A 28-3 halftime lead over the University of Louisiana at Lafayette may have overshadowed one offensive flaw Saturday. In the first 30 minutes of the game, No. 8 LSU rushed for only 22 yards rushing against a ULL defense ranked No. 91 in the nation in 2005 by yielding 181 yards rushing per contest. The Tigers finished the game with 170 yards rushing after a strong second-half performance, but coach Les Miles said his team cannot afford to stumble in the running game. “I think we ran the football well late in the game, but we have to get beyond some holding penalties,” Miles said. “We have to get beyond some first-time starters in the offensive line and start counting on our rushing attack to be really productive.” Redshirt freshman offensive tackle Ciron Black said trusting your teammates is important for an offensive line that lost three seniors from the 2005 season. “There is a very big trust issue, because you got to trust that the guy next to you is going to do his job because your job is based off of his and vice versa,” Black said. “That’s why we have to play as one unit. Everybody is based off each other.” Senior running back Justin Vincent, who started the game at tailback, said the halftime adjustments against ULL allowed them to be more effective running the football. “We didn’t expect them to blitz on every [play], and they did,” Vincent said. “We went in a halftime and schemed differently and were able to make some runs.” Vincent agreed with Black and said teams’ first games always include some blocking struggles. “I think it’s just knowing your guys and feeling comfortable,” Vincent said. “It was the first game. Of course there’s going to be some missed assignments.” Senior offensive tackle Peter Dyakowski, who made his first career start against ULL, said running plays sometimes break down because one person makes a mistake. “There may have been a couple of plays where almost everyone did their job,” Dyakowski said. “There may have just been one guy miss a block here or there, which then the play would not be successful.” Miles said the team will make the proper adjustments this week in practice and expects a solid running attack against the University of Arizona. “We had some guys that came out and came off the football way too fast and way too aggressively, without really considering what they needed to do to have success on the play,” Miles said. “I think it’s the first game, and [I] think we’ll get better from that.” Junior running back Alley Broussard was statistically the most effective back for the Tigers against ULL. Broussard had 47 yards on eight carries in the game, including a 19-yard gallop on his first carry. Miles said he plans to stick with Vincent as his starter and junior running back Jacob Hester as his second-string back while Broussard works his way back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament. “It’s a long practice week, so we have to see how things go,” Miles said. “But I wouldn’t anticipate any real change in order this week.”
——Contact Kyle Whitfield at [email protected]