Following its 49-10 loss to LSU on Saturday night, Louisiana Tech was full of compliments for the Tigers and held nothing back when comparing them to Miami, which beat the Bulldogs 48-9 in Shreveport on Aug. 28.
“That was just a fantastic football team we played,” said Louisiana Tech coach Jack Bicknell. “If they are not the best team in the country, I’d be shocked.”
Bicknell said LSU’s speed and size was “unbelievable.”
“We played Miami, and I promise you I feel like they are better than Miami,” he said.
With 124 yards on the ground, Louisiana Tech running back Ryan Moats became the first player to post 100 rushing yards on the LSU defense this season, and he said the LSU defense was physical up front.
“We already played against Miami, and they were fast, but I think LSU was a little more physical and a little stronger than Miami was,” Moats said. “They were a little stronger up front and at the linebacker spot.”
Quarterback Luke McCown said he was surprised with LSU’s speed on defense.
“Looking at the film, I did not think they were as fast as they were on the field,” McCown said. “All the credit in the world goes out to them. They are a great football team, and they have a shot at winning the national championship.
“Their defense is obviously as god as Miami’s or better. They are a great football team, and that is about all you can say about it.”
Moving up the charts
With four touchdown passes Saturday, LSU quarterback Matt Mauck moved into a tie with Bert Jones for sixth place in the LSU record books with 28 career passing touchdowns and a tie with Tommy Hodson for second place with 19 touchdowns in a single season.
Mauck finished the game 18-of-20 and 311 yards to go along with his four touchdowns.
Wide receiver Michael Clayton’s 34-yard touchdown reception moved him into a tie with Josh Reed and Ken Kavanaugh for third place in the record books with 17 career touchdown receptions. Clayton also moved into fourth place with 2,208 career receiving yards.
Devery Henderson caught two passes Saturday night, amounting for 96 yards and two touchdowns, moving him into a tie with Clayton, Reed and Kavanaugh for 17 career touchdown receptions. Henderson leads the team with nine touchdown receptions this season, good for fourth place in LSU history.
“I was pleased with the way all our receivers played,” Saban said. “Michael [Clayton] played well, Devery made a big play or two and played well. The way we’re playing right now is how I visualized we were capable of playing.”
Don’t let him touch it
LSU receiver and punt returner Skyler Green has created a reputation as a dangerous return man, similar to the likes of former LSU return weapon Domanick Davis.
Green’s two punt returns for touchdowns this season caught the eye of Louisiana Tech, which opted to angle its punts to the sidelines to keep the ball out of his hands. And it worked, Green did not have one return opportunity during the game.
“I kind of figured they’d do that,” Saban said. “It shows a lot of respect, but it also gives up a lot of field position. I don’t know what their net punt was, but a couple of those weren’t very long. They gave up a lot of field position doing that.
“So, we’re helping our team, just [Green’s] reputation as a returner is helping our team with field position.”
Learning from bye week
Saban said the Tigers will take things easy this week and work on some of the basics.
“We’re going to take a couple days off,” he said. “Tuesday we’ll practice light. We’ll practice on Wednesday, Thursday and probably light again on Friday and give the players the weekend off this time around.”
During its last bye week, LSU held practice Saturday afternoon as well. After their bye week, the Tigers looked sluggish in a 19-7 loss to Florida.