Excitement and some admitted surprise filled the Roark house, like many others across Louisiana, as Jaray Jenkins hauled in one catch after another Saturday.

The Jena product had flown largely under the radar yet again this fall in a deep and talented LSU wide receiver corps.

But for those close to the 6-foot-4, 194-pound pass-catcher, the only surprise was the timing for a breakout always viewed as a matter of "when," and not "if."

"He had actually told me on Thursday or Friday that he had gotten a little banged up in practice and didn't know how much he was gonna play," Jena coach Jay Roark said. "So I was shocked that he was on the field at all. But apparently his ankle was better. And I was a little shocked that early on, that early in the game, just based off what I've heard people saying about the depth charts.

"But I can tell you this: Ever since he's gotten down there, any time I've spoken with any of the coaches that coach him or are around him, they love him. And for the same reason we loved him here: You never have to tell that kid to work hard. He does everything the right way."

Roark praised his star athlete's work ethic throughout the recruiting process in high school as, regardless of accolades already in hand, Jenkins stayed driven to sharpen his skills and round out his game.

But that determination was arguably most evident when a broken tibia sidelined him from the senior seasons of the sports he loved.

"We didn't even have him after the first quarter of Week 1," Roark remembered. "But as soon as he got better, he started working to get back in shape and doing everything the right way," Roark remembers. "Even with his broken leg, if there was anything he could start doing in the weight room, as far as bench press and stuff like that, he started doing that as early as he possibly could.

"And once he started rehab, he stuck with that like he was supposed to. And once he was able to start getting back out on the field, he just hit it wide open. He was excited. We were all a little nervous whether LSU would stick with him or not after the injury, so he certainly didn't take that for granted. So as soon as he had the opportunity, he hit the ground running."

Jenkins finished his medical rehabilitation by that February, dove into football drills as quickly as he could and was back full-go by summer.

He hasn't slowed down much since.

"His progress has been tremendous, since his freshman year all the way up to now," said junior wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr., a fellow 2018 signee. "He's a very hard worker. And I'm just glad to see it finally paying off for him."

Jenkins redshirted his first year on campus, then chipped in five catches for 67 yards behind Marshall, veteran Justin Jefferson and Biletnikoff Award winner Ja'Marr Chase in 2019.

The Tigers, with new faces abound, struggled to move the ball early in Saturday's season opener against Mississippi State.

Quarterback Myles Brennan had completed just three of his first eight passes, including one of his past five.

Then the fourth-year junior found Jenkins twice early on a second-quarter possession and appeared to start finding more of a rhythm.

Their second connection — a 47-yarder deep down the middle of the field — marked Brennan's longest completion of the game and set up the offense's first touchdown.

"I loved him," coach Ed Orgeron said afterward. "I thought he was good. You know what, Jaray's had a good camp, and I'm proud of Jaray. He had a good game, and I think that he's gonna continue to get better. He's a good young man."

Jenkins finished with five catches for 85 yards

And his hometown could not have been much more excited to see the performance from the kid with the "huge smile" and "infectious attitude" his coach said has endeared him to the entire community since childhood.

"I can tell you that my wife and I probably looked like a couple of little kids in our living room," Roark laughed. "We were jumping up and down and hooting and hollering. So we were all excited. You could tell just from talking to people the whole town was abuzz this weekend about his performance. Even though everybody was obviously disappointed about the loss, just seeing him on the field from a small town where it doesn't happen very often is a big deal in this community."

Roark was sure Jenkins was excited, too, "but you'll never get that out of him."

The young athlete will just continue to work, his coach says.

Music to his teammates' ears.

"Jaray is a real consistent route-runner," Marshall said. "He's a very consistent trainer. He's got great hands and can catch in traffic, so he's gonna bring a lot to the table for us this year. As long as he keeps grinding it out, he's gonna have a very successful year."

Those strengths, work ethic and a commitment to finer details could be a perfect combination to secure Jenkins more consistent playing time.

Jefferson's and Chase's departures for the NFL have left, as Orgeron puts it, "200 balls" from last year's stat sheet available to be caught.

Jenkins took the early lead in any potential numerical competition with seniors Racey McMath and Jontre Kirklin, sophomore Trey Palmer and freshmen Kayshon Boutte and Koy Moore.

And crisp route-running and timing and a willingness to catch balls over the middle would help Brennan as the quarterback works on making his reads and releasing his passes more quickly.

"I know one thing he's gonna do is he's gonna continue to work hard," Roark said. "That's why he's able to play now. He worked his butt off even before he got down there... So I might be a little surprised by how quickly it came for him to have that big of a game, but I'm not surprised at all that it's happening."