The 9th ranked LSU Tigers treated themselves to a solid 42 to 0 win over Tulane on Halloween night. It was the first shutout for the Tigers since the 2007 national championship season when the Bayou Bengals blanked Middle Tennessee.
"We wanted this game just like it is," Head Coach Les Miles said. "We wanted to be tested by a good club and answer those challenges."
LSU's defense held Tulane to just 216 total yards. The Green Wave was able to drive in the red zone on two different occasions, but both times came away with no points.
Linebacker Kelvin Shepard was one of the defensive stars. He reached double-figures in tackles again with 13 stops. The junior from Georgia also had a sack, and three tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Fellow linebacker Perry Riley had eight tackles, cornerback Patrick Peterson an interception, and defensive Rahim Alem had his team leading third sack of they year.
The Greenies top offensive player, running back Andre Anderson, had a season low 27 yards.
"They haven't given up many points," Tulane Coach Bob Toledo said. "They've given up 13 points a game in the last few games. They're good. We couldn't run the ball against them. It's obvious we couldn't run the ball."
LSU running back Charles Scott led the offense with two touchdowns and he had his first 100-yard plus performance of the season. Scott finished with 112 yards on 18 carries. His two touchdowns doubled his output for the total season.
"We had a point to try to come out here and focus on things we could improve on going into the next game and going into the backstretch of the season," Scott said. "One (of those things) was to run the ball and I feel like we did that pretty well today."
Wide receiver Brandon Lafell also had two touchdowns to move into 2nd place in the school record books for touchdown catches. LaFell had 4 catches on the night for 85 yards.
Quarterback Jordan Jefferson wasn't great, but good enough for LSU to put up a season high in points. Jefferson was 11 of 17 for 163 yards and two touchdowns. The sophomore was also intercepted to end a scoring chance in the 1st half, and he also fumbled a snap on the 1st drive of the night, which helped keep the Tigers out of the end zone.
"Tulane showed a lot of blitzes and we made some great blitz pickups." Jefferson said. "The offensive line game great time whenever I needed to pass and our running game looked really good. We're just looking real good right now."
LSU's first score was set up by a blocked punt. Senior Daniel Graff from Rummel High School came around the left end and Tulane punter Ross Thevenot didn't have a chance. It was LSU's first blocked punt since October 7th, 2006, when LaRon Landry got his hand on a punt.
Graff's blocked punt gave LSU excellent field position at the Tulane 23 yard line. Two plays later, true freshman Russell Shepard found the end zone from 19 yards out. Shepard was lined up at quarterback, when he took the snap and tried the right side of the line. Nothing was there, so he cut it back the other way and found the end zone for the second time this season. Shepard finished with 48 yards on 5 carries.
LSU was in position to score again on its next drive. A 50-yard punt return by Trindon Holliday, gave the Tigers the football at the Tulane 30 yard line. But Jefferson was intercepted on the first play of the drive, trying to complete a pass to Holliday along the near side lines. Tulane Defensive End Adam Kwentua was in coverage and intercepted the pass at the LSU 11 yard line, returning it five yards.
Tulane's offense could do nothing on its new found momentum and punted the football, after failing to get a first down.
Jefferson would redeem himself on the next drive. He threw a 39 yard scoring strike to LaFell to give LSU a 14 to 0 led with just over two minutes left in the 1st quarter. On the play, Jefferson was flushed out of the pocket and made a nice running throw to LaFell, who was standing all by himself at the goal line.
LSU would make it 21 to 0 on a four yard touchdown run by Charles Scott with 2:32 left in the 2nd quarter. It capped off an 8-play, 74-yard drive that featured 31 rushing yards from Scott. Jefferson also completed passes to Terrance Toliver and Rueben Randle, who almost scored his first touchdown at LSU.
Tulane had two good chances to score in the 1st half and both opportunities came in the 2nd quarter. Thevenot missed a 45 yard field goal try, which ended a nice drive by the Green Wave offense. The second scoring chance came right before halftime, but LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson intercepted his second pass of the season near the LSU goal line.
The third quarter got off to a slow start, but Holliday woke up the crowd with a 50 yard punt return with about two minutes left. That set up Scott's second touchdown run of the night, as he bulldozed his way from 8 yards out. Scott followed fullback Thomas Parsons, a converted offensive lineman from Texas.
The third quarter would end with LSU up 28 to 0. With 9:55 to go in the 4th quarter, Jefferson would throw another touchdown pass to LaFell to make it 35 to 0. On the play, the LSU QB rolled out to his right and hit LaFell at the goal line. The senior made sure the ball was in the end zone before he fell out of bounds.
The catch gave LaFell 22 touchdown receptions for his career, which is 2nd all-time in LSU history. He's just four shy of Dwayne Bowe's record of 26 touchdown grabs.
The final scoring drive of the night was a thing of beauty. With the 2nd unit in the contest, LSU went 11-plays on 98 yards, capped off by a 10 yard touchdown run by Steven Ridley. The sophomore from Natchez, Mississippi, ran with a purpose as he rushed for 71 yards.
"It's an awesome feeling to score anytime in Tiger Stadium," Ridley said. "I'm just looking forward to trying to get back out there."
Ridley's touchdown was a nice way to end the night and begin preparations for Alabama.
"I think our guys will look forward to preparing." Miles said. "We look forward to viewing this film that we just played and look forward to preparing this week for our next opponent."
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