1. Lest we forget, LSU is No. 1 even though the offensive coordinator job is performed by committee after Steve Kragthorpe, hired last winter, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Kragthorpe has remained as quarterback coach. “When a coach has a physical illness,” Tigers head coach Les Miles said Tuesday, “it’s so wonderful to see the rest of the staff pull together, overcome deficits and make them strengths.” As to Kragthorpe’s contribution, Miles said, “We have the finest quarterback coach I’ve been around.” 2. The 16 seniors named as finalists for the Campbell Trophy — the Academic Heisman — include 14 team captains and have a collective 3.81 GPA. They are a mix of the well-known (quarterbacks Kirk Cousins of Michigan State and Ryan Tannehill of Texas A&M), the less-known (Dubuque wide receiver Michael Zweifel) to the know-it-all (Army linebacker Andrew Rodriguez has a 4.14 GPA in mechanical engineering). Each finalist receives an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship. They are the best the sport has to offer. 3. If you’re not a fan of punting — and that includes just about everyone, doesn’t it? — then watch No. 6 Stanford play at USC on Saturday night. The Cardinal and the Trojans rank 1-2 in the FBS for fewest “three-and-outs.” Stanford has committed that egregious insult to offense on 6.3 percent of its possessions; USC, 7.0 percent. Last week, Stanford scored on 10 of 11 possessions with one three-and-out.

See the original post:
3-point stance: LSU’s offense by committee