Against a 2-6 Tulane side, many LSU fans worried that their
beloved Tigers would look ahead to 8-0 Alabama.
When LSU topped Tulane 42-0 for their first shutout
performance of the season, all the worries were tossed out the window.
“We legitimately avoided next week,” said head coach Les
Miles. “We needed to test ourselves. We had to answer some questions.”
One of the biggest questions on the Tigers’ plate was the
lack of production from the running game, primarily Charles Scott.
Saturday night, the senior tailback answered the call with
his biggest showing of the year, a two-touchdown, 112-yard effort.
“We were preaching it all week, we had to run the football,”
Scott said. “Coach Miles even pulled me aside before the game, and he said that
we had to get it going.”
Stevan Ridley added 74 yards on eight carries, his first
touches on the season after undergoing knee surgery in the offseason.
Freshman Russell Shepard added 48 yards and senior Keiland Williams
added 20 more to bring the Tiger rushing total to 267, their highest mark on
the year.
“Any time you can rush the football as well as we did, you
put your team in a position to do big things,” Shepard said. “That was the goal
headed into the night, and we got it done.”
When the Tigers blocked a punt seven minutes into the first
quarter, the razzle-dazzle capabilities of Shepard were showcased. While last
week Tiger fans saw his straight-line speed, Saturday’s 19-yard touchdown
scamper gave a glimpse of the freshman’s open field ability.
“Scoring out of the Wildcat was nice, because we have not
had much success with me running out of that formation this year,” Shepard
said. “With my second touchdown I felt like I was finally playing football; all
of my recruitment and hype was officially done.”
Quarterback Jordan Jefferson, who finished 11-of-17 passing
for 163 yards and two touchdowns, was intercepted on the first play of LSU’s
second drive, the sophomore’s lone turnover of the game.
After holding the Green Wave to their second three-and-out
of the quarter, Jefferson redeemed his mistake with a touchdown toss to Brandon
LaFell, his seventh scoring grab of the season.
Jefferson escaped a broken down pocket, rolled to the right
side and found LaFell wide open for the 39-yard strike, putting the Tigers
ahead 14-0 with just over two minutes to play in the first quarter.
“LaFell is a great receiver, and he is playing with a lot
more urgency,” Jefferson said. “He is a guy that helps me out a lot, because he
is not just a playmaker, but a leader.”
The score was set up by senior running back Charles Scott,
who rushed for back-to-back gains of nine and 15 yards to open the drive.
Scott later found the end zone on a run from four yards out,
his third score of the season. Both of Scott’s previous two touchdowns came in
the final minutes of the Georgia game on Oct. 3.
“When I can run hard, I think it gives this team a lot of
confidence,” he said. “Tonight showed that.”
The touchdown followed the Green Wave’s longest drive of the
game; an 11-play, 57-yard effort that culminated in a Ross Thevenot missed
field goal from 43 yards out.
After the sides took the locker room at 21-0, Trindon
Holliday, who finished the game with 105 return yards on three attempts,
sparked LSU’s fourth scoring drive with a 50-yard return that gave the Tigers
starting field position at the Green Wave 20-yard line.
Following two straight rushes of six yards apiece, Scott ran
over and through the Tulane defense for his second touchdown of the night.
With a 28-0 lead and less than two minutes to play in the
third quarter, the Tigers were well on their way to their seventh win of the
season.
“We wanted this game just like it is,” Miles said. “We
wanted to be tested by a good club and answer those challenges. We wanted to
rush the football better and get some other guys in the game, and we were able
to do that and still run the ball efficiently.
“Certainly 450 yards is the best total output we’ve had.”
Five minutes into the final quarter, Jefferson finished his
night with a 13-yard touchdown pass to LaFell, their second scoring connection of
the night. The senior wide receiver’s 22 career touchdowns is good for second
all-time, four short of Dwayne Bowe’s record of 26.
“LaFell is rounding into a pretty talented receiver,” Miles
said. “He is making big plays week in and week out.”
Ridley put the icing on the cake with LSU’s final score of
the night, an 11-play, 98-yard drive in which Ridley totaled all 74 of his
rushing yards and his lone score of the season.
“It’s an awesome feeling to score anytime in Tiger Stadium,”
Ridley said. “I’m just looking forward to getting back out there.”
The next time LSU takes the field, it will be in Tuscaloosa
against the nation’s No. 2 ranked team. While the Tigers hit on all three
phases of their game on Saturday, Miles said that work must still be done.
“I think there will be some improvement in this practice
week,” he said. “Our guys will look forward to preparing.”