“I was in a hurricane in Miami one
time,” LSU quarterback Matt Mauck said. “But that was pretty bad.”
Head coach Nick Saban he was upset
by the way his team came out and their performance after the lengthy
delay.
“I was a little disappointed in the
way we started,” Saban said. “Our readiness was affected by the delay. We were
mentally flat coming out and the delay didn’t help much. But defensively, I
think we played with a little bit more intensity when we came back
out.”
The teams returned to the field
some 37 minutes after the initial kickoff and resumed play at approximately
7:47.
“We talked to them like it was
halftime,” Saban said. “But there really wasn’t enough to talk about. I didn’t
think we would be in there that long, so we went into part of our pregame
warmup.”
Play resumed just in time for Tiger
kicker Ryan Gaudet’s 34-yard field goal attempt be blocked by the Indians. As
Gaudet’s kick knuckled wide right, both offenses succumbed to the wet field and
sloppy conditions for the next quarter and a half. Much to the surprise of the
few patrons that hung around, the first quarter came to a shocking end in a
scoreless tie.
“When we came out, we felt like we
came out and played pretty hard in the first quarter,” ULM head coach Charlie
Weatherbie said. “But about midway through the second quarter we gave up a
couple of cheap ones.”
The Indians did little to stop the
Tiger offense. An methodical 18-yard play drive resulted in no points by the LSU
offense. The Tigers drove 66 yards to ULM six yard line before Mauck threw an
ill-advised pass, which was snared by the Indians’ Chris Harris for a
touchback.
“I thought we really came out slow
and you know we can’t do that next week or the following game,” Mauck said. “I
thought we let the conditions get to us. We really don’t need to worry about the
opponent or what the weather is like. We just need to play hard.”
As stagnant as the Tiger offense
appeared through the first quarter and a half, LSU exploded for three quick
scores as Mauck ended the second quarter with a trio of touchdown
passes.
A Donnie Jones pooch punt turned
the tables in field position pinning the Indians deep in their own territory.
Working from its own eight, ULM went three plays and out. A 17-yard Shyrone
Carey punt return gave the Tigers excellent position at the Indian
24.
Mauck completed a 16-yard pass to
Michael Clayton on first down. Two plays later, the Tigers dented the scoreboard
first when Mauck hit Devery Henderson on a 8-yard pitch and catch.
“I think Matt played fine,” Saban
said. “We had some dropped balls and busted some protections. But we played
better as we went. The key for us offensively is to get as many people involved
as we can. We have too many skill players on this team that can make
plays.”
Four plays later, a muffed snap on
a punt attempt netted a loss of four yards by Indian punter Joel Stelley. Just
1:42 after LSU’s first score, the Tigers were back in the end zone, this time on
a 17-yard pass from Mauck to tailback Joseph Addai.
It looked as if the score would
remain 14-0 going into the break before Mauck threaded the needle on a skinny
post route to Clayton, who motored 30 yards for the Tigers third passing TD of
the second quarter.
With the game teetering on the
verge of spinning out of control for the Indians, LSU faltered on their opening
drive of the second half. However, a 1-yard scoring run by Carey with 7:16 left
in the third quarter was enough to put the icing on the cake. If that didn’t do
it, a 31-yard interception return by Jack Hunt did as LSU seized a 35-0
advantage. Hunt perfectly broke on a Jyles pass, leapt into the air to snag the
pass before outrunning a host of Indians.
“The quarterback stared at me the
whole time,” Hunt said. “I just dropped to the flat and he never saw
me.”
In his first series in the game as
the Tiger quarterback, junior Marcus Randall hit Henderson on a 15-yard strike
before hooking up with Clayton. The 6-4, Baton Rouge junior made an athletic
grab, danced around a pair of Indian defenders before streaking down the East
sideline 66 yards for a 42-0 LSU lead.
“Michael made some great plays, but
he also made some average plays for him,” Saban said. “He had some dropped
balls. He is usually a more consistent pass receiver.”
The Indians spoiled LSU’s shutout
opportunity when Kevin Payne raced into the south end zone on a perfectly
executed misdirection play. Payne’s run covered 12-yards cutting the Tigers
advantage to 42-7.
As one of a dozen true freshmen to
get in the ball game, Lafayette-Acadiana product Alley Broussard looked very
“Toefield”-like wearing No. 22 as he bulled into the end zone on a 1-yard run
with 10:39 left in the fourth period. Broussard’s TD run was set up by a key
reception by freshman wide receiver Dwayne Bowe on a pass from
Randall.
On the injury front, the Tigers
lost senior cornerback Randall Gay with a slight fracture in his right arm.
Saban said he could miss up to five weeks.
“We are already awfully thin the
secondary,” Saban said. “We get into our freshmen awfully quick. Blue is a smart
player and can play every position in the secondary.”
Mauck had a very “ho-hum”
performance in his return from a season-ending injury a year ago. Completing
13-of-28 passes, Mauck totaled 153 yards with three touchdowns, but did throw
one interception. Randall showed he is a solid backup behind Mauck. The starter
in LSU’s last six games last year, Randall was a near-perfect 5-of-7 for 153
yards and a touchdown.
On the ground, Addai piled up 81
yards on 15 carries in his first start as the Tigers’ full-time tailback. Carey
totaled just 11 yards on the ground, but did pick up LSU’s only rushing
touchdown.
Through the air, Clayton had one of
his best night’s in an LSU uniform. The all-American candidate caught six balls
for 152 yards and a pair of scores. Henderson had 32 yards on four catches and a
touchdown while Addai pitched in 21 yards on a pair of receptions with a TD.
“LSU has a good football
team, there is no doubt,” Weatherbie said. “I know we will make a lot of
improvement from this game to our next.”