/autotag], the Tigers need another wide receiver to step up for them.

Lacy proved that he could be that guy during the spring game last weekend. He ended the game with four receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown came off of a tremendous one-handed catch and a lot of broken tackles as he streaked down the field.

Those stats earned him a spot on On3’s spring practice standouts list.

Lacy delivered one of the top plays of spring game season during LSU’s spring game on Saturday, an acrobatic, leaping one-handed catch that he turned into a 70-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown. It capped an impressive spring for the 6-foot-2, 212-pound Lacy, a former Louisiana transfer who recorded 24 catches for 268 yards last year in his first season at LSU. “He’s come a long way,” a source said. Lacy had totals of 50 catches, 668 yards and 10 touchdowns in two seasons at Louisiana before transferring to the Tigers.

Hopefully, Lacy can carry the momentum from the spring into the fall as LSU looks to win back-to-back SEC West titles.

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Brian Kelly gives his thoughts on the new clock rules for 1st downs

Kelly doesn’t seem too concerned about the change, which will see the clock continue to run after converting a first down aside from the final two minutes of each half.

Coaches will have to adjust their clock-management strategies at least slightly heading into the 2023 season.

The NCAA approved a rule change that will keep the clock running after first downs, like in the NFL. Unlike the NFL, however, the clock will still stop after a team converts for a first down in bounds in the final two minutes of the first and second halves.

This will likely only shave a few minutes off the games, but it will also help keep the total play counts a bit more under control (at least, in theory). Following LSU’s spring game on Saturday, coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] gave his thoughts on the rule change and elaborated on how the coaches are addressing it.

“Well we worked on them all day today, we had the running clock, how’d we do?” Kelly joked. “We were very intentional about it today. I think we’re talking about the hope, this is not like the changes in Major League Baseball where you’re going to knock 30 minutes off a game. We’re talking about the clock running after first downs, but if you really look at it, I don’t know if that changes structurally how you go about doing things. Because they’re stopping the clock in the last two (minutes) before the half and the game, that’s still where all the strategy takes place.

“If that clock was running in the last two, believe me, there would be a lot of work going on around here. I think it’s good for the game, if it can speed up the game a little bit I think that’s great. It’s when the clock starts running after incomplete passes that you’ll have a lot of people worried about how that’s going to change the game.”

Based on these sentiments, it doesn’t seem that Kelly expects the changes to affect strategy tremendously, especially considering the rule remains in place for late-game situations clock management is the most crucial.

The hope is that it can keep players’ workloads under control and reduce injuries, especially with College Football Playoff expansion looming on the horizon. We’ll have to wait until the fall to see how impactful the change truly proves to be, but it doesn’t seem that Kelly and his staff are doing much differently as a result.

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Brian Kelly addresses LSU RB John Emery Jr.’s status after spring game

Emery has been away from the team this spring, and though Kelly reiterated he has a path to rejoining the team, not much has changed with his availability.

LSU’s running back group looks to have plenty of options heading into 2023, but there’s a lot of uncertainty regarding a potential key piece in that room.

[autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag] has been away from the team during spring camp. Earlier this offseason, coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] said that Emery was focusing on academics over football. Asked for an update on the fifth-year running back’s status after LSU’s spring game on Saturday, Kelly didn’t provide much new information aside from reiterating that Emery still has a path to rejoining the team.

“We have not ruled out John Emery for returning,” Kelly said. “I think I’ve made it pretty clear that John has a path back but it’s one that is really dictated by what he does academically. We have not made any misleading statements, we love him. But we’re putting academics first and foremost and he’s got to take care of that first.”

Emery has had eligibility issues stemming from academics in the past. He was academically suspended for the entire 2021 season, and though Kelly said last offseason that those problems largely occurred under the previous coaching staff, he was also suspended for the first two games last fall.

He ultimately played in 11 games, making two starts. On 76 carries, he totaled 375 yards and six touchdowns. He also added two scores through the air.

With Emery unavailable this spring and [autotag]Armoni Goodwin[/autotag] and [autotag]Josh Williams[/autotag] battling injuries, it opened up a lot of opportunities for [autotag]Noah Cain[/autotag] and true freshman [autotag]Trey Holly[/autotag], who led Tigers running backs in rushing yards in the spring game.

Carries will come at a premium for any LSU running back this fall, and it remains unclear exactly how Emery fits in to the group, assuming he’s able to return.

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Everything Brian Kelly said following LSU’s 2023 spring game

Here’s what Kelly said when discussing his second spring camp in Baton Rouge with the media on Saturday.

The Tigers concluded their spring practice on Saturday in front of the LSU faithful in an exhibition game.

In a game that ended in a 32-32 tie between the offense and defense, fans were treated to some big-time highlight plays including a 70-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage that was made possible by a fantastic one-handed catch from [autotag]Kyren Lacy[/autotag].

[autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] took the podium after the game to discuss the scrimmage and his second spring camp in Baton Rouge. He covered a wide range of topics, including the quarterbacks’ performance, offensive line depth, additions on defense and his philosophy entering his second season.

Here’s everything Kelly said to the media after the spring game.

Photos from LSU’s 2023 spring football game

The Tigers concluded spring ball with an open exhibition on Saturday.

Spring practice is now in the rearview as we prepare to turn our attention to the summer, SEC Media Days and, eventually, fall camp.

To conclude spring ball, LSU held its annual scrimmage at Tiger Stadium on Saturday where we got the first look at the team that will look to defend last season’s SEC West title in 2023.

It was an impressive game for both quarterbacks in [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] and [autotag]Garrett Nussmeier[/autotag] while some newcomers on defense shined. Receivers [autotag]Kyren Lacy[/autotag] and [autotag]Brian Thomas Jr.[/autotag] also look ready to step up and provide options behind [autotag]Malik Nabers[/autotag].

We learned quite a bit on Saturday, at least for an intrasquad exhibition. Here were the best photos from LSU’s spring game.

Twitter reactions from LSU’s 2023 spring football scrimmage

It was an exciting day in Baton Rouge as the Tigers capped off their spring practice.

LSU ended its spring camp on a high note on Saturday with a public scrimmage in front of the Tigers faithful.

Fans were treated to a couple of impressive highlight plays — namely a one-handed grab from [autotag]Kyren Lacy[/autotag] that led to a 70-yard touchdown as well as a pick-six from true freshman linebacker [autotag]Whit Weeks[/autotag].

Quarterback [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] impressed leading the first-team offense, while backup [autotag]Garrett Nussmeier[/autotag] wasn’t shabby with the second-teamers, either. Both threw two touchdown passes and were very efficient.

There was also a lot of star power on hand for the game with [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag], [autotag]Joe Burrow[/autotag], [autotag]Justin Jefferson[/autotag], [autotag]Marcus Spears[/autotag] and [autotag]Clyde Edwards-Helaire[/autotag] in attendance, to name a few.

Here were the reactions online from LSU alumni, fans and media.

Instant analysis from LSU’s 2023 spring game

You can only learn so much from spring, but the Tigers checked the main boxes in Saturday’s exhibition.

We got our first look at the 2023 LSU team on Saturday as the team took the field at Tiger Stadium for a scrimmage after going through warmups and some situational drills.

With the offense pitted against the defense, the game finished in a 32-32 tie, but quarterback [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] impressed leading the first-team offense, completing 10 of 11 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns.

He started the game on a high note, finding [autotag]Kyren Lacy[/autotag] for a 70-yard touchdown after Lacy made a fantastic one-handed catch on the first play from scrimmage. Daniels also found true freshman running back Trey Holly, who also led all running backs with 26 yards, on a touchdown pass out of the backfield.

While Daniels and the starters looked good, [autotag]Garrett Nussmeier[/autotag] did a fine job working with the second team unit. He completed five of eight passes for 139 yards, and he had two touchdowns of his own.

One went to [autotag]Brian Thomas Jr.[/autotag] — who finished second behind Lacy in receiving with 66 yards on three catches — on an in route in the end zone. He also found [autotag]Landon Ibieta[/autotag] on a nice catch-and-run play.

Defensively, several newcomers were impressive. Oregon transfer [autotag]Bradyn Swinson[/autotag] had a sack as did early enrollee true freshman [autotag]Jaxon Howard[/autotag]. True freshman linebacker [autotag]Whit Weeks[/autotag], younger brother of [autotag]West Weeks[/autotag], took an interception off true freshman quarterback [autotag]Rickie Collins[/autotag] to the house.

Collins struggled in his first action, completing just three of seven passes for 25 yards and no touchdowns. He did show off his mobility, however. He wasn’t wearing a non-contact jersey and went for 19 yards on five carries.

Only so much can be learned from a spring game, but the Tigers looked as solid as you would hope entering Brian Kelly’s second season. Stay tuned to LSU Wire for more content from the Tigers’ spring game.

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WATCH: True freshman Whit Weeks takes interception to the house in LSU’s spring game

It was true freshman vs. true freshman violence as Rickie Collins tossed a pick-six to Weeks.

There was some true freshman vs. true freshman violence late in the first quarter of LSU’s spring game on Saturday.

With Baton Rouge native [autotag]Rickie Collins[/autotag] — a mobile passer who was not wearing a red non-contact jersey — under center, [autotag]Whit Weeks[/autotag] made a play on a questionably thrown ball.

After bobbling it momentarily, he secured the interception. Forty yards later, Weeks reached paydirt as he gave the defense a 14-7 lead.

The four-star early enrollee from Watkinsville, Georgia, is the younger brother of his teammate and fellow linebacker [autotag]West Weeks[/autotag], who joined as a transfer from Virginia last season.

Whit finds himself a bit buried on the depth chart in the linebacker group, but with plays like this, he could see some early playing time this fall.

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WATCH: Kyren Lacy scores 70-yard touchdown in LSU’s spring game after absurd 1-handed catch

That was certainly one way to kick things off.

LSU started its spring game off on a flashy note.

On the very first play from scrimmage in the exhibition contest, quarterback [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] found a wide-open receiver over the middle of the field in [autotag]Kyren Lacy[/autotag].

It wasn’t the best ball — it was thrown high and a bit in front of him. But Lacy, now in his second year with the program after transferring in from Louisiana, made a fantastic adjustment to the ball.

He reeled in an acrobatic one-handed catch, and what he did with the ball in his hands was almost as impressive as he dodged defenders en route to a 70-yard touchdown to kick off the scoring.

Lacy made 24 catches last year for 268 yards and no touchdowns, but with Kayshon Boutte and Jaray Jenkins heading to the draft, as well as Jack Bech transferring to TCU, he has the chance to see an expanded role this fall.

If he keeps making plays like this, that will almost certainly be the case.

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