By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
LSU coach Lane Kiffin brought in nine transfers to completely rebuild the Tigers’ wide receiver room last off-season. His philosophy was quantity for quality – a bet that one of the bunch would emerge as a star, instead of investing heavily into one or two top portal targets.
Hawaii redshirt junior transfer Jackson Harris is helping Kiffin cash in on that bet.
On Saturday, he was money as he caught a career-high nine passes out of 14 targets from quarterback Sam Leavitt for a career-high 178 yards and two touchdowns in No. 18 LSU’s 38-17 victory over Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn.
Harris has been on a tear for the Tigers over the last five weeks. After starting the season with just five catches for 117 yards in the first three games, he has since caught 31 for 517 yards and seven touchdowns.
“He works really hard,” Kiffin said after the game. “George McDonald (LSU receivers coach) does a great job with the receivers getting them ready.”
Harris’ run started with a two-touchdown, 163-yard night against Texas A&M on Sept. 26. Harris was originally one of many called to step up as tight end Trey’Dez Green, LSU’s top receiver at the time, had been sidelined with a knee injury the previous week at Ole Miss. Harris has done that and more, cementing himself as a top receiver not just at LSU, but in the Southeastern Conference.
Harris (6-foot-2, 205 pounds) has flashed a complete repertoire for the Tigers. He came to LSU as one of the nation’s most consistent deep threats at Hawaii, where he averaged 19.5 yards per reception. But he also uses his big frame to go up and make contested catches over defenders, which he did on multiple occasions against Auburn. And he showcased his breakaway speed on Saturday.
On a third-and-five from the LSU 30-yard line in the second quarter, Harris caught an intermediate crossing route over the middle and outran two defenders for most of the remaining yards for a 70-yard touchdown and 24-10 lead.
“Now the confidence really turns on that you can just run away from people like that,” Kiffin said. “It’s awesome to see and makes everybody feel different, especially the quarterback.”
That was Harris’s second score of the game. The first came on a 10 yard completion on the Tigers’ second drive for a 10-3 lead. Leavitt faced unblocked pressure from the right side and sent a ball through a tight window to a slanting Harris at the goal line. Harris made the contested catch for his fourth on the eight-play drive. That’s Wide Receiver One stuff there.
It was one of several tough grabs Harris made throughout the day. He made eight catches of 10 or more yards and had perhaps his best reception of the day called incomplete after he made a 30-yard diving catch, but landed out of bounds.
Harris’s comfort in the offense and with his quarterback have obviously grown as Leavitt’s and the coaching staff’s confidence in him has as well.
In a 13-man wide receiver room with 12 new faces last off-season, Harris has soared above the rest, just as Leavitt’s other top target – Green – is settling back in after his injury.
And the LSU passing game appears to be hitting its stride, just in time for the critical stretch run for the College Football Playoff.
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