BATON ROUGE — Running back Alley Broussard rushed for 99 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while defensive end Marcus Spears tallied four tackles and a pair of sacks to lead LSU through its second scrimmage of the spring here Saturday in Tiger Stadium.
The Tigers will have practices on Tuesday and Thursday next week followed by the annual Spring Game on Saturday, April 24 at 1 p.m. in Tiger Stadium. Tickets for the Spring Game are currently on sale at the LSU Athletic Ticket Office for $5.
“I think the intensity from beginning to end was probably a little bit better (Saturday),” LSU coach Nick Saban said after the scrimmage. “At times we ran the ball well. I think we took a step back in throwing the football in terms of the timing and the effectiveness that we need from the route runners, the protection being where it needs to be, and the quarterbacks making good decisions and judgments.
“The first team defense is a little bit better in terms of the discipline and intensity that they played with. I think the toughness and the hitting out there was a little bit better today.”
Saturday’s scrimmage saw the three LSU quarterbacks go “live”, which means the defensive players were allowed to hit and tackle the signal-callers. All three quarterbacks seemed to respond to the situation.
“I thought all three quarterbacks made some plays,” Saban said. “They made some things happen out there when things broke down, which is good. We made the quarterbacks live for the first time since I have been a head coach because I thought they were holding the ball, being oblivious to people running through the “A-Gap” on blitzes.
“The only way we are going to learn how to handle the blitz is to know that there is a price you have to pay when you don’t deliver the ball like you are supposed too. They got hit a few times. We have been on them about taking care of the ball in the pocket. We made some good decisions and bad ones. I think overall consistency in the passing game is the number one thing we need to improve on.”
Broussard shined in the Tiger backfield, rushing for a 28-yard TD and 1-yard score. In addition, Barrington Edwards turned what appeared to be a routine 6-yard reception into a 66-yard TD against the No. 3 defense, while Shyrone Carey had 61 yards on 13 attempts and Justin Vincent 28 yards on 14 carries.
“The running backs did pretty well,” Saban said. “Justin made some good runs as did Alley and Shyrone. Barrington Edwards even made some good runs when he got the opportunity.”
Skyler Green led all receivers with six catches for 64 yards, including a 19-yard TD reception from Marcus Randall.
Defensively, LaRon Landry and Keron Gordon led the Tigers with five tackles apiece, while Corey Webster had four stops as well as a 54-yard interception return for a touchdown. Ronnie Prude and Jonathan Zenon each intercepted passes for the Tiger defense.
On special teams, redshirt freshman punter Patrick Fisher kicked nine times for a 48.5 average, while Chris Jackson averaged 42.5 yards on two punts. Jackson made field goals of 47 and 32 yards, while Ryan Gaudet connected on kicks of 41 and 31 yards.
“I’m pleased with the scrimmage and with what we got accomplished,” Saban said. “It feels like we got our team a little more in alignment. We still have a long way to go in some areas, but we have two practices remaining this spring so we are going to get as much as we can out of them.”