BATON ROUGE, La. — While Coach Ed Orgeron routinely preaches competition each week at practice, Todd Harris knew that he was in line to make his first start for LSU last weekend at Louisiana Tech. It did not change his demeanor at practice whatsoever.
Harris, a sophomore safety, replaced senior John Battle in the lineup after Battle drew a targeting penalty in the second half against Auburn, which cost him the first half in the team’s subsequent contest. While starting is certainly a much more arduous responsibility than rotating in and out of secondary, Harris maintained his composure and waited until Saturday night to show any emotions.
“It was exciting,” Harris admitted. “I was a little nervous. I knew throughout the week, but I kept it to myself. I kept my composure. I practiced and tried hard to play my best game, do what I could do to get the team a win. There was a little more pressure on me than rotating in and out with John, but I calmed myself down and focused in on what I had to do and go execute.”
Harris thrived at keeping his emotions in check. It says a lot considering he was sidelined the previous two games with a concussion suffered in the season opener.
Against Miami, the sophomore out of Plaquemine High School sustained the head injury, which kept him out of the Southeastern game. He practiced in the week leading up to Auburn, but could not give it a go.
“I had a concussion in the first week against Miami so I had to sit out when we played Southeastern,” Harris said. “I came back, but I wasn’t 100-percent for Auburn. I came back versus Louisiana Tech. It was pretty tough, challenging to get back healthy, but I feel 95, 100-percent right now.”
His played reflected as much.
In spot duty, Harris recorded 9 tackles, good for third on the team behind linebackers Jacob Phillips (13) and Devin White (11). As a defense, however, the Tigers allowed Tech to amass 330 yards through the air.
Harris pointed to communication breakdowns in the secondary for the struggles but cautioned all of the mistakes are simple fixes.
“Those are things we’ve seen in practice, but didn’t take to the field,” he said. “They’re definitely things we can fix … We weren’t expecting that outcome from the secondary the past game, but it’s going to get repaired for this week. We’re not going to dwell on that too much.
“It was small things like communication, keeping everybody on the same page, just getting to the call over to the other cornerbacks from the sideline up fast. We just need to step it up, play to the level we can play at. We were kind of flat in the second half, so we had to get the energy going with the defense and get the turnovers going.”
All of those fixes will be an emphasis in practice this week as LSU’s defense looks for a statement game with division rival Ole Miss coming to Tiger Stadium on Saturday night.
One other wrinkle to note: Battle returned in the third quarter against Tech, but Harris considers himself in the midst of a position battle with the senior for the starting job. Harris quietly practiced to start a week ago leading into the Louisiana Tech contest and will do the same ahead of the showdown with the Rebels.
After all, Orgeron preaches competition and Harris has taken that message to heart.
“I practice hard every day whether I’m starting or not starting. That’s my mindset,” he said. “We all compete. Everybody is competing for one spot at the end of the day, so whether I’m playing or John’s playing, we’re straight.”
