Etling missed on his next six passes, throwing an interception and fumbling a ball.
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LSU quarterback Brandon Harris (6) passes in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Jacksonville State in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016. He added running back Leonard Fournette, who sat out the game against Jacksonville State, should be ready to go against Mississippi State. Fournette did not play in the game.
Dual-threat QB Eli Jenkins was once again productive for Jacksonville State, which entered the game ranked fifth nationally among teams in the NCAA’s second-tier Football Championship.
LSU coach Les Miles expects star running back Leonard Fournette to be available for Saturday’s SEC opener against Mississippi State.
“I will not name a starter until I talk to my team”, Miles said with emphasis on the word ‘not.’ “I will talk to my team today, on whether I name a starter”.
Miles suggested he might be “more forthcoming”, after discussing the situation with his team, but wasn’t promising anything.
“We’re not turning our back to competition in any way”, Miles said.
“I empathize a lot with him”, Etling said after the game Saturday night, per ESPN.
Interesting stat of the game: Back-up running back Darrel Williams was LSU’s leading receiver. Etling also had his first rushing touchdown, when he ran around the right end on a bootleg for two yards in the 3rd quarter. He passed for 248 yards, including a 76-yard scoring pass to Krenwick Sanders, and rushed for 82 yards.
Their performance gave Etling the support he needed when his performance which began with a flourish tapered off in the second half. He was intercepted by Reggie Hall on a long pass intended for Malachi Dupre in the end zone and later lost a fumble when he was sacked and stripped by Darius Jackson. Harris is a quarterback from a shotgun-based spread system in high school, a guy who seems more comfortable on the run and, at times, antsy in the pocket. He was in the building on Sunday watching film.
Miles stressed that he is not ready to disregard using Harris.
One consistent narrative about the Les Miles regime at LSU is that his players love him. “And then in the same vein make sure that Brandon Harris gets that opportunity – because we’re going to need both the guys, but make sure he gets that opportunity to compete and see how he’s coming, and let’s not turn a blind eye to a very talented quarterback on our team already”. Miles, after Saturday’s 34-13 win, side stepped a question on the future of his starting quarterback during an interview with ESPN. “I think everybody rooted for him as he took the field”.
Jacksonville State: The Gamecocks return home play Coastal Carolina – an opponent in transition to the top tier FBS – on September 17.
This will be the Tigers’ first SEC game of the season.
Etling replaced Harris after he struggled to a 1-for-4 mark in the Tigers’ first two series against Jacksonville State.
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Guice did, however, deliver to Harris a message over the past few days, some of the toughest of the quarterback’s career: “I’ve got your back regardless of all of this”, he said he told Harris.
