Kelly: ‘Dynamic’ Anderson aids LSU’s return game
Aug 28, 2023, 04:34 PM ET
BATON ROUGE, La.– LSU coach Brian Kelly sounds positive that Alabama transfer Aaron Anderson can transform the fifth-ranked Tigers’ return game from a turnover-prone liability into a game-breaking possession.
“He’s pretty vibrant,” Kelly stated Monday. “It’s simply a various look back there.”
Anderson, a receiver from New Orleans, was called LSU’s primary returner on Monday as the Tigers prepared to deal with No. 8 Florida State in Orlando this Sunday night.It’s a rematch of a season opener in 2015 that saw special teams blunders by LSU– consisting of 2 muffed punts– play a pivotal role in a 24-23 FSU triumph that was chosen a missed out on additional point after the Tigers had scored a potential tying touchdown at the end of regulation.The rematch is”going
to come down to the execution of the smallest things, and as you people understand, it boiled down to that the last time we played,” Kelly stated. “Fielding the football cleanly, executing extra points– all those things mattered and will matter again in this matchup.”
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Malik Nabers, who enters this season as one of the country’s primarily extremely regarded receivers, took on punt-return tasks in last season’s Labor Day weekend matchup in New Orleans. Although he’s been a remarkably sure-handed and prolific receiver, fielding punts didn’t appear to suit him early last season. He was responsible for both muffed punts.The 5-foot-8, 190-pound Anderson, who starred at Edna Karr High School in New Orleans ‘”West Bank, “had actually prepared to go to LSU throughout high school. However Anderson decommitted in 2021 when then-coach Ed Orgeron, who ‘d coached LSU to a national title in 2019, resigned throughout the second of successive non-winning seasons that followed.Anderson took a redshirt year as a freshman last season at Alabama because of a knee injury that erased most of his season. On the other hand, the Crimson Tide saw their hopes for a third-straight SEC West crown in 2022 hindered by an overtime loss at LSU last November.The Tigers went on to secure the SEC West title in what was Kelly’s very first season in Baton Rouge after training
at Notre Dame for the previous 12. With expectations for the Tigers soaring this past offseason, Anderson returned to his house state.
In addition to pursuing a regular role as a receiver who also might contribute to the boundary running game, Anderson had been auditioning throughout training camp in August to take control of as the main returner.Kelly has actually liked what he’s seen from Anderson, who as a high school track athlete published numerous sub-11-second times at 100 meters.”From a special teams viewpoint, that’s what we were trying to find,”he stated.”Our miscues last year were evident.
We didn’t field the ball effectively.”This season, Kelly said,” we believe special groups must and can be a favorable for us and influence games.”