LSU Tigers Prepare To Make an Impact in the SEC

LSU Tigers Prepare To Make An Impact In The SEC

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Dean Hybl

Zach Mettenberger is off to a hot start in 2013.

The first weeks of the college football season have seen Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M and South Carolina garner the spotlight in the highly competitive SEC. Now, after three straight non-conference games, the LSU Tigers are ready to jump into conference play and regain some of the limelight.

After opening the conference schedule at home on September 21st against the Auburn Tigers, they will have to break out the LSU luggage for back-to-back road games at Georgia and Mississippi State.

By the time LSU returns home to face Florida on October 12th it will be very clear whether Les Miles’ squad is a contender for the conference and national title.

If LSU is able to withstand their SEC challenges, a big reason is likely to be the play of senior quarterback Zach Mettenberger. After struggling at times a year ago, Mettenberger has been outstanding so far in 2013 in his first season playing under offensive coordinator Cam Cameron.

A former head coach at both the college and professional level, Cameron has helped Mettenberger blossom. Through his first three games, Mettenberger is completing 65.2% of his passes for 797 yards and nine touchdowns without throwing an interception.

While Mettenberger is receiving much of the attention, the running game has also been strong averaging 5.5 yards per attempt. Terrence Magee leads the team with 210 yards on the ground and is averaging 8.1 yards per attempt. However, he isn’t even the team leader in that category as Jeremy Hill has gained 167 yards on just 17 carries (9.8 ypa).

One consistent about being in the SEC is that there are no easy games. After hosting Florida on October 12th, they will play road games at Mississippi and Alabama before returning home to host Texas A&M and Arkansas to close the regular season.

After their disappointing close to the 2012 season, you can bet that Miles will have the Tigers prepared to challenge all their conference rivals as they look to return to the national championship conversation.