QBs compliment Lee

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Sep 30, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Triggering a memorable comeback victory in a stadium where LSU had seemingly forgotten how to win probably earned Jarrett Lee a good chunk of the popular vote among Tiger fans, and maybe even his teammates.

But it was Lee’s second performance — the one after the shine had worn off a little bit — that might have convinced the most important constituency of all.

Lee has tightened his grip on the starting quarterback job over the last six quarters, ever since he relieved Andrew Hatch on the road at Auburn and guided LSU to a come-from-behind 26-21 triumph.

Then in his first collegiate start last week against Mississippi State, Lee passed for 261 yards and a pair of touchdowns, the most yardage by a Tiger freshman since 1999.

Maybe most importantly, Lee bounced back from a 20-yard sack he could have avoided and an ugly interception to guide LSU to 34 points and a victory against an inspired Bulldogs team.

According to CBS analyst Gary Danielson, that kind of grit and gumption are what likely secured Lee’s stature in his coaches’ eyes
“The most important thing for a quarterback is to believe in himself, and then he needs to get the coaching staff to believe in him,” said Danielson, who spent 11 years in the NFL. “It goes through a process. First the fans love the guy if he makes a few throws, then the players start to believe in him because he helps them win and then coaches come last.

“Jarrett is closing in on the point where (offensive coordinator Gary Crowton) and Les (Miles) are saying ‘We can call plays for this guy and he’s not gonna blow up and lose game. He might even win the game for us.’ Now they seem to be a lot more comfortable with just calling plays and letting him go with whatever they think will work because he has shown he can handle the offense.”

In other words, Lee’s emergence is a signal that LSU’s offense won’t have to be scaled back.

Crowton and Miles have not only been more willing to stretch the field since Lee took the reins from Hatch, they don’t seem to have become concerned even after he showed some inexperience.

When Lee’s effort to avoid a sack against MSU resulted in a 20-yard setback in the middle of a long first-quarter drive, the Tigers’ brain trust called back-to-back quick hitting passes to Brandon LaFell that gobbled up 32 yards and converted what was a second-and-30 situation into a new set of downs.

Three plays later, Charles Scott punched in for a 1-yard TD run that gave LSU the lead for good, 10-3.

In the second half, after a Lee pick and Quinn Johnson’s fumble on consecutive possessions in the second quarter kept the Tigers from building a comfortable halftime lead, LSU re-established Scott on the opening series of the third quarter with four straight runs.

But six of the next 10 play calls were passes and the bottom line was 10 points that boosted the Tigers’ lead to 27-10.