By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports

BATON ROUGE – Rewind just more than three weeks ago, and LSU head coach Brian Kelly and his team had a long plane ride home from Orlando after a stunning 45-24 season-opening loss to Florida State.

The most puzzling thing to Kelly was the Seminoles outscored the Tigers 31-7 in the second half. LSU had 15 returning starters – 8 on offense, 7 on defense – from its 2022 SEC West Division championship squad that came back for wins vs. Auburn, Mississippi State and Ole Miss by 17, 13 and 17 points respectively.

With those returning players, why did LSU roll over and play dead in the final two quarters vs. FSU? Where was their fight, their hunger to win?

After two blowout wins over Grambling and Mississippi State, the Tigers had to battle back from a late-second quarter deficit last Saturday in a 34-31 SEC victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks. Kelly liked how his team climbed out of a 10-point hole by scoring in the last 30 seconds of the first half and the first minute of the second half.

“We really didn’t have the right mix of mindset going into the Florida State game, so this (the Arkansas game) was our first chance really to identify who we were when we got down,” Kelly said at his weekly Monday press conference. “We immediately responded. We came out in the second half and played the kind of football that I expect.

“Never flinching, knowing that we were going to take some more shots. And when we gave up a play, we forgot about it. We’re starting to see some resiliency from last year to this year.”

Heading into Saturday’s game between No. 13 LSU and No. 20 Ole Miss in Oxford, Kelly is happy with the Tigers’ offense that leads the SEC in scoring (42.75 points per game) and total offense (530 yards per game).

LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels won the co-SEC Offensive Player of the Week for a second consecutive week, totaling 356 yards including 5 TDs vs. Arkansas. The Tigers had two 100-yard receivers (Malik Nabers 8 catches for 130 yards, 2 TDs and Brian Thomas (5 receptions for 133 yards, 2 TDs). Running back Logan Diggs almost had his second 100-yard rushing game in the last three weeks, running for 97 yards and 14 carries.

There was a lot to like offensively.

Defensively, not so much.

Arkansas gained 426 total offense yards. QB KJ Jefferson totaled 337 yards and 3 TDs passes. His constant escapes from a collapsing pass pocket consistently sent the Tigers’ defense into a tizzy, especially LSU’s defensive backs who ran around like their jerseys were on fire.

One play in the first minute of the fourth quarter – Jefferson’s scrambling 59-yard TD pass off a scramble to wide-open Luke Hasz – illustrated what Kelly believes is the crux of LSU’s defensive woes.

“This is about staying focused all the time and doing your job,” Kelly said. “He (LSU cornerback Zy Alexander) lost sight of what he should have been doing on that particular play.

“He saw the quarterback as a run threat. That’s not his (Alexander) job. His job was to be the deep half-defender. Go do your job. There was somebody else assigned to him. (Jefferson)

“We are trying to chase too many plays on defense. We’re trying to make plays that aren’t really our place to make. We need to do our job. Once we settle down and do the ordinary things extraordinarily well, this can be a really good defense.”

KNOW YOUR ENEMY

LSU (3-1 overall, 2-0 SEC West) at Ole Miss (3-1, 0-1 SEC West), Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Saturday, 5 p.m. (ESPN)

Last game for Ole Miss: Lost at 24-10 at Alabama last Saturday. After trailing 7-6 at halftime, Alabama was dominant on both sides of the ball in the second half as the Tide racked up 241 total offense yards compared to 148 for Ole Miss.

Series record and last meeting: LSU leads the series 64-41-4. Last season in Tiger Stadium, unbeaten Ole Miss led 17-3 in the second quarter before LSU scored 28 unanswered points in a 45-20 win. Tigers’ quarterback Jayden Daniels completed 21 of 28 passes for 248 yards and 2 TDs and ran for 121 yards and 3 TDs on 23 carries.

Ole Miss head coach: Lane Kiffin (87-48 in 12 seasons, 26-14 in his third season at Ole Miss)

THIS AND THAT

Early betting line: LSU opens as a 2½-point favorite

Number of Louisiana natives on Ole Miss roster: 1

Number of Mississippi natives on LSU roster: 6

Number of transfers on Ole Miss roster from 4-year schools: 40 players from 37 schools including 19 players from 15 Power 5 Conference schools

OLE MISS PLAYERS TO WATCH

QB Jaxson Dart (65 of 103 for 1,096 passing yards, 7 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 219 rushing yards and 3 TDs on 44 carries), WR Tre Harris (8 catches for 188 yards, 5 TDs), WR Jordan Watkins (24 catches for 347 yards, 1 TD), RB Quinshon Judkins (201 rushing yards and 4 TDs on 57 carries)

FS Trey Washington (25 tackles, 2 TFL), MLB Khari Coleman (19 tackles, 2½ TFL, 1½ sacks), SS John Saunders Jr. (18 tackles, 1 sack, 4 PBU), PK Caden Davis (7 for 9 FG, 16 of 16 extra points), P Fraser Masin (43.1 ypk, 3 fair catches, 3 inside the 20, 1 plus 50 yards), KO Caden Davis (31 KO for 63.4 average, 23 touchbacks, 1 out of bounds), KR Ulysses Bentley IV (6 for 113 yards), PR Jordan Watkins (4 for 72 yards, 1 TD)

HIS-TO-RY QUIZ

1. The last time Ole Miss clinched an SEC championship. . .

    A. Current head coach Lane Kiffin wasn’t yet born

    B. The Beatles hadn’t made their first U.S. appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show

    C. Was eight days after the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy

    D. All of the above

2. What is the highest finish for an Ole Miss player in Heisman Trophy voting?

    A. 3rd

    B. 2nd

    C. 1st

    D. 4th

3. Who was the former Ole Miss quarterback from the New Orleans area first to see game action in a Super Bowl?

     A. John Fourcade

     B. Eli Manning

     C. Norris Weese

     D. Pee Wee Reese

ANSWERS: 1. D, 2. A, 3. C

Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com

---

By MASON SIEGEL, LSU Athletics Communications

There’s something about the true power of a voice.  For generations of LSU fans, there is no more iconic, more golden voice than Jim Hawthorne’s.

Last Friday night, Hawthorne was awarded the LSU Athletics Hall of Fame Distinguished Honor.

Known as “The Voice of the Tigers,” from 1979-2016, Hawthorne served as the radio play-by-play announcer for LSU football, baseball and men’s basketball. 

Born in Many, Hawthorne moved just south to Anacoco, in the sixth grade. He began his career at radio station KLLA as a senior in high school, serving as the play-by-play announcer for the Leesville High School Wampus Cats football team.

After graduating from high school, Hawthorne worked as a commercial radio broadcaster and DJ for KNOC in Natchitoches, while attending college at Northwestern State.

There, he befriended one of his greatest mentors, the late Norm Fletcher. Fletcher served as a play-by-play announcer for Northwestern State sports for four decades after working as a broadcaster in the U.S. military’s Far East Network during the Korean Conflict.

“I loved him, he was like a big brother to me,” Hawthorne said. “If it weren’t for him, I don’t know what I would’ve done.”

With Fletcher as his guide, Hawthorne began calling his first collegiate games, serving as play-by-play announcer for NSU men’s basketball. Hawthorne then moved to Shreveport, where he worked at KWKH, one of the nation’s top 50,000-watt stations, known through much of the country as a home to LSU football as well as for a popular country music program known as the Louisiana Hayride.

While at KWKH, Hawthorne was the play-by-play announcer for Centenary College men’s basketball. He had the opportunity to call games involving future four-time NBA champion center Robert “The Chief” Parish. Hawthorne also handled Texas League baseball games and World Football League contests.

With Hawthorne still living in Shreveport and working for KWKH, the voice of LSU football, John Ferguson, visited KWKH in search of a radio announcer for LSU men’s basketball. It was there that Ferguson requested an audition tape from Hawthorne. A few weeks later, Ferguson returned to Shreveport, where the two met for lunch.

While at lunch, Hawthorne asked Ferguson if the position for LSU basketball had been filled.

“Well, that depends,” said Ferguson. 

“What does it depend on?” asked Hawthorne.

“It depends on if you’ll take the job or not,” responded Ferguson.

Hawthorne accepted the job, and his tenure as a Tiger had begun.

He began calling LSU men’s basketball games during the 1979-80 season. He went on to broadcast three NCAA Final Four appearances (1981, 1986, 2006), seven SEC regular-season championships and one SEC Tournament title.

Hawthorne covered some of college basketball’s most electrifying players, highlighted by NBA greats Shaquille O’Neal, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, and a host of others. Hawthorne was also the voice behind the winningest head coach in program history, Dale Brown.

Hawthorne’s success early success with men’s basketball led him to Tiger Stadium, where he worked alongside Ferguson for a short time before becoming the voice of LSU football. From 1983 to 2015, Hawthorne covered LSU’s 22 bowl games, six SEC titles and two national championships (2003, 2007).

Some of Hawthorne’s most famous calls on the football field include the “Earthquake Game” on October 8, 1988, in which the Tiger Stadium crowd’s reaction to LSU’s game-winning touchdown pass against Auburn registered on a seismograph on campus.

In 1984, Hawthorne – who played some college baseball at Northwestern State — became the first play-by-play announcer in the history of LSU baseball. With the arrival of coach Skip Bertman in the same year, LSU baseball rapidly transformed into a national power.

“To see it start as something that people came to because they didn’t have anything else to do,” Hawthorne remembered, “and seeing it develop into the incredible powerhouse that the baseball program became under Skip Bertman was just incredible.

“I’m very blessed to have had the opportunity to work with him and for him. I don’t know if my career would’ve ended up the way it did had it not been for him.”

Hawthorne was the voice behind LSU’s first 17 College World Series appearances, six national titles and 11 SEC Tournament championships.

Of all the iconic calls over Hawthorne’s legendary career, no moment quite compares to the Warren Morris walk-off home run in the 1996 CWS finale to capture LSU’s third national title.

“That’s probably the most incredible feeling that I’ve ever had,” Hawthorne said as he recalled the moment. “I don’t know if there will ever be anything quite like it again. I’m just very proud to have been part of it.”

Hawthorne proved himself as one of the all-time greats in the industry. In 2011, he was the recipient of the Lindsey Nelson Award, an honor given to an individual who has exemplified a passion for broadcasting during his or her career.

In 2015, Hawthorne was presented with the Chris Schenkel Award in New York City. The award honors those who have lengthy, illustrious careers as college football broadcasters with ties to a particular university.

Hawthorne’s basketball accomplishments were recognized by the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches with their Mr. Basketball Award, and on June 25, 2016, he was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in Natchitoches.

Hawthorne credits his mother, as well as Norm Fletcher, for being integral parts of his success.

“Those two really laid the foundation for me to have had the career that I did,” he said.

The LSU Athletics Hall of Fame Distinguished Honor is icing on the cake.

“I’m very humbled by it,” he said. “It’s an incredible award with incredible recognition, and I’d always hoped I’d be worthy of it.”

---

By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports

BATON ROUGE — LSU’s football opponent changes weekly – SEC West foe Arkansas is on the menu here tonight at 6 p.m. in Tiger Stadium — but Tigers’ head coach Brian Kelly’s approach rarely wavers.

“We’ve made some tweaks and adjustments like anybody would along the way to prepare our football team in a manner that when it’s time to play,” Kelly said, “they play with a competitive edge, not only execute not but do things necessary to win football games.

The 12th-ranked Tigers (2-1 overall, 1-0 in the SEC) are almost three weeks removed from having a cold bucket of reality tossed on them in the form of a 45-24 season-opening loss to Florida State in Orlando on Sept. 3.

With 9 million viewers watching with LSU-FSU as the only game being televised that Sunday night, the then-No. 4 ranked Tigers failed miserably in just about every area.

Since then, much has changed.

Harold Perkins Jr. has moved back to SAM linebacker so he can roam free to disrupt offenses. The offensive line has returned to playing to its experience level. Injuries have forced new stars to emerge such as true freshmen Whit Weeks at linebacker and running back Kaleb Jackson who teams with Notre Dame transfer Logan Diggs to provide a viable rushing attack.

Then there’s senior starting quarterback Jayden Daniels. Though he wasn’t a reason why LSU lost to FSU – he accounted for 439 yards of the Tigers’ 460 yards total offense – he has since tightened the screws on his execution.

Not counting running out the clock in the first half of last Saturday’s 41-14 win at Mississippi State, Daniels has led LSU to points on his last 13 of 14 series with 11 touchdowns and two field goals.

“We showcase what we can do if we execute a high level,” said Daniels, who in the last two games vs. Grambling and MSU completed 48 of 58 passes for 650 yards, 7 TDs and 0 interceptions and rushed for 93 yards and 2 TDs on 20 carries. “We go out there and we’re communicating. When all 11 guys are in the right place at the right time, good things can happen.”

Daniels has only been sacked three times in the last two games after getting sacked four times in the opening loss to FSU. LSU’s rushing attack, which managed just 3.1 yards per carry from its three running backs vs. FSU, got a combined 5.6 yards per carry from its backs against Grambling and Mississippi State.

It hasn’t just been elevating Diggs and Jackson to the top of the running back rotation. The offensive line is now playing like a starting unit with a combined 93 college starts.

“Our communication got a lot better (after the FSU loss),” LSU starting center Charles Turner said. “The flow of practice (the Tigers had a full-contact practice on the Tuesday before the MSU game) got a lot better. It taught us to start fast. The whole time (vs. MSU), we were just trying to set the tone and play nasty.”

LSU’s defense has had its own set of challenges. It was torched by Florida State’s taller receivers. Perkins, starting game one in his new role, looked lost and was ineffective. New faces have been plugged in to replace injured starting linebacker Omar Speights (lower-body injury) and starting safety Greg Brooks Jr. who underwent emergency surgery last Friday to remove a brain tumor.

With all that weighing on the Tigers’ defenders, their challenge this weekend is neutralizing Arkansas senior quarterback KJ Jefferson, a 6-3, 247-pound fifth-year senior who’ll be making his 30th college start vs. LSU.

As one of the best and certainly most physical dual-threat QBs, Arkansas generally goes as Jefferson goes. He’s three TDs shy of breaking Matt Jones’ career record for touchdown responsibility.

“KJ is a pretty big quarterback,” LSU starting defensive end Sai’vion Jones said. “We can’t just go in and tackle high and expect to bring him down. The emphasis is to make sure we hit him nice and low and that the backside pursuit always runs to the ball. Don’t assume he’s down.”

Jefferson, who puts his body on the line every game, is a bit banged up from last Saturday’s 38-31 home loss to BYU.

He missed last season’s game vs. LSU, a 13-10 Tigers victory in Fayetteville. Daniels, who had been sick most of the week before the game, had one of his worst outings of the season. Perkins saved the day for the Tigers with one of the best individual defensive performances (3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles) in school history.

The way Arkansas fought that day gives Hogs’ coach Sam Pittman hope as his 2-1 squad begins SEC play. He’s doing his best to forget his team committed 14 penalties in the loss to BYU.

“We were dealt a hand (with Jefferson’s absence in last year’s game vs. LSU),” said Pittman, whose Razorbacks beat the Tigers 16-13 in overtime two years ago in Tiger Stadium. “But we played a physical, good game and I think that we’ll do the same thing this time. We’ve got a good football team. We lost a game and we’ve got to go get our pride back and get our respect back.” 

GO FIGURE 

5: Punts this year by LSU, the fewest in the FBS. 

13: Consecutive wins for LSU when the Tigers for 200 or more yards. 

14-0: Arkansas record under third-year head coach Sam Pittman when the Hogs win the turnover battle. 

15: First-quarter completions by LSU QB Jayden Daniels last week vs. Mississippi State, the most completions in any quarter in Tigers’ football history. 

74: Career TDs for Arkansas QB KJ Jefferson, including 53 passing and 24 rushing.

Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com

---

By T. SCOTT BOATRIGHT, Journal Sports

GRAMBLING — It’s about to get real in “The Hole,” otherwise known as Eddie G. Robinson Stadium on the campus of Grambling State University.

Grambling opens Southwestern Athletic Conference Play at 2 p.m. today by playing host to Texas Southern.

The G-Men (1-2) will be looking for a second straight win for only the second time in two seasons under former NFL coach Hue Jackson.

Last year, in his first year as head coach at GSU, Jackson led Grambling to back-to-back wins only once, defeating Alcorn State 35-6 before downing Arkansas-Pine Bluff 36-10 with both games being played in at Eddie G. Robinson Stadium.

Texas Southern defeated Grambling 41-7 last year in Houston.

Grambling is coming off a 58-20  home win over Florida Memorial, but Jackson knows his team will be better tested against Texas Southern, which enters the game at 0-3 after falling last week 59-7 at Rice.

After falling to Prairie View 39-37 to open the season, TSU has lost its past two games by a combined score of 130-10 including a 71-7 drubbing at Toledo in Week 2.

One big question for Grambling heading into the contest will be who will get the start at quarterback for TSU.

Andrew Body started the season opener against Prairie View, completing 18-of-38 passes for 286 yards and three touchdowns with three interceptions while adding 64 yards on 10 carries.

But  Body was apparently injured late in the game against Prairie View, giving way to Jace Wilson, who has thrown for a combined 196 yards and one touchdown on 39 passing attempts the past two weeks.

“We’re waiting to hear what the doctors are going to allow him to do,” said TSU coach Ted McKinney about the possibility of Body returning to the gridiron against Grambling during a SWAC weekly video conference. “It’s going to be a gametime decision. “We’re going to do what we do offensively. We have confidence in both Andrew and Jace. Our scheme is our scheme. We recruited those guys to play in our system.”

Whoever gets the start at quarterback for TSU against Grambling will likely be targeting Jyrin Johnson, who hauled in four passes for 49 yards and Texas Southern’s lone score against Toledo.

There’s no question who will get the start under center for Grambing against Texas Southern. Myles Crawley has thrown for six touchdowns with only one interception this season for the G-Men and is averaging 224.3 passing yards per game.

Grambling features a two-headed rushing attack in sophomores Chance Williams and Floyd Chalk IV.

Williams leads GSU with 187 yards and a score on 25 carries while Chalk has added 111 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 29 attempts.

Crawley will likely continue to spread the ball around after tossing touchdowns to six different receivers this season. Antonio Jones leads the G-Men with 14 catches for 162 yards but has yet to haul in a score this season.

Jackson will be looking for more from his defense, which had trouble at times slowing Florida Memorial’s rushing attack last week and is giving up 271.3 yards on the ground per game so far this season.

The head G-Man is also looking for more out of his “12th Man” in Grambling’s second home game of the season.

“We need everybody to be here against Texas Southern,” Jackson said. “We went to Houston last year and they beat us. Now they’re a good team coming here this weekend. We need more fans in the stands. We need more people screaming and yelling and making sure they root us on to victory.”

---

By MALCOLM BUTLER, Lincoln Parish Journal

LINCOLN, Neb. — Twenty-five years ago, Louisiana Tech fans watched one of the greatest performances in the history of college football when Tim Rattay and Troy Edwards teamed up to torch the Nebraska Cornhuskers for what are still today NCAA single game records.

Rattay threw for 590 yards with an NCAA single game mark of 405 of those going to Edwards, the Shreveport-Huntington product who was on his way to the 1998 Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver.

None of the current day Bulldogs were even alive when that performance took place at Memorial Stadium, a 56-27 win by the Cornhuskers.

Fast forward and Louisiana Tech returns to the scene of that offensive crime today when Sonny Cumbie and Co. face the present-day Huskers at 2:30 p.m. in a game that will be on the Big Ten Network.

Coincidentally enough, Troy Edwards son, Tru, is on this Tech team and will be making the trip to Lincoln.

However, it’s another Bulldog receiver that Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule specifically mentioned during his weekly press conference earlier in the week.

“They are going to get the ball into Smoke Harris’ hands,” Rhule told Nebraska beat writers. “He is one of the more dynamic players that you will see.”

Truer words have not been spoken. Harris has caught 24 passes for 288 yards and three scores this season through the first four games. His ability to make defenders miss has led to multiple big time plays, including the 36-yard scoring catch that tied the ballgame against North Texas in the final two minutes last week.

“It is a high compliment and high praise,” said Tech coach Sonny Cumbie on Tuesday when talking to Bulldog beat writers. “Coach Rhule is a phenomenal coach. I competed against him when he was at Baylor. He has done a phenomenal job in terms of rebuilding programs and is very clear on what he wants in his programs and how he wants his teams to play. He has seen a lot of football coming from the Carolina Panthers. For him to say that about Smoke I think it is a very high compliment.”

Harris may not touch Edwards 405-yard record today, but in order for the Bulldogs to have a chance to come out on top, the sixth-year senior will need to make some plays — whether on special teams and/or in the slot receiver position.

Cumbie points to Harris’ passion for playing football as a key for his success.

“It is a lot of joy to coach someone who practices the same way he plays with a lot of intensity and a lot of speed,” said Cumbie. “I kid our guys all the time if you talk about the guys that have played a lot of football. There is a lot of miles on those tires. He has a lot of miles on his tires and he is still running like he is brand new. It shows his passion for the game.”

Today’s game is the final non-conference game for Tech (2-2) as the Bulldogs will then play seven straight CUSA contests, including the next four on non-traditional midweek dates. Today starts a stretch where Tech plays four games in 17 days.

The Bulldogs could be without starting QB Hank Bachmeier, who is still recovering from an injury suffered in the third quarter of last week’s loss to North Texas. Red-shirt sophomore Jack Turner could get his first college start. Turner completed 9-of-14 passes last week in 20 minutes of gametime while throwing for one TD and running for a second.

“They are the opposite of us,” said Rhule. “They are going to drop back and throw it. They are going to spin it. They are going to play with tempo. They will run it too. They are going to RPO you. Offensively, they will present us with a lot of challenges.”

Nebraska (1-2) will look to pound the football on the ground. The Cornhuskers have utilized a pair of signal callers through the first three games but have settled on Heinrich Haarberg.

“We are going to have to figure out ways to get extra hats in the box,” said Cumbie.  “Both quarterbacks do a great job of running the football with zone reads and quarterback draws and with quarterback power. We are going to have to find ways to get extra hats to the box.”

Rhule said the Bulldogs defense will present some obstacles.

“Defensively, they are going to bring pressure,” said Rhule. “They are going to play man. They are going to challenge you. They are going to try to disrupt you.”

---