Inside the numbers...

 

Brandon Harris has played in 5 true road games (at Auburn, at MSU, at Syracuse, at Alabama and at Ole Miss) and one semi-road game (Wisconsin at Lambeau).  His numbers from those games are just plain ugly.

 

Opponent	Attempts	Completions	Yards	TD’s	INT’s
Auburn	14	3	58	0	0
MSU	14	9	71	0	0
Syracuse	16	8	157	1	0
Alabama	19	6	128	1	1
Ole Miss	51	26	271	1	1
Wisconsin	21	12	131	1	2
TOTALS	64	135	816	4	4

 

That’s a 47.4% completion rate and 6 yards per attempt.  The young man simply does not have the poise to play in hostile environments.  This isn’t a personal attack or a question of his character or anything like that.  It’s an observation that was encapsulated in the game sealing interception against Wisconsin.  The stage and the situation are just too big for him.

 

Bruce Feldman wrote a great book called “The QB: The Making of Modern Quarterbacks” which I read a year or two ago.  In it, there is a repeated reference to guys having that “it factor.”  Be it confidence, poise, swagger or composure, it was deemed an integral part of success of a college and pro QB.  It’s become painfully obvious that Harris doesn’t have “it.”

 

With road games at Auburn, at Florida, at Arkansas and at Texas A&M, LSU’s prospects with Harris look exceedingly dim.  I have been to all of those stadiums minus Arkansas.  They can get ridiculously loud and intimidating.  All of those teams will be crowding the line and daring Harris to make a play.  I genuinely hope he can figure this out, but I’m not holding my breath.