Ahead only 21-14, lining up to punt the ball away wasn’t the position LSU expected to find itself nearing the end of the first half against unranked Idaho.
The Tigers’ first half was riddled with missed opportunities.
But something clicked for LSU just before halftime and the Tigers never looked back.
The Tigers ran away from Idaho in the second half for an easy 63-14 win, but the victory wasn’t without some early hiccups.
LSU came out of the gates fast, stopping Idaho’s first drive on a fourth-and-one and then scoring on its first offensive possession.
The Tiger defense followed that up with one of its four interceptions in the game, which a quick touchdown drive boosted to a 14-0 lead.
But then the mistakes began.
Early in the second quarter, junior quarterback Zach Mettenberger threw a goal-line interception that was returned 94 yards for the Vandals’ first touchdown.
“We were right at the door about to kick it in for another score, and I threw the pick,” Mettenberger said. “That really changed the momentum of the first half.”
Later in the second quarter, after sophomore safety Ronald Martin returned an interception for a touchdown to give the Tigers a 21-7 lead, blown coverage by the Tiger defense led to the Vandals’ second touchdown, closing the gap to 21-14.
On the Tigers’ ensuing possession, Mettenberger was sacked twice in a row on second and third downs, forcing the Tigers to punt and giving Idaho an opportunity to tie the game.
LSU stopped Idaho deep in its own territory with the help of three consecutive false start penalties by the Vandals.
But Idaho still managed to formulate the most successful half out of any Tiger opponent this season.
The 14 points the Vandals hung on the scoreboard in the first half came up just three short of the 17 the Tigers surrendered to North Texas and Washington combined.
But after halftime, LSU looked like a different team.
The Tiger defense completely locked down the Idaho offense.
LSU forced two more interceptions and limited Idaho to 92 offensive yards, shutting out the Vandals’ in the second half.
The LSU offense racked up 288 yards and scored on all but two of its six offensive possessions in the second half.
The Tigers’ rushing game was the highlight of the offense for the third straight game, running for 268 yards, 201 of which came in the Tigers’ dominating second half.
Senior wide receiver Russell Shepard said nothing needed to be said at halftime for the Tigers to know they had to fix their early sloppiness.
“When you have a team like this one, the coaches don’t have to get up on us and yell and scream at us because we know what we have to do,” Shepard said.
Shepard had his best game this season with 68 receiving yards, but he still hasn’t connected with Mettenberger for a touchdown this season.
The LSU passing game as a whole experienced more success than in its previous two games, despite Mettenberger’s early interception.
The Tigers connected on passes for 222 yards, eclipsing the 200-yard mark for the first time this season. Mettenberger also passed for two touchdowns, doubling his total for the season.
Mettenberger said the Tigers’ passing performance Saturday is only a small taste of what they are capable of this season.
“If we keep executing in the passing game and minimize the turnovers and mistakes, the sky is the limit for us,” Mettenberger said. “We could have put up more pass yards if we wanted to tonight, but we kind of held back.”
LSU coach Les Miles said the best thing about the Tigers’ change in play in the second half is that it showed that they can step up their game in crunch time.
“I think everybody can see that we can be a dominant football team,” Miles said. “In all three phases, at different times, we were dominant in this game.”
