Why Zeon Chriss' Louisiana football coaches, teammates say he responds at South Alabama
Big game with the team's proverbial backs cornered.
Freshman quarterback who just threw an interception that thwarted his team's chances at winning a game. Said QB's first career conference road start against a good opponent.
To Louisiana football coach Michael Desormeaux, this is the perfect spot for Zeon Chriss leading the team to South Alabama at Hancock Whitney Stadium Saturday (4 p.m., ESPN+).
"I always love when your quarterbacks are coming back off of a game where he didn't play the way he wanted to," Desormeaux said. "I love it. That's where you want it to be. I expect him to bounce back."
Before the interception on the last drive against Georgia State, who preserved the 20-17 win over the Ragin' Cajuns on their homecoming last week, Chriss made key plays to get the offense into position to have a chance to win. His doing so showed his progression and the whole offense's ability to shake off a slow start.
"Zeon's different," said UL senior running back Jacob Kibodi. "He's mature as a freshman. I think he's going to bounce back well. After he threw the interception, after the game, he still lifted his head up high. He came into the locker room and said it was his fault. He just encouraged the team to keep going forward.
"We have the utmost confidence in Zeon Chriss."
The Cajuns (4-3, 1-2) and Chriss will need to continue that progression into a pivotal Sun Belt Conference West division showdown in Mobile where the Jags (4-3, 2-1), arguably the hottest team in the league with 110 points the last two games while their defense has relinquished six points, await.
"He's had a good look in his eye. He's coachable," Desmoreaux said. "We can talk about the thing we've got to do a little bit better. One thing I know about him is he's going to do it better. The moment's not going to be too big for him. He'll play well and go give us a chance Saturday."
Louisiana's offense has been efficient with Chriss at quarterback. It has improved its red zone scoring and third-down percentage since he's taken over for injured starting signal caller Ben Wooldridge.
UL-SOUTH ALABAMA KEY MATCHUP Louisiana football will need defense to start faster at South Alabama. Where UL will start
CAJUNS FAILED TO FIND RHYTHM V. GSU Why Louisiana football struggled early vs. porous Georgia State defense in close loss
The freshman, and the rest of the offensive players, had a game against Georgia State where the rhythm was missing one note. Desormeaux said it happens and that this week, he's tasked Chriss with going back to the basics.
"Just the fundamentals. The right drop every time, footwork on point, make sure your eyes are in the right spot and you're progressing the right way. Go back to playing that way," Desormeaux said. "He's throwing the ball really well this year so far since he's been in there. We're going to have to throw the ball moving forward. He did some really good things (against Georgia State) and there are some things he can do better.
"We're going to need him to do better but we can help him too. Myself included, we all can help him."
But in the Cajuns' highest-pressure spot to this point in the season — a loss at South Alabama would bury them in the Sun Belt West standings — perhaps the biggest key for Chriss and the offense is for him to play his game.
"He just needs to go be him and go play his game and have fun doing it," Desormeaux said. "That guy's got a bright future, we're not going to let one play, one game change how we feel about him."
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: UL coach Michael Desormeaux loves Zeon Chriss matchup at South Alabama
