A dejected Stevan Ridley stood in a dimly lit hallway at the Georgia Dome just 10 days ago with several television cameras glaring in his face following LSU’s season-opening win against North Carolina.
The junior running back had nearly cost the Tigers a win with two fumbles in the second half, including one with 1:08 remaining.
There stood Ridley after the game, discouraged yet poised as ever, accepting the blame for the near loss.
Ridley took his miscues, put them behind him and said he must grow from them.
And that’s precisely what he did.
Ridley rushed for a career-high 159 yards on 17 carries Saturday in LSU’s 27-3 victory against Vanderbilt, including a 65-yard touchdown run that sealed the win.
He didn’t fumble, either.
“Last week was not me at all,” he said. “I knew that my performance wasn’t my greatest, and this week I really came in and focused on holding the football.”
Ridley anchored an LSU offense that sputtered without him. Junior quarterback Jordan Jefferson struggled mightily, finishing the game 8-for-20 with 96 yards and an interception.
Despite Ridley’s outburst, he only rushed the ball four times for 16 yards in the first half — largely because of his two fumbles last week.
“[LSU coach Les Miles] pulled a few carries from me in the beginning, and that’s hard, but it’s part of the price you pay when you put two on the ground,” Ridley said.
There was no discouraging Ridley, though. He came out with a vengeance and put LSU on his back in the second half, rushing 13 times for 143 yards and the long touchdown.
“It appeared to me that he ran with a real want and desire and a great purpose,” Miles said. “We turned to hand him the ball late in the game, and certainly he was a very strong factor in that game.”
Ridley surprisingly enjoyed his strong day behind a semi-depleted offensive line. The Tigers rotated redshirt freshman Josh Williford and junior T-Bob Hebert at right guard in the absence of junior Will Blackwell, who is sidelined with a broken ankle.
The patched-up line worked efficiently, creating holes for Ridley to run through all night.
“The offensive line is working for me,” he said. “They are doing some big things up front. I’m just running the football.”
Ridley’s only touchdown came with less than five minutes remaining in the game. With LSU in the I-Formation, he took a handoff to his left, cut back to his right and zoomed down the sideline nearly untouched for his fourth career rushing touchdown.
The Natchez, Miss., native surprised spectators with his breakaway speed, most notably running backs coach Frank Wilson.
“The first person I went over to with a smile was coach Frank because we had a bet all year that I couldn’t break one from 40 yards out, and it worked out,” Ridley said.
Even sophomore wide receiver Russell Shepard, a speedster himself, was impressed with Ridley’s wheels.
“Ridley’s a big back … it looked like he was running out of gas after a while,” Shepard joked. “I was impressed with that.”
After Ridley’s performance Saturday, he not only ranks as one of the top running backs in the SEC, but also in the country. His 240 rushing yards in two games rank him third in the conference — behind Tennessee’s Tauren Poole and Auburn’s Cameron Newton — and 17th in the country.
Even so, Ridley knows a lot of football is yet to be played.
“It’s just crazy how things happen because last week I was down in the dumps,” he said. “And this week, after a great game, you’re kind of on a high, but you have to stay level-headed,” he said.
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Contact Sean Isabella at [email protected]