Three reasons why BYU football will beat LSU in 2017
By Joshua Ellis
BYU football‘s first major test of the season will come on Sept. 2 against LSU at NRG Stadium in Houston. Here are three reasons why the Cougars will pull off the upset.
BYU football will benefit from a lackluster September schedule that should put the national spotlight on the game against LSU.
The Tigers are coming off of an 8-4 season that was good enough for second in the SEC West (behind national runner-up Alabama) and a final national ranking of No. 13/14.
A rocky start saw the school dismiss longtime head coach Les Miles and bring on interim coach Ed Orgeron who had the “interim” title dropped last November.
Expectations in Baton Rouge are high, especially with a top ten recruiting class coming in this season.
But a lot of things can happen between now and September. Looking ahead, here are three reasons why BYU football can pull off the upset.
No. 1: A Tanner Mangum-led offense will be improved. And lucky.
Unlike last season, BYU has one quarterback to focus on heading into the 2017 season. Tanner Mangum has full control of the offense under Detmer, and it’ll be exciting to see what a pass-first pocket quarterback can do within this system.
Last season’s offense averaged 201 rushing yards and 198 passing yards per game.
2016 yielded BYU’s lowest average passing total since 2010 when Riley Nelson and Jake Heaps split time behind center.
By comparison, in 2015 the team averaged 128 rushing yards and 297 passing yards per game.
Jamaal Williams was a big part of the additional running attack last season. But 2016 was only the second year since 2010 that BYU averaged more yards on the ground than through the air.
Mangum threw for 3,377 years on 267-for-446 passing, 23 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and had a 136.00 passer efficiency rating his freshman year, earning him the Freshman of the Year award from the Touchdown Club of Columbus.
Let’s not forget that Mangum also split MVP honors with Jameis Winston at the Nike Elite 11 camp in 2011.
Plus, he seems to be on Lady Luck’s good side.
Week one 2015 at Nebraska:
Week two 2015 vs Boise State:
And don’t forget the lazy duck of a pass that was somehow caught for a touchdown against the Wyoming Cowboys in the Poinsettia Bowl.
2017 will be Mangum’s year, and a strong performance in Houston would be the moment to launch the Eagle, Idaho native into the national spotlight for reasons beyond Hail Mary’s.