LSU coach Nick Saban told the media before spring practice began that asking questions about who would start at quarterback would be pointless.
According to Saban, the three-man race between senior Marcus Randall and redshirt freshmen JaMarcus Russell and Matt Flynn would be one void of controversy, and once he knew who the starting quarterback would be, the public and the media would also know.
But, the way Saban talked about Randall after he led the White squad to a 22-3 victory in the annual spring game Saturday at Tiger Stadium, the choice may have been made a little bit easier by Randall. Randall completed 9-of-23 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown and was not intercepted or sacked.
“Marcus Randall’s team functioned with the least amount of chaos,” said LSU coach Nick Saban, who functioned as the game’s “commissioner.” “He did a pretty decent job of managing what he needed to do to move his team. He did a good job.”
Randall led the White squad, which won the spring game for the first time in four years, to three scoring drives, including throwing the only touchdown pass from a quarterback on the day.
The touchdown came in the first quarter, when Randall found streaking freshman wide receiver Dwayne Bowe in the back of the endzone for a 30-yard strike.
The other touchdown pass also came for the White team but was thrown by tailback Alley Broussard, who took a pitch from Russell and found a wide-open Bowe for a 20-yard touchdown with 11:57 remaining in the fourth quarter. That touchdown ended the scoring.
Russell, who started out on the Purple squad but played for both teams, went 9-of-21 with 128 yards. Flynn started for the Purple team and finished the game 12-of-28 for 112 yards and one interception. Both quarterbacks were sacked four times and were marred by inconsistency and a tough pass rush.
“The game management part of it for the young quarterbacks was not what we wanted to see,” Saban said. “I saw some talent and ability in what those guys did out there in terms of how they threw the ball, but I also saw some miscommunications on snap counts and things like that, which are the type of mistakes that you have to eliminate before you can give yourselves a chance to be successful.”
LSU’s success may hinge on its ability to run the ball, and with the amount of capable runners the Tigers have.
For the purple squad, Justin Vincent carried the ball seven times for 38 yards and Joseph Addai rushed three times for 18 yards. For the White, Shyrone Carey ran with a purpose, compiling 38 yards on 7 carries, while Alley Broussard continued to impress with 22 yards on six carries and Barrington Edwards had 16 yards on five carries.
Addai also lined up at wide receiver, where it appears LSU has an emerging talent.
Addai had three catches for 66 yards, while Skyler Green hauled in four passes for 36 yards. Craig Davis had three catches for 47 yards, while Bowe had the game of the day, catching five balls for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Cornerback Corey Webster also lined up at wide receiver, catching two passes for 50 yards, including a short pass from Russell that he turned into a 41-yard gain.
Defensive lineman Melvin Oliver had three sacks on the day, including a safety for the first score of the game. Jesse and Travis Daniels had six tackles each.
Saban said he was pleased with the intensity of the game.
“I was really pleased with the effort and intensity that we played with,” Saban said. “I thought this group of players really tried to have fun with this game. There was some spirit before the game relative to going out and playing hard and I was pleased with that. I thought the players played with intensity, and I thought they played hard.”