by Chris Macaluso
LSUsports.net
Saturday’s LSU-Utah State game in Baton Rouge figured to be the second and final tune-up for a Tiger team diving head first into what may be the toughest seven-game stretch for any team in the country.
All seven games are against Southeastern Conference foes including back-to-back match-ups versus No.8 Tennessee September 29 and No.1 Florida October 6, not to mention a September 15 showdown with Auburn and an October 20 meeting with Mississippi State.
While most facets of the LSU offense and defense looked like they received routine maintenance by the end of Saturday’s 31-14 tune-up victory, Tiger sophomore tailback LaBrandon Toefield looked like he was ready to run the Indy 500.
Toefield exploded for a career-best 183 yards rushing on 27 carries and four touchdowns, the second-most TD’s in a single game in school history.
Former Tiger tailback great Kevin Faulk holds the record with five rushing TD’s in a game in a 63-28 LSU win in 1997.
His performance came against a much tougher Utah State team than most of the 87,756 fans expected and just one week after Toefield pounded his way into the endzone three times in a 48-17 win over intra-state rival Tulane.
LSU head coach Nick Saban said Toefield’s performance illustrates how valuable he is to the LSU offense.
“I thought he (Toefield) played an outstanding game tonight,” Saban said. “He’s the kind of runner you want to have in short yardage and goal line situations because of the kind of runner he is. He’s very powerful.”
While Toefield has displayed great power running in both the Tulane and Utah State games, scoring five touchdown’s on runs of five yards or less, perhaps his most impressive play so far this season came with the LSU offense perched on its own 30-yard line late in the first half Saturday.
With just 17 seconds remaining in the half, LSU seemed content to put a 17-7 lead in its pocket and walk into the locker room. But Toefield changed that plan when he turned a straight dive off left tackle into a 70-yard touchdown sprint, leaving several Utah State pursuers in his wake.
“The receivers did a great job on that long run blocking the safety so it was just me and the cornerback one-on-one,” Toefield said. “I just out ran him.”
The play was similar to a 74-yard touchdown scamper by Toefield last season that was instrumental in LSU’s 38-31 upset victory over Tennessee. It was in that game that Toefield recorded his previous career-best rushing job with 120 yards on 15 carries.
He also managed a 28-yard touchdown scamper against Tulane in week one to give LSU a 7-0 lead just 26 seconds into the contest.
Toefield said he is proud of his performance Saturday, but knows there are bigger tasks to tackle on the horizon.
“I had some fun tonight out there, but I wish this was next week instead of this week,” he said.
With SEC western division rival Auburn knocking on the ready to come in to play an early season contest that may have serious late-season consequences, “next week” could be closer than Toefield and his teammates realize.
But Toefield said he is confident his team will be prepared.
“We have to come out next week and practice hard,” he said. “If we come out next week and do what we did tonight, the score will not be what it was tonight.”