Burrow not concerned about drops or timing, just ‘not screwing up’
BATON ROUGE, La. — There’s plenty to unravel when it comes to LSU’s starting quarterback.
From caramel apple suckers and inside-out socks, to Matthew Dellavedova T-shirts during weekly media availability, Joe Burrow is a character of his own.
The pre-game superstitions and Cleveland Cavaliers fandom may be the most that Burrow is concerned with. He isn’t chasing statistics or box scores. He isn’t fazed by completion percentages and has almost no concern about the number of dropped passes against Miami. All that’s on Burrow’s mind is continuing to make strides leading the offense, playing a role much like a certain Cavalier role player-turned-Milwaukee Buck, or the quarterback puts it — “not screwing it up.”
“We need to work on our time management. We burned a couple of timeouts early, and that was one. Execution on third-down is a big one. We’re not going to win big games in the SEC going 4-for-whatever on third-downs. You can’t do that,” Burrow said on Tuesday.
“I don’t think you can win games if you’re not attentive to the details on every play. One guy steps with the wrong foot first, a defensive lineman can step in the backfield a make a three-yard loss. If everyone steps the right way every play, you can have big plays like on third-down with Nick (Brossette). If one person screws up, it’s not good, so the details are very important each play.”
LSU went 3-for-16 on third-downs, to be specific, and Burrow individually completed 11-of-24 passes and did not throw a touchdown or an interception. That, too, is a touchy subject.
Freshman wideout Ja’Marr Chase made an acrobatic catch, but was ruled out at the 1. A review of the play showed Chase’s foot tap the pylon, but because of the threat that he might’ve stepped out of bonds, the LSU coaches hurried up to call a next play on Sunday night.
“That was a touchdown. Come on!” Burrow pleaded. “That was a touchdown. Give me one!”
Burrow will look to throw his first touchdown pass in an LSU uniform on Saturday during the team’s home opener against Southeastern. In typical fashion, the calm, cool, collective quarterback isn’t fretting over it too much.
After all, the rhythm with his receivers and remaining sharp remain bigger priorities for Burrow, who since arriving in Baton Rouge in June has worked feverishly to win over the locker room. He took a rather large step forward in that area on Sunday night at AT&T Stadium, but there’s better opportunity to continue that momentum then on Saturdays.
“I’m not concerned about it,” Burrow said in reference to the handful of dropped passes against Miami. “They make plays every day in practice and I have trust in those guys. There were some drops, some bad throws, and we’re going to get it fixed. I’m looking forward to those guys making plays throughout the season.”
“We’ll get that fixed,” he added, in regards to the timing with those passes. “I was pretty happy. Our defense was playing so well I try not to screw it up, you know what I mean?”
Those two areas will develop naturally, Burrow suggested. The son of a coach, Burrow is already shifting gears and putting his attention on Southeastern.
The upset of the Canes came largely as a result of a stout rushing attack, even though coach Ed Orgeron had mentioned that the passing game would be critical in the lead-up to kickoff. Orgeron and offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger did not hesitate to press reset on the game plan, just as Burrow did not think twice when calling audibles at the line of scrimmage.
Burrow considers himself a role player on this Tigers team, preparing to do his part for the most important stat line of all: wins. Sound familiar, Cavs fans?
“If you would’ve told me a year ago I’d be the starting quarterback for LSU, I would’ve told you you’re crazy,” he said. “We’re a run-first team with a really good O-line, really good running backs, and there’s going to come a time when we need to win games throwing the football. When it comes, I’ll be ready for it. I’m going to keep doing what the coaches ask me to do, follow the game plan and play to the best of my ability.”