LSU's D.J. Chark waited his turn before suddenly, it's like he's a "Jack in the Box"
Four LSU Tigers - WR D.J. Chark of Alexandria, TB Darrel Williams, NG Greg Gilmore and DE Christian LaCouture played in Senior Bowl.
LSU's D.J. Chark waited his turn before suddenly, it's like he's a "Jack in the Box" Four LSU Tigers - WR D.J. Chark of Alexandria, TB Darrel Williams, NG Greg Gilmore and DE Christian LaCouture played in Senior Bowl. Check out this story on theadvertiser.com: https://www.theadvertiser.com/story/sports/college/lsu/2018/01/27/d-j-domination-lsus-chark-wins-senior-bowl-mvp-award-75-yard-td-5-catches-160-yards-lsu-senior-bowl/1071934001/
Glenn Guilbeau, USA TODAY Network Published 6:50 p.m. CT Jan. 27, 2018 | Updated 12:40 p.m. CT Jan. 29, 2018
Catches 5 passes for 160 yards with 75-yd. TD /Glenn Guilbeau/USA Today Network
Players are escorted by children from Special Spectators, Boys & Girls Clubs, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters during introductions prior the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama on Saturday, January 27, 2018.(Photo: Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com)
MOBILE, Ala. — Darrell "D.J." Chark of LSU saved his best college game for last.
The versatile speedster from Alexandria caught five passes for a career high 160 yards with a 75-yard touchdown and a 63-yard catch, and he was named co-Most Valuable Player of the Senior Bowl Saturday as the South beat the North, 45-16, in front of about 29,606 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Chark also rushed for a 9-yard gain on a reverse as he likely cemented his second-round status in the NFL Draft in April.
MORE: Chark showcasing at Senior Bowl
But none of that helped to keep him as warm and dry on this rainy night as much as what happened early in the third quarter. Chark made the first tackle of his college career on a kickoff.
"I was excited to be out there with those QBs" /Glenn Guilbeau/USA Today Network
"I said I really want to make plays on special teams," Chark said, but he had punt returns more in mind, and he did not get to do that. "I finally got my first tackle. And that's the highlight of my day right there. I told everybody on kickoff, 'If I get one kickoff, I was going to make the tackle.' And I was able to do it."
MORE: Saints busy at Senior Bowl
Chark was all over the field throughout the day. On the first play of the game, he caught a 5-yard pass from quarterback Mike White of Western Kentucky. Later in the first quarter, White led him perfectly on a 63-yard completion to the North 12-yard line. He hit Chark again for a 4-yard gain to the 15, but Daniel Carlson of Auburn missed a 33-yard field goal. Chark rushed for the 9-yard gain in the second quarter.
Then just after the North cut the South's 18-3 halftime lead to 18-16 on a pair of Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen touchdown passes of 16 and 27 yards, Richmond quarterback Kyle Lauletta found Chark for the 75-yard touchdown and a 25-16 South lead with 5:58 to go in the third quarter.
Lauletta, who finished 8 of 12 for 198 yards and three touchdowns, shared the offensive MVP honors with Chark. Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma completed just 3 of 7 passes for nine yards for the North and was done after the first quarter.
Pair of D-linemen combined for 9 tackles /Glenn Guilbeau/USA Today Network
LSU tailback Darrel Williams gained 20 yards on five carries. LSU defensive end Christian LaCouture made five tackles and shared a sack with teammate and nose guard Greg Gilmore, who had four tackles.
Chark's previous best receiving game was in the 27-23 win over Auburn this season when he caught five passes for 150 yards and added a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown.
"This is definitely up there with the top that I ever played," Chark said. "And I'm really just soaking it all in right now."
Chark was obviously a major part of the game plan for the South's Houston Texans coaching staff. The Denver Broncos staff on the North side never solved him.
"We realized we had some great receivers, and it was going to be hard to match up with all of us perfectly," Chark said, referencing Central Florida wide receiver Tre'Quan Smith, who caught five passes for 79 yards with a 14-yard touchdown catch from White for a 7-0 South lead in the first quarter.
"And our quarterbacks knew going into the game that we wanted to take advantage of the match-up," Chark said. "And that's what we did. I had a good connection with the coaches. They told me what was going to happen, and we were able to make the most of it. I just ran it the way the coaches geniusly wrote it up."
White was 8 of 11 for 128 yards and a touchdown.
"All the quarterbacks played pretty well interchangeably," Chark said. "It was really exciting."
It was enough to make Chark dance in the end zone after his touchdown.
"I've been wanting to do that dance for four years," he said. "Can't celebrate in college, so the first time I got a touchdown I could celebrate, so I had to pull it out. It's my little cat dance, man. It's a little cat dance. I'm mimicking a cat. Man, somebody showed me that in high school. Hey, I thought it was the silliest thing I ever saw. So I was like, 'One day, I'm going to do this in front of a camera.' So I was able to get the opportunity to do it."
Chark is used to waiting a long time for things. The least-regarded of four wide receiver signees by LSU in 2014 out of Alexandria Senior High as a three-star prospect, he played at LSU for two seasons before catching his first pass in 2016.
MORE: Chark was catch-less until he was a junior
"I'm not even supposed to be here," he said. "I had a pretty difficult journey to get here. If you know my story, it took awhile for me to get a chance to make some plays. But everything is happening now."
Chark's story is one of patience and modesty and watching some of the others ahead of him make mistakes because of perhaps a lack of patience and modesty.
There was not much discussion of Chark on signing day in 2014 as the Tigers had signed a pair of national top 10 wide receivers – No. 2 Malachi Dupre of John Curtis in the New Orleans area and No. 10 Trey Quinn of Barbe High in Lake Charles in addition to him. Already on the LSU team going into 2014 were sophomore Travin Dural and 2013 signee John Diarse, who was the No. 31 receiver in the nation and the No. 10 prospect in Louisiana out of Neville High in Monroe.
LSU signed four more wide receivers in 2015, including the state's No. 1 prospect in Tyron Johnson – the No. 11 receiver in the nation out of Warren Easton High in New Orleans.
After Chark's second straight zero-reception season in '15, LSU signed another three wide receivers in 2016, and all were four stars – No. 19 Drake Davis of The Dunham School in Baton Rouge and the prestigious IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, No. 33 Dee Anderson DeSoto, Texas, and No. 42 Stephen Sullivan of Donaldsonville.
But Chark waited. And Chark stuck.
After the 2015 season, Quinn transferred to SMU, and Diarse transferred to TCU. Johnson decided to also transfer as the 2016 season approached and left for Oklahoma State. Two other receivers from LSU's 2015 class – Brandon Martin and Jazz Ferguson – also transferred.
Chark caught 26 passes for 466 yards and three touchdowns in 2016. In 2017, he went to Southeastern Conference Media Days as LSU's top returning receiver. Dupre had led LSU in receiving in 2016 as a junior, but he mistakenly entered the NFL Draft a year early despite low projections. And he was not selected until the seventh round by Green Bay. He was then cut before catching on with Buffalo.
Chark caught 38 passes for 874 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Tigers in receiving in 2017. He also became the first LSU player to return two punts for touchdowns in the same season since now-NFL star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in 2012. Chark caught a career-high five passes for a career-high 150 yards in the win over Auburn and returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown.
He became LSU's lone original invite to the prestigious and 69th annual Senior Bowl. He has been invited to the prestigious NFL Scouting Combine in late February in Indianapolis, Indiana. Chark could go as high as the second round of the NFL Draft in April.
Senior Bowl director Phil Savage knows Chark's story.
MORE - D.J. Chark took advantage of 2016
"I'm real excited for D.J.," Savage said after the game. "He's like a Jack in the box. He's been just waiting to spring to life as a receiver for years. He waited for two years before he caught a pass at LSU. He has great straight line speed, and he was able to show that on two long plays. This will give him the confidence to keep on going."
He can also keep talking about his tackle.
"The biggest thing, I just feel like I showed that I'm willing to compete anywhere on the field," he said. "And I feel like I have a good chance of making plays anywhere. "Man, I'll just be happy getting in the NFL. I don't care what round. That's all I want to do is get in there and play."
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