Post-spring breakdown of FSU Football's 2022 opponents: LSU Tigers

With spring football wrapping up on campuses across the country, the Warchant staff will take time the next couple of weeks to check in on Florida State’s upcoming 2022 opponents and see how they fared during spring.

We'll look at each team's question marks, key departures, new arrivals and more.

First up is LSU. Florida State takes on the Tigers on Sunday, Sept. 4, in a game that will be the first contest of the year for new head coach Brian Kelly and the second game for the Seminoles.

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The question everyone is asking around LSU coming out of the spring is who will start at quarterback in 2022?

After three veterans – Arizona State transfer Jayden Daniels, senior Myles Brennan and second-year Garrett Nussmeier – each tossed a touchdown pass in the spring game, the Tigers have a full-on competition heating up going into the summer.

First-year head coach Brian Kelly acknowledged as much after the game.

“We didn’t clear up anything with the quarterbacks today, we probably made it more difficult," he said.

Another question mark is how the players will respond to the change in leadership from Ed Orgeron to Kelly. The former Notre Dame coach brings a very accomplished resume to LSU, but how his coaching style and offensive and defensive schemes mesh with LSU’s roster remains to be seen.

With Kelly’s expertise and LSU’s returning talent, those elements could click immediately, and the Tigers could be a handful right off the bat. Or, just as easily, the fit could take some time, and there's a chance LSU will not be firing on all cylinders come Sept. 4.

Along with the head coaching change, the Tigers will be breaking in an almost entirely new staff against FSU. Offensive line coach Brad Davis is the only on-field staffer who was retained by Kelly from last year’s LSU staff.

Here are some of the key additions.

* New offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock helped guide Cincinnati to the College Football Playoff last year while manning the same position there. Before joining that staff, he worked for Kelly at Notre Dame from 2010-16. So he was on the 2014 staff when the Irish came to Tallahassee to face FSU, and in 2011 when the two programs faced off in the Champs Sports Bowl.

* Defensive coordinator Matt House brings extensive NFL experience and won a Super Bowl with Kansas City as linebackers coach. He was also a defensive coordinator for Mark Stoops at Kentucky before that.

* Associate head coach and running backs coach Frank Wilson returns to LSU for a second stint. A top hire for the staff with major Louisiana ties, Wilson earlier left LSU to be the head coach of UTSA.

* Wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton, another Louisiana native whom Kelly snagged away from national champion Georgia, was one more prominent position hire Kelly made this offseason.

Kelly praised the running backs as a group for running hard in the spring game, but that position has been a question mark following offseason departures. Starter and 1,000-yard back Tyrion Davis-Price declared for the NFL Draft, and backup Corey Kiner opted for the transfer portal. So there isn’t much production returning, but there is talent in place for the Tigers.

LSU added Penn State transfer Noah Cain, while sophomore back Armoni Goodwin showed off his talent and burst in the spring game with a first-quarter touchdown run. He also was a receiving threat on Saturday.

One position room that has a fairly loaded group returning is wide receiver. Star junior Kayshon Boutte caught nine touchdowns last year and he’s back, along with senior Jaray Jenkins, plus sophomores Brian Thomas Jr. and Malik Nabers.

All four had their moments in 2021 and were productive. Thomas snagged an impressive one-handed reception down the right sideline in the spring game to set up a short touchdown.

Along the offensive line, LSU won out in a crowded portal recruiting field for tackle Miles Frazier. The FIU offensive line transfer picked the Tigers over a group that included FSU and many others.

With some holes up front, LSU may start another transfer, Tre-mond Shorts, at the other tackle spot unless highly touted four-star recruits Will Campbell or Emery Jones are ready to play out of the gate as freshmen.

At defensive end, a key pass-rusher that FSU and Jordan Travis will have to keep their eyes on is B.J. Ojulari. Last year as a sophomore, Ojulari was fifth on the team in tackles with 54; he added 7 sacks.

As one might expect after a difficult season and a coaching transition, several big names moved on from the Tigers this offseason. Who could step in to replace them when LSU kicks off against FSU?

* Cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.: While he only appeared in three games in 2021 because of a season-ending left foot injury, Stingley snared six interceptions as a freshman and also projects to be a high first-round pick in the NFL Draft. The best option in the secondary is corner/safety and senior Jay Ward (69 tackles, 2 interceptions last year).

* Linebacker Damone Clark: Hometown senior had a huge year last season, and LSU will need to replace his heavy production in the middle. He racked up 135 tackles and 15 for a loss last year and was one of the holdovers from the 2019 national title team. Expect fifth-year senior linebacker Micah Baskerville to step up and replace Clark both as a player and as a leader for the defense.

* A few more losses for LSU that could be tough to replace include quarterback Max Johnson (27 touchdowns), defensive tackle Neil Farrell, and All-SEC guard Ed Ingram.

In what has become a three- or even four-man race for LSU, it's unclear who will start at quarterback when September rolls around. A solid spring game showing from the group only further confused things for the offensive staff, as mentioned above.

FSU fans remember Jayden Daniels from his performance in Arizona State's 2019 Sun Bowl win over the ’Noles, but Daniels’ career hasn’t exactly taken off since his impressive freshman season. He moved on from ASU after just 10 touchdowns against 10 picks for the Sun Devils in 2021.

Since Kelly brings an advanced scheme from Notre Dame, conventional wisdom would lead one to believe one of the three experienced quarterbacks will take over under center. Myles Brennan and Garrett Nussmeier have filled in with mixed results the past two years, although Brennan authored a pair of four-touchdown performances in 2020.

Five-star quarterback signee Walker Howard is also in the mix (rated as the No. 20 overall 2022 prospect by Rivals).

The quarterback battle should carry on well into fall camp, and possibly right up until the season opener.

Several LSU media outlets were researched to contribute to this report, including TigerDetails.com, The Bengal Tiger, LSUSports.net and Tigerrag.com.

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