In their efforts to springboard into the starting running back position, both Joseph Addai and Shyrone Carey put their best foot forward in LSU’s first scrimmage of the spring Saturday at Tiger Stadium.
Both Junior Carey and Sophomore Addai stood out on the cooler-than-usual afternoon. The two are vying to assume the starting position vacated by the departure of LaBrandon Toefield.
Carey led all runners with 101 yards on just 10 carries, showing an astute ability to break tackles. Addai showed darting quickness in running for a touchdown and 61 yards on nine carries.
“I was fairly pleased with how the first units played on both sides,” Saban said. “Joseph Addai and Shyrone Carey both showed a lot of toughness and ran the ball extremely well. I never leave the practice field thinking that we don’t have some pretty good running backs. There’s a lot for them to prove in terms of durability long-term, but I certainly think those guys have ability to make plays.”
Addai was the leading receiver with four receptions for 71 yards. Michael Clayton caught three passes for 32 yards.
Matt Mauck, coming back from a season-ending foot injury last October, was 9-of-19 for 138 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. Marcus Randall was 11-of-28 for 106 yards and one interception.
“I thought both quarterbacks did some good things at times,” Saban said. “Hopefully Matt will keep getting better and do more and more as time goes on. I think this was the most difficult situation because he usually gets a day of rest in between practices but since we practiced [Friday] and scrimmaged [Saturday], he’s probably done more back-to-back than he typically would do.”
Redshirt freshman Lester Ricard saw the most action at No. 3 quarterback. His line — 1-of-8 for five yards — is a bit deceiving considering wideouts dropped several of his balls.
The defense was a little thin, missing three starters for various reasons. Linebacker Lionel Turner (personal reasons), defensive tackle Chad Lavalais (personal reasons) and defensive end Marquise Hill (injury) did not participate in the scrimmage.
Redshirt freshman defensive back Keron Gordon led the defense with seven tackles and one sack. Fellow defensive backs Travis Daniels and Jack Hunt tallied five and four tackles, respectively. Linebackers Jason LeDoux and Cameron Vaughn each earned a sack. Vaughn had three tackles while LeDoux had five.
Saban said he was not as pleased with the backups on both sides of the ball in comparison to the first teams, which he praised.
“I think our two’s on both sides of the ball are young,” Saban said. “They didn’t play with much aggressiveness, they weren’t physical and we didn’t tackle very well on defense with the second group. I was a little disappointed that some of those guys didn’t play with a little bit more confidence.”
Saban said he would like to see his team have a little bit more toughness and relentlessness.
“I just would like to see our team be a little more true-grit in nature in terms of the kind of identity we try to develop,” Saban said. “Making the other team think, ‘We don’t want to play these guys.’ I don’t see enough of that.”
The Tigers will hold their next scrimmage Saturday.