BATON ROUGE — Matt Flynn threw for 135 yards and one touchdown and Early Doucet caught nine passes for 115 yards and score as the Purple posted a 20-14 win over the White in the Super Tiger Bowl here Saturday before 14,375 fans in Tiger Stadium.
With the victory, the Purple will feast on a steak dinner on Tuesday night, while the White squad will eat beans and franks. Saturday’s Super Tiger Bowl marked LSU’s 15th and final workout of the spring.
“I liked the day and I liked the format,” LSU coach Les Miles said following the game. “We had a great crowd and a lot of enthusiasm for the game. I think we got a lot accomplished. We got 50 snaps for one team and just under 50 for the other so we got out of the day what we needed.
“The spring ended in a positive way. We had a number of guys make big plays. I think it gives the coaching staff a great piece to evaluate going into the summer. Overall, spring was a good for us and I feel like it ended the way it should have.”
Flynn, who started at quarterback for the Purple team, connected on 11 of 22 passes for 135 yards and an 8-yard TD pass to Doucet in the second quarter. Ryan Perrilloux quarterbacked the White team and he completed 8 of 23 passes for 155 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Perrilloux’s touchdown was a 23-yard strike to Brandon LaFell in the fourth quarter.
The Purple took a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter when Colt David drilled a 42-yard field goal at the 10:02 mark. The White responded on its next possession, going 70 yards on 10 plays, capped with a 4-yard TD run by Alley Broussard at the 6:05 mark to take its only lead of the game at 7-3. Key plays on that scoring drive for the White was a 14-yard completion by Perrilloux to Ricky Dixon and runs of 13 and 11 yards by Perrilloux.
The Purple team regained the lead for good early in the second quarter as Flynn guided his team on a 10-play, 91-yard drive capped by an 18-yard TD run by Richard Murphy. Murphy, who led all rushers with 85 yards on 11 carries in the game, accounted for 63 yards rushing on that drive alone as he busted loose with runs of 28, 11, and 18 yards.
The Purple stretched the lead to 17-7 on its next possession when Flynn connected with Doucet for an 8-yard score with 10:49 left to play in the second quarter. The Purple’s score was set up by a Troy Giddens interception of a Perrilloux pass that gave the Tigers the ball at the White 17-yard line. The Purple squad scored three plays later.
The scored remained 17-7 at halftime and stayed that way until the fourth quarter when David kicked a 37-yard field goal with 3:45 to go in the contest.
Perrilloux pulled the White to within 20-17 after connecting with LaFell on a 23-yard TD pass but that was as close as they would get as Miles called the contest with 38 seconds left to play.
“It was probably the most enjoyable time that I have had, and the kids had a great time as well,” Miles said. “What you expect from execution has to be looked at with the fact that it is a divided team. I liked the format.
“We have improved this spring. We got a lot done during our 15 workouts. We still have a lot of work to do, but we are heading in the right direction.”
Other standouts during the spring game included LaFell with three catches for 50 yards; Trindon Holliday with two receptions for 65 yards; Keiland Williams with 46 yards rushing on eight carries and Broussard with 32 yards and one score on eight attempts.
Doucet also added a 64-yard punt return and he returned a pair of kickoffs a total of 44 yards. For the game, Doucet finished with 229 all-purpose yards.
Defensively, linebacker Darry Beckwith lead the White team with eight tackles, while Tremaine Johnson had three tackles for losses, including a pair of sacks totaling 18-yards in losses.
The Purple defense was paced by Harry Coleman, who registered seven tackles, two of which went for losses. Coleman also broke up a pass. Al Woods, Caleb Angelle and Tyson Jackson all had sacks for the Purple team.
2007 LSU Football ? Spring Awards
Alvin Roy Fourth Quarter Award
(Outstanding performance in LSU’s offseason program)
LB Luke Sanders
S Craig Steltz
DB Danny McCray
WR Early Doucet
RB Keiland Williams
RB Charles Scott
Eric Andolsek Leadership Award
(Outstanding leadership in Spring Drills ? Offense)
C Brett Helms
RB Jacob Hester
Mike Miley Leadership Award
(Outstanding leadership in Spring Drills ? Defense)
LB Darry Beckwith
S Craig Steltz
Toby Caston Performance Award
(Outstanding performance in Spring Drills ? Defense)
DE Tyson Jackson
Ralph Norwood Performance Award
(Outstanding performance in Spring Drills ? Offense)
QB Matt Flynn
Most Improved Award
(Players who have made the most improvement during spring drills)
S Curtis Taylor
OG Lyle Hitt
Jimmy Taylor Award
(The comprehensive spring award for outstanding leadership, effort and performance)
WR Early Doucet
CB Chevis Jackson
OFFENSIVE PLAYER QUOTES
QB MATT FLYNN
On WR Early Doucet being his main target this year…
“As soon as the season was over, Early and I were throwing with each other almost every afternoon. We would always call each other to try and meet up. Sometimes other receivers would come. We try and get as much chemistry together as possible.”
On which receivers have stepped up this spring…
“Brandon LaFell has been a great No. 2 option for us. He has caught a lot of balls and made a number of big plays this spring. The young guys showed a lot of potential today as well.”
On what his mindset was heading into today’s game…
“I wanted to make sure I was in a good rhythm. I wanted to get the tempo started early and had to get use to running a lot of plays.”
On his touchdown pass to Brandon LaFell…
“Everything was up and down today. With the teams split up, it’s going to make the flow of the game a little different. On the drive I threw the touchdown, I felt more comfortable with everything that was going on.”
WR EARLY DOUCET
On taking more of a leadership role this year…
“I am looking forward to being more of a leader this year. With Dwayne (Bowe) and Buster (Davis) here last year, I didn’t have to be much of a vocal leader. Now that we have a lot of young guys it is time for me to step in that big brother role. I am taking on the challenge and it has gone well so far. I have to make sure they work hard everyday and stay focused.”
On how both quarterbacks played today…
“I feel we have a great situation with the two quarterbacks we have. We have two great quarterbacks in Matt Flynn and Ryan Perrilloux. I think either one could come in and get the job done. They both did well this spring.”
DEFENSIVE PLAYER QUOTES
On spring practice…
“Starting off the spring I think I did pretty good. I still have some work to do this year to move up, but I think I did pretty well. Glenn Dorsey was out for the spring so I thought it was my role as a leader to step up and start making plays.”
SS Craig Steltz
On Curtis Taylor getting hurt during the game…
Curtis got a little nicked up today but we’ve got four and a half months for him to recover and work out and get ready for August. Danny McCray did a great job last year playing nickel back and this year he’s at nickel back, too, so if anyone goes down he can replace him in a heartbeat.
On being a senior this year…
We’ve got a lot of guys there, [Jonathan] Zenon and Chevis [Jackson], that have been through a lot of games with us. So I’m not the only one, we’ve got some older guys back there playing.