LSU Football 2020 Mid-Season Awards Part 1: Who's Been the MVP, Freshman and Offensive Player of the Year?
It's an open week for LSU football and a good benchmark to see who has stood out among the pack halfway through a disappointing start to the 2020 season. Over the next few days, we'll be compiling some various mid-season awards as there have been a few standout players that make the outlooks of the program inherently bright moving forward.
MVP: Terrace Marshall (WR)
What Marshall has done to start this season is truly remarkable. In five games, the junior receiver has caught 31 passes for 540 yards and nine touchdowns. Even after laying a dud against Auburn that saw him record a season low 28 yards on four receptions, he's in the ballpark of breaking Ja'Marr Chase's SEC record 20 touchdowns, in five less games.
In four of the five games LSU has played to this point, Marshall has logged at least two touchdowns. His 22 career touchdowns that he currently enters the final half of the season with, are only four off the all time LSU record, currently held by Dwayne Bowe.
"We can put Terrace anywhere, he knows the offense, he feels confident and the yards after the catch," Orgeron said. "He catches that slant, breaks two or three tackles, I think that's where you're seeing him make a bunch of improvement. He has an awareness, he's very smooth, a good athlete so it's like having three or four different receivers."
It would be extremely surprising if these aren't the final five games of Marshall's LSU career. He's played himself into being a potential first round draft pick next spring and one of the big storylines to follow the rest of the season will be that touchdown record.
"We're paving the way, just like back in the day when Odell [Beckham Jr.] and Jarvis [Landry] did," Marshall said. "I'm just happy to be paving the way for all of the young kids that are coming up."
Offensive Player of the Year: Myles Brennan (QB)
While Marshall has been the unquestioned MVP of the team this season, through three games this season, LSU saw dramatic improvement from junior quarterback Myles Brennan. After a shaky start against Mississippi State, Brennan exponentially improved in his decision making and pocket presence over his next two starts and looks to be a good to very good SEC quarterback.
In three starts, Brennan set program records with 1,112 passing yards and 11 touchdowns while completing just over 60% of his passes. The competition those first three games was nothing fierce as the real challenge will be how he can do against an Alabama, Florida and Texas A&M, should he make it back in time from his lingering lower body injury.
"He's playing as good as I hoped he would and I always believed in Myles but I knew he had some stuff to get better at," Orgeron said before the Missouri game. "The coaches have done a tremendous job of coaching him up, he's very coachable, he's in here every day and he's studying and has a lot of want to in him.
Since Brennan went down, freshmen TJ Finley and Max Johnson have shown flashes of great potential. Orgeron has made it clear that when healthy, Brennan is the starter this season.
The results haven't been what Brennan envisioned and he's rehabbing every day to get back on the field to with the goal of changing the currently bleak outlook of this season.
“I think we're going through some pretty adverse situations right now and it's only going to make us stronger," Brennan said in October. "We're gonna fight week-to-week and we're gonna fix the things we need to fix and stick together as a team. That's how it's gonna go."
Freshman of the Year: Arik Gilbert (TE)
This was a tough one as there are cases to be made for both cornerback Elias Ricks and edge rusher BJ Ojulari. Ricks has brought in three interceptions in five career starts and is tied for first in the SEC while Ojulari has recorded four sacks, good for second in the conference.
But in terms of all five games this season, Gilbert has been the most consistent and productive freshman on the roster. Through half of the season, Gilbert has brought in 22 catches for 259 yards and two touchdowns and has been a clear second option for Brennan when healthy.
His numbers have fluctuated a bit over the last two weeks with Finley and Johnson behind center, who are spreading the ball around a little more, but LSU would obviously like to see Gilbert get more involved down the stretch. His six catch, 97-yard performance against Missouri that included a touchdown is just the tipping point of the kind of impact this guy can have on the program moving forward.
"Having him out there is crazy, I mean he runs like a receiver but he has the body type of a tight end," Brennan said during fall camp. "I don't think he's missed a single pass since the start of camp. He's an outstanding athlete and we are very, very, very grateful to have him on the roster."
Check back in on Friday for part two of our midseason awards, including most improved player, defensive player of the year and coach of the year.
