BATON ROUGE -- Ninth-ranked LSU can now turn its attention Washington and the season-opener as the Tigers closed out its preseason camp with a 130-play scrimmage here Tuesday in Tiger Stadium.
The scrimmage, the third of camp, had the Tigers tackling for the first portion of the workout before going to thud (no tackling to the ground) for the second half of the scrimmage. The scrimmage featured the 1s going against the 2s on both offense and defense. LSU also spent time going over all phases of special teams during the scrimmage.
“We had approximately 130 plays and really hit every situation that we needed to hit,” LSU coach Les Miles said of the scrimmage. “We tackled for half the scrimmage and touched off thereafter. I really felt like it was a very good go.
“I feel like our team’s coming. The offense answered the call. I think the defense had been ahead, and I think the offense really came to play today.”
Offensively, sophomore quarterback Jordan Jefferson had his best scrimmage statistically, going 11-of-14 for 150 yards and one touchdown. Jefferson connected with Brandon LaFell on a 15-yard scoring play as well as a 40-yard gain during the scrimmage.
Freshman Russell Shepard connected on 3-of-4 passes for 73 yards and he led all rushers with 60 yards on six carries. Jarrett Lee was 6-of-12 for 50 yards, while Chris Garrett was 4-of-5 for 21 yards.
Joining Shepard as rushing leaders for the Tigers were Keiland Williams with 40 yards on nine carries; Charles Scott 30 yards on six attempts; Richard Murphy 30 yards on five carries and Trindon Holliday with 30 yards on six attempts.
LaFell led all receivers with 74 yards on five receptions, while Rueben Randle had four catches for 34 yards. Terrance Toliver had three catches for 38 yards and R.J. Jackson two receptions for 60 yards, including a long of 53 yards.
Defensively, linebacker Perry Riley came up big for the Tigers, recording five tackles, including a pair of sacks. Defensive end Chase Clement chipped in with five tackles and a sack, while linebacker Harry Coleman added four tackles, which included a sack and another tackle for a loss.
There were no turnovers during the scrimmage.
The Tigers capped with scrimmage with kicker Josh Jasper connecting on a 44-yard field goal to close out camp.
“The guys have made some real improvement,” Miles said of his team. “Any time you go into a period of time where you have to mature your team, to me, it’s improvement that must take place.
“I think the team has practiced awfully hard in this camp, and I think across the board and individually, there is a lot of improvement.”
The Tigers will take tomorrow off before returning to practice on Thursday afternoon in what will be the first day of preparation for the season-opener against Washington. LSU faces the Huskies at 9:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, Sept. 5 in Seattle. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN.
