On The Fly
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Jordan Jefferson has his moments after being thrust into action
by Matt Reynolds
Tiger Rag Assistant Editor
(At left) Jordan Jefferson got thrown into the fire after Jarrett Lee was injured in the second quarter (Photo by J. Sam Frake)
With the struggles of redshirt freshman quarterback Jarrett Lee throughout the season, many LSU fans have been itching to see what freshman Jordan Jefferson can do on the field.
After Lee went down with an ankle injury in the first half against Ole Miss on Saturday, the LSU coaching staff didn’t have a choice but give the Destrehan product his chance.
With Lee’s ankle not up to par and sophomore Andrew Hatch not fully recovered from a leg injury, Jefferson may be the starting quarterback when LSU lines up against Arkansas in Little Rock on Friday for the last regular season game of the season.
Jefferson was 10-of-20 for 129 yards, a touchdown and an interception in LSU’s loss to
Ole Miss.
“We made a change at quarterback based on injury,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “Jordan Jefferson comes in and does a heck of a job. He gave his team a real lift with his feet and the throws, and it appears to me that will be the direction we go in as we go into the future.”
“We look at next week. Certainly, Jarrett (Lee) is questionable. (Andrew) Hatch may be back but may not. We look forward to seeing more of Jordan Jefferson.”
While youth may hinder the quarterback in some areas, it’s no question the mobile Jefferson gives the Tigers some options that they do not have with Lee.
Jefferson appeared to put a chink in the Ole Miss momentum when the Tigers were on their own 40 in the second quarter.
Jefferson faked like he was going to run, but in Tebowesque fashion, he stepped back and found an open Brandon LaFell for a 37-yard gain to penetrate into Ole Miss territory.
A pass-interference penalty gave the Tigers a first down at the 9-yard line, and then Jefferson threw a lob ball to Terrance Tolliver who was in single coverage for an LSU touchdown which cut the deficit to 21-10 with 2:13 left in the first half of play.
“It was very exciting just having the coaches call a lot of plays that they feel comfortable with me running, and them having trust in me, and the team and the seniors as well, it just felt good,” Jefferson said. “Playing before helped the game slow down some I think. I had confidence out there. It wasn’t a lot of butterflies.”
Jefferson saw limited action against North Texas, Mississippi State, Tulane and Troy this season. The most playing time Jefferson had until Saturday was against Troy last week, when he was successful running the ball inside the ten-yard-line.
In a solid first half, Jefferson went 5-of-7 for 87 yards through the air.
“I really think what Jordan Jefferson did coming really gave us a spark in the first half,” Miles said. “I’m not disappointed with his effort or play at all.”
In second half, Jefferson had runs of 20 and 10 yards, but was never able to get the offense firing on all cylinders.
“He gave us something with his feet that I really enjoy,” Miles said. “I think that will be something we’ll go forward with and work on.”
The 6-4, 215-pound quarterback only hit 3 of 12 attempts in the final two quarters for a little over 30 yards.
“I just did everything I could to keep the drives alive,” Jefferson said. “Every team isn’t perfect, and we still have a lot of work to do.”
Although Friday’s game is played on a neutral field in Little Rock, Jefferson will still be faced with the pressures of a possibly starting on the road in the Tigers last game of the season against Arkansas.
“We just have to work to make sure we prepare and finish strong this week,” Jefferson said. “We will be watching a lot of film throughout the week just prepare ourselves to be victorious.”
THANKS…THIS IS WHAT I HAVE ASK FOR EVEN BEFORE THE SEASON STARTED…I HAVE SAID A FRESHMAN THAT CAN RUN IS BETTER THAN A JOHN U THAT CAN’T RUN, I BELIEVE WITH ALL MY HEART THAT IF MILES HAD STARTED OFF THIS SEASON , OR AS SOON AS JJ ARRIVED ON CAMPUS, HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN AIMED AS AT LEAST A TIE WITH LEE, AND I BELIEVE THAT JJ WOULD HAVE STARTED, IT IS MY BELIEF THAT JJ WILL BE SEEN TO BE A BETTER PASSER, AND HE CAN GET HIMSELF OUT OF TROUBLE WITH HIS LEGS. I BELIEVE THAT THE GAME PLAN HAS BEEN IN TROUBLE FROM THE START…LES MADE A BIG MISTAKE BY NOT FINDING THE VERY BEST DC IN THE BUSINESS, AND WE HAVE NOT HAD A GOOD DEFENCE IN YEARS…NOT LAST YEAR OR THE YEARS BEFORE, EVEN WHEN SABAN WAS HERE, A GOOD DC, WILL HAVE GAMES WHEN HE HAS “O” ON THE BOARD MANY TIMES. AND HIS DEFENCE WILL NOT GIVE UP MANY POINTS AND ESP YARDS…FSU IS HAVING TROUBLE BECAUSE OF FISHER, I BELIEVE THAT OUR OC IS BETTER, BOBBY BOWDON, NEEDS TO TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT THE DEAL HE MADE, IT IS NOT GOOD ONE! WE HAVE A GOOD OC, HE IS DIFFERENT FROM LAST YEAR, WHO? SOMEONE IS HOLDING HIM BACK. TURN HIM LOOSE WITH JJ, AND WE WILL SEE WHAT HAPPENS…I AM TIRED OF WE CAN FIX THAT, AND IT NEVER GETS FIXED, THE I SUSPECT, I BELIEVE, I THINK, STOP THE TALK AND GET THE JOB DONE!!! THE TEAM HAS LOST CONFIDENCE IN ITS SELF, BYRD NEEDS TO REST AND i BELIEVE THE MOST DEPENDABLE RECEIVERS ARE LaFELL, THE TALL GUY 6-5 GUY TOLLIVER AND THE GOOD TIGHT END AND HIS NAME IS GONE, RUN SCOTT BEHIND HERMAN, HELMS AND JACKSON, GET THE BLOCKING STRAIGHTENED OUT, TURN JJ LOOSE AND RUN THE GAME AND USE THE LITTLE SPEEDESTER, HOLLIDAY ON A FEW LONG PASSES, HIS CONFIDENCE HAS BEEN KILLED BY SOMEONE, IF YOU CAN BEAT ALABAMA, AND YOU DID FOR FOUR QUARTERS, YOU CAN DO IT TO ANYONE, THE OLD BELIEAF MUST RETURN, SENIORS TAKE OFER THE TEAM… IT NEEDS TO RETURN, THE TALLENT IS THERE, IT IS NOT BEING USED PROPERLY. LETS PULL OUT ALL STOPS AND PLAY LSU OLD TIME FOOTBALL FROM NOW ON. LSU IS BETTER THAN OLE MISS, WHO HAD EIGHT LOUISIANA KIDS ON THEIR TEAM…I AM TIRED OF THE HE IS NOT READY STUFF, THAT IS IN THE WRONG MIND, NOT JJ, LETS QUIT THE BLAME GAME STUFF AND PLAY BALL AND KICK ARKANSAS GOOD WITH JJ AT THE THROTTLE, PRAY AND PASS, RUN AND PASS SOME MORE, “RUN JJ RUN!!! MARANATHA, U CAN DO IT TIGERS!!!