Criticism fell upon the Tigers’ offensive line and the running game after a porous performance against Florida in a 19-7 loss two weeks ago.
However, showing the potential many around the country thought it possessed, the offensive line continuously punched the South Carolina defensive front seven in the mouth. This freed up LSU running backs, all three freshmen, to run through wide open spaces and get into the secondary before breaking tackles.
In the 33-7 victory, LSU had 263 rushing yards against what was supposed to be a tough, run-stopping defense.
Coach Nick Saban called the offensive line’s performance its best of the year. Saban said he had a meeting with the offensive line prior to the South Carolina game.
Senior lineman Rodney Reed said the success in the running game was a product of solid blocking and tremendous running from the backs.
“[The offensive line] came out with a lot of intensity,” Reed said. “We really had a great week of practice, our best week of practice all year. The running backs came out and ran extremely hard.”
Quarterback Matt Mauck gave his line some props.
“The offensive line did a great job,” Mauck said. “I think they’ve done a great job all year. There were a lot of holes and guys ended up hitting them.”
Another offensive milestone: being able to sustain a 21-play, 97-yard drive that went for a touchdown and chewed up 9:37 of the clock.
“Mistakes or no mistakes,” Whitworth said of the drive, “on a 21-play drive you’re going to have a few guys mess up. But on a 21-play drive you know someone had to overcome mistakes.
“That’s the biggest thing for us.”
Rumbling, Bumbling, Stumbling
Senior linebacker Jason LeDoux has persevered through his college football experience, but rarely complained.
Stuck behind several linebackers at Texas A&M, the West Monroe High School graduate decided to transfer to LSU in 2000. He soon caught himself behind LSU’s dynamic linebacking duo of Trev Faulk and Bradie James.
LeDoux played sparingly the last two seasons before getting some extended action thus far this season.
LeDoux showed an ability to be at the right play at the right time, returning a South Carolina fumble 15 yards for a key, game-sealing touchdown near the end of the third quarter.
“It felt so good that it hurt,” LeDoux said. “I exerted so much energy with the excitement when I picked it up that it just drained me. When I got into the endzone, had [safety] Jack Hunt not come hug me or congratulate me, I might have fallen over.”
Hunt said LeDoux has seen a lot of playing time this year and has been solid.
“He does well when he’s in there,” Hunt said. “He plays hard. It’s kind of a confidence booster for him. It’s something that could motivate him to play more, maybe. I think it’s a great deal for him. He’s excited about it. It’s a good deal for the team, too.”
The Truth Shall Set You Free
Cornerback/Safety Randall Gay let the cat out of the hat on Monday when he admitted the 77-yard third quarter touchdown pass to South Carolina’s Matt Thomas was his fault.
“It was me, really,” Gay explained. “I had lost focus for a second. I had the flat … when [my man] ran into the flat, I looked at the quarterback running towards me. So I started looking at him and [my man] took off. When I looked back, he had the ball and [was] running in the endzone. I was like ‘hold on, that’s [my man].’ It was just a mental error.”
Gay said such things can occur when facing a mobile quarterback that can make plays with both his arm and his legs. The Tigers will be facing a quarterback in that same mold when they face Auburn’s Jason Campbell.
“Running quarterbacks do make you stare at them a little more,” Gay said. “Because when I saw [USC quarterback Dondrial Pinkins] him break the pocket, I started thinking run because he was running towards me. It made me pause for just one second so the man could get behind me.”
Punts
Saban called bruising true freshman running back Alley Broussard “a different breed of cat when he gets in the secondary.” While not mentioning him in his opening comments, Saban praised the play of 6-foot-4, 257-pound Auburn running back Brandon Jacobs, a Napoleanville, La. native. The junior, who was thought to have been an LSU commitment last year before ultimately choosing Auburn, has both power and authority when he runs the ball, according to Saban, and has contributed solidly on special teams.
The Tigers’ struggles in the kicking game could catch up to the Bayou Bengals. Redshirt freshman Ryan Gaudet is just 4-of-7 on field goal tries and is 20-of-22 from extra point range, including a miss after the Tigers’ first touchdown against South Carolina. He also missed an extra point later that was negated by a USC penalty, allowing the Tigers to go for a two-point try, which failed.