EHLINGER & CO. FACE MUST-WIN AGAINST IOWA STATE.
Aggies senior QB knows pressure of starting in SEC as a freshman
COLLEGE STATION — LSU coach Ed Orgeron describes Tigers quarterback TJ Finley as having “ice in his veins.”
But with a freshman who at this time a year ago was playing for Ponchatoula (La.) High School, Orgeron must make sure that the ice in Finley’s veins doesn’t flow to his brain at inopportune instances.
“There are some things with the play going fast that he has to key on and diagnose better,” Orgeron said after Finley led the Tigers to a comeback victory at Arkansas a week ago. “But overall he showed he can win a big game at the end.”
Finley’s biggest challenge as a collegian comes Saturday night, when the Tigers (3-3) take on No. 5 Texas A&M (5-1) at Kyle Field. Aggies senior quarterback Kellen Mond knows exactly what Finley is going through as a freshman in a prominent SEC West program — he started his first year, too.
Mond finally has his feet firmly under him and has developed into an NFL draft prospect, but it took plenty of his own patience and patience from his demanding coach, Jimbo Fisher.
“(Last) offseason I took a huge evaluation of myself,” Mond said. “I was just a critic of myself, and understanding aftermy junior season I had to grow for us to improve as an entire team, and as an offense. I studied a lot of quarterbacks in the NFL, just different schemes and understanding defenses a lot more. That’s been a large improvement in my game — understanding defenses more.
“It allows me to play fast and trust my eyes.”
A&M’s offensive line has earned loads of accolades for not allowing a sack in the last five games, but senior offensive tackle Carson Green said plenty of the credit goes to Mond.
“Something no one is talking about is howKellen’s game has improved,” Green
said. “He’s the leader we all knewhe could be, and that’s helped us up front. He’s getting the ball out faster, the receivers are running good routes and the running backs are running the ball hard — all that definitely helps us in the passing game.”
Based on a combination of the above and three seasons of growth, Mond needs 153 passing yards and 74 rushing yards to become the third quarterback in SEC history to throw for more than 9,000 yards and rush for more than 1,500 yards, joining Florida’s Tim Tebow
and Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott.
“Kellen is a dual-threat quarterback,” said Orgeron, who’s witnessed Mond’s maturation over the past three years. “He can avoid the rush and run the football, much like (Arkansas’) Feleipe Franks did last week. We’re going to have to be able to contain him.”
The Aggies are claiming the same thing about Finley, with whom Fisher first crossed paths a couple of years ago at a 7-on-7 tournament in Miami that Fisher’s son Trey, now a quarter back at Tennessee-Martin, was competing in.
“He can get the ball all over the field,” Fisher said of Finley, who’s 6-6 and 242 pounds. “Man, when you see him in person, he’s impressive. His size, length, strong arm and he’s very athletic — he runs good for a big guy. He’s hard to get on the ground.
“He’s only played in a few football games, but you can see the sky is the limit for him, and he’s a very talented young man.”
Following an injury to starter Myles Brennan, Orgeron turned to Finley for both his first start and first snap in college in the Tigers’ fourth game of the season, following a 1-2 start for the reigning national champions.
Finley responded by completing17 of 21passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns and an interception in LSU’s 52-24 victory over South Carolina, and it appeared the Tigers had their starter of the present and future.
Finley stumbled the next week, however, in LSU’s 4811 loss at No. 22 Auburn on Halloween, in throwing two interceptions with no touch
down passes while completing 54 percent of his passes. He rebounded nicely aweek ago, however, in the Tigers’ 27-24 victory at Arkansas, in throwing for 271 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
“He’s got a lot of confidence, and practices that way,” Orgeron said. “He’s got a strong arm and a big body, and he can handle the rush and scramble.”
Meanwhile, Mond (6-3, 217) will glance across Kyle Field on Saturday night and remember what it was like to be a freshman starter in the SEC West as he tries to lead the Aggies to their first College Football Playoff berth.
“I still have a lot more work to do,” Mond said.