by Lee Feinswog
Special to LSUsports.net
Josh Booty was already older when he came to LSU. Now, he appears to be wiser.
The past month has been tough on the 25-year-old junior quarterback, who rebounded with a winning performance last Saturday in LSU’s 34-0 victory over Kentucky.
“I feel real good about what happened,” Booty said. “I thank God for the opportunity that I got to come back and get a chance to play again. It’s been rough. Last year was real rough for us, not just me but the team.”
Booty, who had thrown 10 interceptions in his first five games, had none Saturday as he completed 15 of 33 passes (with a handful of drops) for 225 yards and three touchdowns. It was his first Southeastern Conference victory. Now he’s hoping for another when LSU (4-3) plays host to 13th-ranked Mississippi State (4-1) at 8 p.m. (ESPN2).
“I thought the team played well. The offensive line gave us time to throw the ball, our defense played well and we won a big ballgame,” Booty said. “But this week is going to be a real tough test for us. They do a lot of good things defensively and we’re going to have to be prepared.”
Booty was the starter for LSU’s first four games as LSU beat Western Carolina, Houston, lost at Auburn and then fell to UAB. It was the home game against UAB that hurt the most. He ad-libbed a play near the end of the game that caused an interception and led to UAB’s game-winning field goal.
The next week, Rohan Davey played the entire game at QB in LSU’s upset over Tennessee. While Booty had bruised ribs that week, Davey sprained his ankle. Davey struggled in the loss to Florida and was relieved by Booty, who fared no better.
And when he was introduced as the starter against Kentucky, fans booed. But a big victory helped smooth things over.
“Quarterbacks are going to go through stuff like that. I hate that it had to happen, but maybe it made me a better player because of what I’ve gone through,” Booty said. “My dad always tells me the bigger the test the bigger the testimony. So I went through a huge test there. Even mentally trying to do some positive things.
“But coming through and pressing on having a good game is really going to help me in the long run.”
LSU last won back-to-back Southeastern Conference games in 1997, the last time it had a winning record.
“Hopefully we can put two big wins back to back and I can play two good games back to back,” Booty said.
LSU won seven of 10 meetings between the schools in the 1990s, including a 41-6 upset in 1998. Last year in Starkville, State was aided by a questionable call on a touchdown run that appeared to be short and then held on for a 17-16 victory as Booty’s desperation heave into the end zone fell incomplete as the game ended.
“We wanted to get that 3-8 season behind us. Now we’re 4-3 and don’t want to go back to .500. We want to go 5-3, continue to get better and build. This is going to be a big test for us, a big challenge, but we’ve played Mississippi State well in the past. Maybe this year we’ll get some luck and win a big ballgame.”