LSU QB Brandon Harris is moving beyond that arm of his

BATON ROUGE – OK, by now, everyone knows LSU quarterback Brandon Harris has an extraordinary arm, and that he will be starting the season opener for the No. 14 Tigers against McNeese State on Saturday.

Harris’ arm is why Auburn coach/quarterback whisperer Gus Malzahn recruited him out of Parkway High in Bossier City in 2012 and 2013. It’s why George Whitfield Jr., quarterback guru to future stars, raved about Harris after having him at his academy. It’s why LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron personally recruited Harris and helped get him signed in December of 2013.

Cameron has been trying to get past the arm and to the rest of Harris — but largely to little or no avail — since January of 2014 when the 6-foot-3 prodigy enrolled at LSU. Harris showcased flashes of that arm briefly in two games as a true freshman last season, completing 6 of 9 passes for 140 yards with 31- and 30-yard touchdown passes in the fourth quarter against Mississippi State and hitting another 11 of 14 for 178 yards with three touchdowns against New Mexico State.

But he and Cameron failed miserably in Harris’ only start of the 2014 season at Auburn when Harris looked confused and unprepared while completing just 3 of 14 passes for 58 yards in a 41-7 loss in which Auburn led 17-0 in the first quarter. From that point, Harris and his arm were basically put in a sling as then-sophomore Anthony Jennings went on to start 12 of 13 games in an 8-5 season in which he regressed.

Harris, who has been working with the first team more than Jennings in August practices and scrimmages, will “take the first snap,” for LSU’s offense, LSU coach Les Miles said on his radio show last week, when the Tigers and McNeese State kick off at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Tiger Stadium on the SEC Network. Miles did not say if Harris would take the second and subsequent snaps, but it is believed he will.

“Right now, Brandon Harris certainly has the lead,” Miles said last week. “But again, we’ll do what we’ve done. We promise to field one, and we like both our guys. And Brandon Harris certainly is the leader at this point.”

Miles was asked why, and the word “arm” was not mentioned in his answer. “His deportment — the things that he does before he hands the ball off or throws the ball,” he said. “Just understanding exactly what’s going on and putting us in motion, doing the things that the quarterback needs to do to facilitate the other 10 players.”

Harris was deported from the quarterback position during the Auburn game last year for faulty deportment, which has been Cameron’s department since last spring, and especially since this summer. That’s when Jennings was suspended for an arrest, the questionable charges of which were later dropped, and Harris was able to take over the offense in 7-on-7 drills in June and July.

Harris has improved his accuracy on short and intermediate routes, and he has matured, Cameron said.

“You can’t put a magic wand on a guy and give him maturity, a new terminology and take a guy from the shotgun in high school and put him under center,” Cameron said. “Making all the throws is nice, but there’s far more to it than that. I’ve told him, ‘You got nothing to prove. Everyone KNOWS you can make every throw.’”

Cameron used drive monster Jason Day of the PGA Tour to make his point.

“He is one of the longer drivers on the tour, but he doesn’t pull out his driver on every shot,” he said. “You’ve got to have everything in your bag. And I’m confident Brandon does. A big arm can be a plus, and that can be a minus. And I think Brandon is learning that.”

Junior wide receiver Travin Dural has noticed.

“He’s a guy who went from thinking he had to make every throw a touchdown throw for 80 yards to a guy who just settles for a check down throw or a shorter throw just to get the ball in our hands and to get completions,” he said. “That’s his maturity. He’s grown up a lot.”

Cameron has also developed from last year. His new plan is a more simplified and common sense approach to offense that will incorporate all the clubs in LSU’s bag — not just the bevy of wide receivers. Multi-tasking tailbacks Leonard Fournette, Derrius Guice and Darrel Williams will be used more in the passing game as will talented tight ends like Dillon Gordon and DeSean Smith to make it easier for Harris.

“I think not trying to look for a home run shot every play is different this year,” Harris said. “And checking the ball down to Leonard and Derrius and Darrel and Nick Brossette (a freshman tailback like Guice) and giving them an opportunity to run. I kind of figured out if you check it down to them, they can take it a long distance and break tackles.”

Cameron, who had not coached a quarterback just out of high school since the late 1990s, has also admitted he threw too many things at once at Harris and Jennings last year. Malzahn has the opposite approach.

“I think when they’re young, it’s critical,” he said. “I think you have to be careful. You have to be careful about planting. You can plant too many seeds in a guy’s head because they start chasing ghosts. I tell the quarterbacks, ‘I’m the ghost chaser.’ I’m the guy who plays the scenario game. For young guys, you have to know right when you look in their eye if they’re absorbing any more of what you are saying.”

Harris also thought last year that his arm could make up for those parts of the offense he had not grasped yet – or chosen not to grasp yet.

“He did fall into the trap of, ‘I can make every throw, and I’m going to show everybody I can make every throw,’” Cameron said. “Well, I told him, ‘We knew that when we recruited you you had an arm or we wouldn’t have recruited you.’ So we laugh about that now. Now, he’s just got to take what the defense gives him, which he’s doing a better job of. I think that’s the thing you’ll see more than anything this year – the ability to spread the ball to backs, tight ends, receivers and not so much driven in one direction in any particular game.”

Harris said he is accepting the coaching from Cameron this season better than last season because he took a step back and remembered why he came to LSU in the first place – for that Cameron playbook Cameron kept throwing at him and to be at LSU. Harris is catching on better now.

“I realized one of the reasons I came here was because I thought Coach Cam had a great scheme,” Harris said. “I wanted to come here because I’m an in-state kid. You know, there’s nothing better than being a Louisiana kid and being able to come play quarterback at Louisiana State University. My goals are to one day set myself up where I can play in the NFL.”

Harris realized he could not just play quarterback naturally. He had to work. “I think wanting it more has helped,” he said. “And I’ve been in the film room a lot more than I was.”

A conversation with wide receiver John Diarse, a sophomore from Monroe, also helped.

“I think understanding what John and all the guys told me, ‘Listen, just give us the ball and you don’t have to do too much. We’re going to make you look good,’” Harris said. “I was trying to do too much.”

Starting against McNeese State in his home start debut may also make Harris look better than starting at Auburn in his collegiate start debut.

“A lot of people have told me playing at Auburn was a terrible situation to put a freshman like me in last year, but I would tell you this,” Harris said. “I’m just excited I got that opportunity. And I’m blessed that Coach Miles gave me another opportunity to come back and compete. And that’s behind me. I’m focused on McNeese and improving this team and distributing the ball and doing everything I can to help the team win.”