LSU's injured Zach Mettenberger expected back for bowl

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by Glenn Guilbeau, USA TODAY Sports

BATON ROUGE - LSU starting senior quarterback Zach Mettenberger is expected to return to action for the bowl game after injuring his left knee midway through the fourth quarter of the No. 15 Tigers' 31-27 victory over Arkansas Saturday at Tiger Stadium.

'I certainly would think so,' LSU coach Les Miles said. 'It's a knee.'

Mettenberger injured his left knee when he was tackled by defensive tackle Byran Jones just after throwing to wide receiver Jarvis Landry, who made a leaping, one-handed catch out of the hands of cornerback D.J. Dean for a 32-yard gain to the Arkansas 21-yard line.

The left knee is the one Mettenberger has regularly worn a brace on for the last two seasons. He had to be helped off the field. Trainers worked on him on the bench as he grimaced in pain, but he later walked to the locker room. Mettenberger finished 14 of 22 for 156 yards with one interception. In the process, he went over 3,000 yards for the season, finishing with 3,082 yards. He became just the third 3,000-yard passer in LSU history behind Rohan Davey with 3,347 in 2001 and JaMarcus Russell with 3,129 in 2006.

'The guy I met is not the guy I know now,' LSU coach Les Miles said of Mettenberger. 'I'm a big Zach Mettenberger fan.'

Miles said Mettenberger asked not to take part in the postgame interviews.

'Coach, 'I'm just afraid that I might be too emotional,'' Miles said Mettenberger told him. 'He said he enjoyed his time here tremendously. He has grown and matured and is a quality man. He has fully enjoyed his time at LSU.'

LSU will learn what bowl it will play in on Sunday, Dec. 8. The Tigers (9-3, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) are expected to play in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 3, but that is not a definite.

Glenn Guilbeau also writes for Gannett Louisiana.

See the article on USA Today