Purple edges White, 28-27, in L Club LSU Spring Game

BATON ROUGE – The Purple team stopped a two-point conversion in the waning seconds Saturday evening in the 2018 National L Club LSU Spring Game in Tiger Stadium to score a 28-27 win over the White team.

The White team had rallied in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter with an 11-play, 60 yard drive that was capped when LSU quarterback Justin McMillan scored from 12-yards out to make it 28-27. The White team elected to go for two but McMillan’s pass under pressure was incomplete in his attempt to get the ball to tight end Foster Moreau.

The game was followed by a one-hour autograph session in which fans were able to go on the floor of Tiger Stadium and get things signed by their favorite Tigers.

The three quarterbacks combined for 534 yards in passing offense as they rotated between the two teams with three touchdowns and just one interception. McMillan completed 14-of-29 attempts for 216 yards, while Myles Brennan was 11-of-23 for 113 yards and Lowell Narcisse hit 6-of-13 for 205 yards. Each player had a touchdown pass and Brennan had the lone interception of the game.

Narcisse’s yardage was helped by a short out route that turned a short out route into a 94-yard touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson to open the scoring in the first quarter. Jefferson led all receivers with five catches for 128 yards.

The White jumped out 14-0 to close a lengthy 18-play 88-yard drive when Nick Brossette scored from one-yard out.

But the Purple side got back into the game with two quick drives before the half – one of four plays and 65 yards and a two-play, 72-yard drive to tie the game at 14-14 before intermission. Lanard Fournette had a two-yard touchdown run and Davis Drake caught a 33-yard pass from Justin McMillan.

The Purple made it 21 unanswered points with the lone score of the third quarter when a 4 play, 41-yard drive was capped by a 28-yard run by Tae Provens to give the Purple team a 21-14 lead. Provens had six carries for 64 yards.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire, the leading rusher in the contest with 14 carries for 74 yards, got the White back even as the fourth quarter got going at 21-all as Edwards-Helaire scored from two-yards out to cap a 60-play drive.

But with Brennan throwing a five-yard pass to Jacory Washington, the LSU Purple team was back on top 28-21 in the waning minutes of the game, setting up the last chance rally for the White team.

The White team ran 36 rushing plays for 163 yards, while the Purple team rushed the ball 15 times for 52 yards. The teams combined for 53 first downs in a game with only seven total penalties.

While the White team was only 5-of-14 on third down conversions, the team was 4-of-6 on fourth down attempts. The Purple squad was 3-of-8 on third down and 0-2 on fourth down.

The Tigers now will concentrate on the end of the spring semester before turning the team turns their attention to the start of the 2018 football season on Sunday, Sept. 2, against Miami at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium.

LSU COACH ED ORGERON POST-GAME PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – Spring Game

Opening Statement…
“I think you’ve all seen tonight what I’ve been talking about with all the quarterbacks. Sometimes they’re doing well sometimes they’re not. I thought Justin McMillan had a good game tonight. I thought he extended plays with his feet when he was in. We moved the football when he and Clyde (Edwards-Helaire) were back there. I thought the offense was moving the football down the field. Just talking with Steve (Ensminger), I thought there were some inconsistencies. There are still some misreads, some missed throws, some missed protections. I told our team that we will be a good football team when we execute. The theme for the summer will be execution. Fumbled snaps, people going the wrong way, dropped footballs, that stalls drives. But when we did execute, I thought we made big plays. I thought we made some big plays down the field. There were a couple of times we didn’t call a sack that would have probably been a sack instead of a touchdown. Justin Jefferson made some big plays. Stephen Sullivan showed out today. Some other guys were disappointed. They had some better springs, but they didn’t show out the like they did, today. Defensively, I thought we started very strong. Obviously, we tailed off towards the end. We allowed them to make some plays. Overall, I was pleased with our football team and I was pleased with the preparation by our coaches. There was a lot of energy in here. It was a good finish. These guys took this game very seriously and I’m pleased with our football team.”

On throwing the ball deep down field…
“We love to do that. We started out throwing the short, intermediate routes, but we wanted to hit them deep, especially when we get one-on-one coverage and get great protection. We have some quarterbacks that can scramble, some guys who can extend plays with their feet and they have strong arms. They can throw the football down the field, that’s what you saw tonight.”

On Justin McMillan having more experience than other quarterbacks…
“I think that gives him an advantage. Obviously, he’s a junior. He won the state championship in high school. He’s been here. He’s older. He’s playing with more confidence right now than the other quarterbacks. It’s about what he’s been doing. He keeps on coming up. The other guys have had better practices. I don’t think this was Myles’ (Brennan) best practice. I don’t think it was Lowell’s (Narcisse) best practice. We would have a practice like this, Justin would be the best player, then we would come back and then one of the other guys would be the best players. It’s been up and down the whole spring, but overall I think Justin had a good night.”

On the play making ability of Justin Jefferson…
“Jefferson can catch the ball. He is smooth. He runs routes well. He has a great knack for getting yards after the catch. He’s a good player.”