Cajun Farmers Market asset to Houma’s economy; city looking to expand to downtown
March 30, 2010April 4: Horseshow (Houma)
April 1, 2010
There were two major focuses for the LSU football team this spring: rushing offense and physicality.
The Tigers ranked No. 90 in the country in rushing offense last season and often found themselves bullied at the line of scrimmage against their Southeastern Conference foes.
But with a new year, there is a new philosophy for the Tigers and the team showcased its new, hard-nose style at the team’s spring game Saturday.
Spring games are sometimes hard to judge because the talent on each team is diluted, but LSU coach Les Miles took one thing out of Saturday – improvement.
“The only thing I can tell you is that we are better than we’ve been. I like the way we run the football. I think we are physical,” Miles said.
The two squads, divided by the LSU coaching staff prior to the game, rushed for 340 yards total in the game on 57 total carries.
Leading the attack was freshman Michael Ford, who toted the ball 19 times for 139 yards for the Purple team.
But junior Stevan Ridley with the victorious White team also had a big day and gained 104 yards on just 13 carries.
Ridley set the tone for the entire game on the opening drive of the game, rushing for 70 yards in a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive.
“You can’t ask any more from the offensive line,” Ridley said. “The first drive they came out and made some gaping holes and all I had to do was what came naturally to me, which is run the ball. I can’t ask for anything more from my offensive line and fullback Dominique Allen. They’re working hard for us up front with the blocking.”
But while the LSU rushing offense was superb on Saturday, the Tigers’ passing attack wasn’t quite as sharp.
Junior starter Jordan Jefferson and junior Jarrett Lee played for both teams in the game.
Jefferson completed just 8-of-23 passes for 94 yards and an interception. Lee was slightly better and completed 10-of-20 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown. But he also threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown.
Miles said a simplistic offense handicapped his quarterbacks in the game.
“We played a vanilla style of offense and a vanilla style of defense, so when you divide teams up, I don’t know exactly how good or how bad (we played),” he said.
Junior cornerback Patrick Peterson agreed with Miles and said Jefferson’s rough day was a small step backwards in what was a solid spring for the junior.
“I believe he is going to be a great quarterback,” Peterson said. “I believe he is going to work on connecting with his deep balls, but Jordan is a great competitor.”
The Tigers return to the practice field this summer when summer camp begins. The first game of the season is Sept. 4 against North Carolina in the Georgia Dome.
Colonels began spring practices with hopes for improvement:
While LSU was finishing up spring, the Nicholls football team was just getting started. The Colonels began their practice allotment on Monday under first-year coach Charlie Stubbs.
The coach said the focus for his team this spring is to evaluate how the team’s roster fits into his system.
The Colonels are making the transition from a triple-option offense to Stubbs’ passing happy, spread out attack.
“It’s not where we start in spring practice, but where we are come opening day,” Stubbs said. “I know that I am going to have to show patience and it is going to require us to take small steps at a time, but we will get there.”
Unlike LSU, Nicholls will not have a spring game because of the small size of their roster and the learning process the team is undergoing.
But Stubbs said he believes his team will make plenty of steps that will help them be ready for their Sept. 4 season opener against San Diego State.
And some of those steps will be on areas other than the revamped offense.
“You hear all the time how people say `offense sells tickets, defense wins championships’ or vice versa or whatever, and that is as a false statement as any,” Stubbs said. “Teams win championships, teams win games, not the offense, defense or special teams, but all three of those working together as one wins games. This is not just about offense, we have a lot to learn and get better at on defense and special teams as well.”
LSU freshman running back Michael Ford (42) runs through a gap in the defensive line during LSU’s National L Club Spring Game on Saturday, March 27, in Tiger Stadium. * Photo provided by JJ ALCANTARA / LSU Reveille
