quote:
But if you think back to August of 2003, LSU was in a similar predicament: going 8-5 the previous season while losing three of its last four, returning a pair of quarterbacks who split time the previous year, both failing to complete 50 percent of their passes.

But early in 2003, Matt Mauck took over the starting role at quarterback, and a defense that was expected to be pretty nasty developed into one of the most dominant college football has seen in recent years.

There are plenty of differences between that team and this one, but if LSU finds a quarterback that matches Mauck’s sturdy reliability, there’s reason to believe the rest could fall into place.

SEC Subplots: LSU

Jimbo Fisher
Went into his 15th straight year as a college QB coach and 4th straight year as a college OC in 2002 (3rd year with LSU). Had been dealing with 18 year old QBs for a nearly a decade and a half straight prior to 2002.

Cam Cameron
Hadn't coached teenage QBs in 11 years. Did have 9 previous years as college QB coach back in the 90s and turn of the century, and 5 years as college HC. Went into his 2nd straight year as LSU's QB/OC in 2014.

2002 QBs
Mauck was a redshirt sophomore as well as Randall

Randall 87/181 (48.1%) 1173 yards 6.5 ypa 7 TDs 5 ints 109.72 QBR
Mauck 63/130 (48.5%) 782 yards 6.0 ypa 9 TDs 2 ints 118.8 QBR

Randall 348 rush yards 2 TDs
Mauck 176 rush yards 2 TDs

2014 QBs
Jennings true sophomore and Harris was a true freshman

Jennings 111/227 (48.9%) 1611 yards 7.1 ypa, 11 TDs 7 ints 118.33 QBR
Harris 25/45 (55.6%) 452 yards 10.0 ypa, 6 TDs 2 ints, 175.04 QBR

Jennings 292 rush yards
Harris 159 rush yards 3 TDs

2002 Offensive PPG
24.8

2014 Offensive PPG
24.5

2002 WRs
Devery was in his 3rd playing year, but first year as WR
Clayton was in his sophomore year and statically had a better freshman year with a veteran Davey (47 rec 754 yards 6 TDs as a freshman)
Myers was in his 4th year playing and already had over 1650 yards and 6 TDs in his career.

Clayton 2nd year starting - 57 rec 749 yards 5 TDs
Henderson 1st year starting - 23 rec 447 yards 8 TDs
Meyers 4th year playing - 17 rec 181 yards

2014 WRs
Dural had 8 previous catches and was redshirt sophomore in 2014
Dupre was a true freshman
Diarse was a redshirt freshman

Dural 1st year starting - 37 rec 758 yards 7 TDs
Dupre 1st year starting - 14 rec 318 yards 5 TDs
Diarse 1st year playing - 15 rec 275 yards 3 TDs

What they lost in 2001 and 2013
Both teams had just lost a great 3000+ yard QB the year prior. The 2002 team lost the Biletnikoff winner from 2001, but brought back the nearly 1000 yard 19 TD starting RB. The 2014 team lost 1st round and 2nd round picks at WR plus a 1400 yard 16 TD RB from 2013.

Following Year Offensive Improvement
The next year in 2003, Mauck increased his TDs by 21, increased his completion percentage by 15.5, and increased his yards per attempt by 1.9. In a backup role, Randall increased his completion percentage by 14 and his yards per attempt by 3.6 (albeit it was just 40 attempts).

The offensive PPG went from 24.8 to 33.9

Conclusion
I'm not saying Harris will blow up and we win a national championship, just yet. We will still have to see how dominant our defense is and just how open we are on offense. But don't think it's not very possible considering something like this has happened before.

4 Year Cycle U