BATON ROUGE — Fans and experts alike thought Saturday’s contest between Arizona and LSU in Tiger Stadium would be a much closer match than the week-one, 45-3 blowout turned in by the eighth-ranked Tigers over UL-Lafayette.
Turns out, the two games were almost exactly the same as the Pac-10 Wildcats left Baton Rouge demoralized by a 45-3 loss to the Tigers in front of 92,221.
The win improved LSU’s record to 2-0 in the season’s infancy with the first true test lying next weekend when the Tigers travel to Auburn to take on the fourth-ranked Tigers. Arizona fell to 1-1 and has the benefit of playing at home next week against Stephen F. Austin before playing host to perennial power USC.
Despite the predictions, LSU’s first week opponent may have been a bit more of a test for the Tigers though deciding who the biggest loser is in consecutive 42-point losses is a bit nonsensical.
Arizona managed just 35 yards rushing and 152 yards overall against an aggressive LSU defensive front and secondary that allowed just 176 yards in week one.
For the second straight week, the Tiger defense set an early tone and gave its offense some early help by scoring a touchdown on an interception return in the first quarter. Cornerback Jonathan Zenon scored both, with this week’s coming on a 41-yard return with 7:44 remaining in the quarter to give LSU a 10-0 lead. Last week’s came about 2:00 earlier in the game but both effectively eliminated the opponent from contention.
“I was pleased with the defensive effort today,” LSU Coach Les Miles said. “They went out and were on Arizona from the start.”
LSU held the Wildcats to just 28 yards of offense in the first half. The bulk of the Wildcat production came on its last possession of the game against a host of backup Tiger defenders. Arizona was able to drive 75 yard in 15 plays for their only score, a 22-yard field goal by Nick Folk that crossed the cross bar with 1:06 to play.
The Tigers spread their attack about as evenly as possible, amassing 231 yards rushing and passing for 230 more. Nine Tigers ran the ball for positive yards led by Charles Scott‘s 47 yards on four carries and a touchdown and Jacob Hester‘s 43 yards on eight carries and a touchdown.
Hester also led the Tigers in catches with six for 53 yards and a touchdown.
Tiger quarterback JaMarcus Russell performed more than adequately but wasn’t flashy in completing 13-of-20 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns to counter his first interception of the year. If not for Russell’s interception at the Arizona 34-yard line late in the second quarter and a fumble by receiver Early Doucet at the Wildcat 20 early in the third quarter, the final score could have been more lopsided.
LSU turned the ball over three times in all.
“Obviously, playing a team like LSU, they can expose some weaknesses and obviously they exposed some in this game,” Arizona Head Coach Mike Stoops said. “We just didn’t handle things very well.”
LSU scored the first time it touched the ball thanks largely to a 33-yard end around run by Trindon Holliday that set up a first-and-goal at the Arizona 3. The Tigers were stopped at that point, forcing Colt David to break the scoring ice with a 21-yard field goal with 9:17 remaining in the first quarter.
Three plays later, Zenon became LSU’s early season scoring leader when he stepped in front of a Willie Tuitama pass at the Arizona 41-yard line and returned it up the west sideline into the endzone, staking LSU to a 10-0 lead.
Arizona handed the Tigers another scoring chance before the Wildcat offense stepped its collective foot on the field again when kick returner B.J. Dennard laid the ball on the turf at his 18-yard line. LSU needed just three plays to take a 17-0 advantage. Hester grabbed a short pass from Russell on 2nd-and-goal and scored LSU’s second touchdown in seconds. The David point after put the Tigers up three scores with 6:17 to play in the quarter.
Tailback Alley Broussard added the fourth score less than 1:00 into the second quarter when he took a 3rd ?and-2-handoff at the 17-yard line, skipped past a linebacker at the 13 and bounded into the endzone. The impressive run capped a 57-yard, eight-play drive and gave LSU a 24-0 lead with 14:05 remaining in the half.
Hester scored again with 7:06 remaining in the third quarter, this time on the ground. He dodged through the Wildcat line, then the secondary on his way to a 28-yard touchdown run. The nifty dash capped a six-play, 61 yard drive that made up for an earlier 60-yard drive for the Tigers that ended with a lost fumble. The David point after improved the LSU lead to 31-0.
Safety LaRon Landry gave LSU its next scoring chance less than 2:00 later when he intercepted Tuitama at the Arizona 32 and returned it to the 29. On the next play, Russell calmly retreated and lobbed the ball to Dwayne Bowe who zigged then zagged the cornerback to the turf before standing alone in the middle of the north endzone. The 29-yard pitch and catch gave LSU a 38-0 lead with 5:05 to play in the third quarter.
LSU was finally forced to punt on the last play of the third quarter and several Wildcat players were able to overwhelm the LSU blockers and deflect the kick. Arizona began the ensuing drive at its 48-yard line and seemed to move the ball inside the Tiger 10 seven plays later on a screen pass from backup quarterback Adam Austin to tailback Chris Jennings. But, the positive play was called back due to an ineligible player down field penalty, setting up a 3rd-and-20 from the LSU 30.
Tiger safety Craig Steltz thwarted the Wildcat advance on the long third-down play by intercepting Austin in the endzone, ending Arizona’s only legitimate scoring opportunity to that point and setting up another one for the Tigers.
After Steltz returned the interception to the Wildcat 19, LSU, guided by backup quarterback Matt Flynn, marched into the south endzone in eight plays. Scott finished the attack with a 39-yard touchdown run with 7:22 to play that ended the 5:01 drive and added to the Arizona misery.
“I like the outing,” Miles said. “We need to improve. We need to see this film. We need to get better and take our best effort with us to Auburn.”
LSU vs. Arizona
September 9, 2006
LSU HEAD COACH LES MILES
Opening Statement…
“I was pleased with the defensive effort today. They went out and they were on Arizona from the start. They played extremely well. They could handle pass rush; they couldn’t run the football against us. We covered the ball. (Jonathan) Zenon comes off with another pick for a score, two weeks in a row. The defense is playing awfully well, and needs to continue to do so. The offense ran the football. We rushed for 230 and threw for 230, about. A little bit more balance. I didn’t like the turnover, not the fumble and not the pass interception. But I really feel like the offense played well considering. Special teams were good minus a tipped punt. We did well with teams. I like the outing. We need to improve. We need to see this film. We need to get better, and take our best effort with us to Auburn.”
LSU OFFENSIVE PLAYER QUOTES
On how the team feels after two dominating wins…
“We have felt pretty good all week. We felt good coming into the game. We stayed focused during practice through out the week and it has shown in these first two games.”
On putting so many points in the first two games…
“That comes from working hard day in and day out. We have to continue to execute and work hard because we still have to improve.”
On how he feels…
We are real fired up about it. It’s an SEC game so we have to work even harder this week. In a game this big we have focus on minimizing our mistakes.”
On if either of the first two games prepared them for Auburn…
“Both of the games did. At times both of the teams gave us a tough go. There were also some things we put on ourselves and have to fix this coming week. We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times with the mistakes we made.”
On how well the passing game has gone…
“It has been pretty strong but it’s only two games. We still have to practice hard because how well you practice is how well you are going to play in the game.”
On Jacob Hester…
“I think you can put Hester anywhere on the field and he will get the job done. He is doing a great job at moving around at certain positions. He does whatever it takes to help this team win.”
WR Dwayne Bowe
On how well the team has played these first two games…
“I think we make it look easy but it’s just a product of hard work. We prepare ourselves to best of our ability every week. That hard work pays off every Saturday night.”
On scoring so many points in the first two games…
“We just go out there and execute. We aren’t worried about the score. Our philosophy isn’t ?we need to score a lot so we can relax.’ Coaches always tell us to enter the game as if there are no points on the scoreboard.”
LSU DEFENSIVE PLAYER QUOTES
On playing a PAC 10 Team…
“We came out ready to play, we executed our plays well and when we do that good things happen.”
On improving…
“After every game we get all mistakes out that we might have made. Each game you learn something new as the season goes on. The first game you might be a little rusty but as the season goes on you get the kinks out.”
On the defense…
“Coach is doing a great job putting us in the right place to make plays. That is his job, To prepare us each week and good things will happen.”
On the Arizona players jumping on the eye…
“You know they came in and told us about it and got us jacked up coming into the game.”
On the defense…
“We feel really good. Our defense is strong, fast getting in the right places at the right time. We just make the plays.
On the offense
“We Practice everyday and Jimbo’s (Fisher) schemes are really good. They get us prepared and we get them prepared.”
On the progress
“We are making great progress with the coaching and executing game plan every week and at practice, we are getting fast. We are progressing real quickly.”
On the defense…
“I think the defense is coming around making plays we got a couple picks tonight. I think the secondary is playing well, the defense line and linebackers as well. I think everything is going good on the defensive side of the ball.”
ARIZONA HEAD COACH MIKE STOOPS
Opening Statement
“Well, I’m obviously very disappointed and frustrated by our overall play tonight. I didn’t think we did anything particularly well. Obviously, playing a team like LSU, they can expose some weaknesses, and obviously they exposed some in this game. They are a very talented team across the board. We just didn’t handle things very well. We turned the ball over twice in the first five or six minutes of the game and put ourselves in the hole. It was tough. I don’t know if Willie (Tuitama) took a helmet to the head. It looked like he might have had a concussion. I don’t know, but he wasn’t in sync again. He’s been struggling, and a team like LSU can really get after the quarterback. We just didn’t play very well, didn’t tackle well defensively. They ran the ball pretty much at will on us in the second half. The screens really bothered us. We tried to pressure, and you start grasping for things and we didn’t handle the screens. So again, they kept us off balance all night, and that’s what being able to run the football does for you and they do it very effectively. They have great balance across the board on their team. There’s no weakness when you play LSU. They are very, very good across the board, so it’s a tough night. It’s only one game. We have to go back to the drawing boards and reevaluate some things and try to get some flow in our offense and try to find some things we can do better. I’m just frustrated in our ability to execute anything real well, so we’ll see.”
On taking a one game at a time approach…
“It’s all we can do. We have Stephen F. (Austin) next week. It’s been a tough two weeks. BYU stressed us to the max, and we stepped a class to the heavy-weight division tonight and we just didn’t handle it. We just weren’t ready for this. We have to do some things better. We have to execute better. I’m really disappointed in our overall execution as a team right now, and that’s something we have to look at and certainly that’s my responsibility.”
ARIZONA OFFENSIVE PLAYER QUOTES
Syndric Steptoe WR
On the game tonight…
“We didn’t come out and play like we were supposed to. We just have to take it how it goes, we came out and didn’t play the ball we are supposed to play. We’ve go to take this game as a learning curve. We’ve got to come out and put in even harder work next week. This (LSU) is a bowl team, a top 10 ranked team, this is where we’re trying to take the program to, and by playing them tonight, we’re showing the level we want our program at.”
Adam Austin QB
On Arizona’s offense…
“Today they (LSU) jumped on us early and it was harder for our offense to bounce back from that, and we’ve just got to execute better. We’ve jut got to come back and work harder next week and try to meet our next opponent head on.”
On playing in the game tonight…
“I’ve been waiting a long time to get to this chance, I wish it were under better circumstances. I felt comfortable out there, I’m just taking his (QB Willie Tuitama) job and replacing what he does and get the offense going. That’s what I’m here to do. We were coming off a really good camp, and my confidence was really high. But we’re just going to come back out next week and see what we can do.”
ARIZONA DEFENSIVE PLAYERS
Dominic Patrick FS
On how to recover from a lost like this one…
“You have to put it behind and move on. We need to get ready for next weekend. Its common sense and natural, if you lose one game put it on your shoulders and think about it. If you think about the lost this last weekend you won’t be focus on the next weekend.”
On the affect that LSU scored so fast in the game…
“It didn’t affect me has much as you think .We are a poised team. Whenever you get down on a team that is that good it’s hard to come back. Especially when you get three quick scores, you’re not coming back that easily. We could have played better but they played great.
Antoine Cason CB
On LSU defense…
“They are still 19 and 20 year old players. They play hard and do the right things. They do what their coaches tell them to do, that’s what a good team does. We learn that we are not where we need to be. All the hype about how good and how hard we play is really that we need to work harder. We have to work hard to get where we need to be we have not arrived yet. It shows us that we are not with those big ranked teams yet. We want to become a big ranked team so we will practice harder. We are physically able to be better and we will work to become better.”