http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/lsu/featured/27264919.htm l?showAll=y&c=y
Dickson won't go unnoticed in LSU offense
* By SCOTT RABALAIS
* Advocate sportswriter
* Published: Aug 22, 2008 - Page: 1C
LSU football trivia for $100, Alex: Who was the only LSU Tiger to score two touchdowns in the BCS National Championship Game?
Jacob Hester? Strike one.
Early Doucet? Sorry.
Who had tight end Richard Dickson?
Certainly not the Ohio State defense, which got suckered in by LSU's diamond-shaped receiver formation on the right side of the line.
The Buckeyes left Dickson wide open on the other side as he loped into the end zone with the Tigers' first touchdown, a 13-yard pass that tied the score 10-10 and sent LSU on to a 38-24 romp.
Dickson won't go so unnoticed this season.
With seniors Keith Zinger (now with the Atlanta Falcons) and Mit Cole now departed, LSU's experience deficit at tight end isn't as acute as it is at quarterback  but it's hardly a comfort zone.
Dickson (6-foot-3, 246 pounds) knows he'll be expected to lead  and produce  in his junior season.
"I know I need to perform well," Dickson said.
"I wouldn't call it a burden. I'm confident if anything happens to me they're talented guys behind me. They've come a long way through spring and fall camp."
LSU has one senior at tight end, squad member Caleb Angelle, but he mostly plays on special teams.
Mitch Joseph (6-5, 243), a redshirt freshman from Catholic-New Iberia, is considered Dickson's primary backup. Then there's true freshman Tyler Edwards (6-3, 240), a member of the ESPN.com top 150 this year.
The Ouachita High School graduate is the younger brother of former Tigers tight end Eric Edwards, a starter on LSU's 2003 national championship team.
"I think Mitch Joseph is a quality guy behind him (Dickson)," LSU coach Les Miles said. "Tyler Edwards has got to get some work. But I think we'll be OK there."
Eric Edwards was a four-year letterwinner at LSU, but few tight ends ever had a more productive season in the purple-and-gold than Dickson did in 2007.
As a sophomore, Dickson ranked fourth on the team with 32 receptions, two off the school record for tight ends shared by Malcolm Scott (1981) and Mitch Andrews (1985).
He tied the tight end touchdown record with five, set by Brad Boyd in 1972 and equaled by Robert Royal in 2000.
Dickson said he is confident the tight ends can be as much a part of the offense in 2008 as they were last year as receivers and blockers in single-, double- and triple-tight end sets.
"We won't go away from that," Dickson said. "We don't have the pure blocking tight ends this year, so I have to come out and block and when we throw the ball I have to catch it."
A second-team All-Southeastern Conference pick in 2006, Dickson might be the SEC's best returning tight end now that Florida's Cornelius Ingram has been lost with a season-ending knee injury.
Dickson is embracing the role of being one of the Tigers' elder statesmen now that he's a junior. In the offseason he made the point of trying to help LSU's inexperienced quarterbacks get up to speed.
"They know the plays but not so much what goes into each play," Dickson said, "the types of coverages. If we made a mistake, we'll tell them. They're fast learners."
The Tigers, who take a No. 7 AP and No. 6 coaches' poll ranking into their Aug. 30 opener with Appalachian State (4 p.m., ESPN), will have to quickly get geared up on offense to handle teams like Auburn, Florida and Georgia down the road.
Dickson said they'll be ready.
"I feel we have just as talented an offense as any in the country," he said.
That may certainly be true for LSU's starting tight end.
