Brandon Harris has appeared in 22 games at LSU. Attempted 347 passes. Ran 97 times.
The Tigers know what they’re going to get.
Which is why they should go with Danny Etling.
“Brandon, we got to get him comfortable and settled down and in the flow, and I don’t know when that will happen,” LSU coach Les Miles said after Etling entered in relief and helped spark the Tigers to a 34-13 win over FCS Jacksonville State on Saturday.
“It just kind of depends on how this quarterback competition plays out.”
LSU was a trendy pick to unseat Alabama in the SEC West and make the College Football Playoff, but such predictions were based on faith that the quarterback position would be a reasonable complement to a team that returned nine starters on defense and NFL-ready Leonard Fournette at running back.
But Harris came up small (two interceptions) in an opening 16-14 loss to Wisconsin, and Miles delivered the hook after Harris presided over a scoreless first quarter Saturday.
Etling, a transfer from Purdue, then directed three consecutive touchdown drives, including throwing a 46-yard touchdown pass to DeSean Smith.
“It was exactly the same offense that we have been running for as long as I can remember,” Miles said.
On second thought, maybe that’s the problem.
Miles has been (fairly) criticized for not being creative enough on offense, clutching to your father’s mathematics: a strong running game plus a stout defense equals victories. But when even Alabama’s Nick Saban is using a dual-threat quarterback, the zone read and a spread attack, perhaps the Mad Hatter needs to learn some new tricks himself.
Short of that, the best thing he can do is change quarterbacks.
Etling might not be a magic answer. He was 6 of 14 for 100 yards, with a touchdown and an interception, against Jacksonville State. He ran for a short score. He was “not perfect by any means,” Miles said. To be fair, Etling’s receivers also dropped some passes.
Etling, a former starter at Purdue, has taken a strange road to get here as a junior. He lost his starting job to Austin Appleby, who then lost his starting job and transferred to Florida, where he is behind Alabama/Oregon State transfer Luke Del Rio. Welcome to modern college football and free-agency quarterbacks.
Etling was just a 55.5 percent passer at Purdue, only a tick above Harris’ career accuracy. So, what kind of an upgrade Etling is remains to be seen.
But sometimes you have to make change for change’s sake. With the conference season starting Saturday at home against Mississippi State, Miles needs to stop banging his head, hoping for different results from Harris. Go with Etling.