THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BATON ROUGE, La. - Jarrett Lee began living up to his pedigree at the right time for LSU.
The son of a former small college quarterback and high school coach in Texas, Lee looked indecisive and sometimes inaccurate during the fourth-ranked Tigers' first two games.
In the first half of LSU's first big test at Auburn last month, the redshirt freshman hit a low point in his young career when his screen pass was intercepted for a touchdown.
LSU's veterans could see Lee was jittery and his confidence fragile, so they did something about it.
"Some of the older guys came up to me and told me they've got my back and just to stay strong, stay positive, and I just loosened up, calmed down and made plays," Lee recalled.
Did he ever.
LSU was down 14-3 when the second half began at Auburn. Early season starter Andrew Hatch was back under center, but not for long. His scramble ended with Jerraud Powers' bone-jarring hit and a concussion, meaning LSU's hopes of coming back in Jordan-Hare stadium, where it hadn't won in a decade, rested on a backup who had been 0-for-5 with an interception to that point in the game.
On his first play in relief, Lee drilled a first-down pass to Richard Dickson. Three plays later, Lee hung in the pocket until a split second before getting blasted by an onrushing defender and unloaded a 39-yard heave to Chris Mitchell for a touchdown.
The real Jarrett Lee, the one who threw for nearly 2,400 yards and 28 touchdowns in his senior season at Brenham High School, had arrived.
He was 11-of-17 passing for 182 yards and two touchdowns during the final 22 minutes, when LSU stormed back to win 26-21. His final touchdown pass of the game was an 18-yarder to Brandon LaFell with 1:03 left, which ended up being the winning score.
"Going into the second half, I knew the offensive line was blocking, the running backs were running hard, the receivers were getting open," Lee recalled. "It was just a matter of us putting it in their hands."
Lee started and took all but one snap the following weekend at home in a 34-24 victory over Mississippi State, going 18-of-27 for 261 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. His 43-yard touchdown to Demetrius Byrd sealed the victory.
For that, he was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week. On campus and around Baton Rouge, he started getting a lot more attention.
"I've signed autographs, taken pictures," Lee said. "The rock star-type attention is there. It's exciting. It's definitely an honor to be in this position."
The question now is: How long will it last? Hatch is healthy again and coach Les Miles said he intends to revert to a two-quarterback system when LSU (4-0, 2-0 SEC) plays at No. 11 Florida on Saturday. The Swamp is one of the loudest and most intimidating venues in the SEC, where all the stadiums are loud to begin with. The Gators (4-1, 2-1) will be desperate to avoid a second conference loss.
LSU running back Charles Scott said he doesn't worry about Lee sinking in the Swamp after watching his improvement since the second half at Auburn.
"One thing you can see is he feels more comfortable, the jitters are gone, he's not as nervous," Scott said. "He gets in the huddle like, 'Let's go guys,' and he's taking more control."
