Saturday, September 14

Michael Clayton stretches out for one of his two touchdowns for LSU.

Toefield shows off old form

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- LSU coach Nick Saban saw positives even in the negatives against Miami of Ohio.

"We'll win more games playing hard and trying to dominate, than we will playing slow and trying to get good execution,'' Saban said after LSU's (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, No. 25 AP) sloppy 33-7 victory Saturday night.

Matt Mauck, making his third career start, threw three touchdown passes, and the Tigers (2-1) had another big night running the ball against the overmatched RedHawks (1-2).

But LSU committed nine penalties for 87 yards. In the third quarter alone, LSU had six for 60 yards. The Tigers had first-and-goal on the Miami 6, only to back up to third-and-goal on the 46 and finally settle for a 41-yard field goal by John Corbello, his fourth of a school-record tying six in the game.

LSU was dominant on the ground as LaBrandon Toefield, who had offseason knee surgery, seemed to have regained his form from 2001, when he was a first-team All-SEC selection.

Toefield ran for 111 yards on 17 carries as LSU outgained the RedHawks 207-29 on the ground. It was the seventh time Toefield, a junior, has rushed for more than 100 yards, the first this year.

"I looked in the mirror and knew I had to step up my game,'' Toefield said.

Domanick Davis had 51 yards rushing, 35 yards receiving and 116 yards on five punt returns.

Mauck completed 15 of 26 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns. He was not intercepted.

"I think I've relaxed,'' Mauck said. "I'm a little more comfortable. Gametime experience is the most important thing. You can't simulate it in practice.''

LSU had 422 total yards to 224 for Miami of Ohio and held the ball almost 11 minutes longer than the RedHawks.

Miami of Ohio has lost five of its last six games.

"This is an environment where you can't hear and we responded horrible tonight,'' RedHawks coach Terry Hoeppner.

Miami quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was 22-of-34 for 195 yards and a touchdown. He threw an interception and was sacked three times.

Cal Murray led the RedHawks in rushing, but with only 18 yards on six carries before leaving the game injured.

"We don't know yet the extent of his injury,'' Hoeppner said.

It was a lackluster first half, with Corbello supplying three of the scores.

Corbello opened the scoring with two first-quarter field goals -- a 42-yarder and a 29-yarder with 8:24 that gave the Tigers a 6-0 lead. He also made a 35-yarder in the second quarter.

"I'm pretty sure of myself,'' Corbello said. "If I go out there it's going to go through.''

Mauck hit Michael Clayton for the first of two scores in the first half, an 8-yard TD pass with 2:55 left in the first quarter that made it 13-0 LSU.

Miami didn't make it past its own 35 before its final drive of the first half. The RedHawks penetrated LSU territory for the first time with less than three minutes left in the half and put together a 10-play scoring drive.

Roethlisberger moved the team 87 yards before connecting with Korey Kirkpatrick on a 7-yard TD pass that cut LSU's lead to 16-7 with 50 seconds remaining. On the drive Roethlisberger was 7-of-8 for 84 yards.

LSU answered with its most impressive drive of the half, going 71 yards on five plays, with Mauck finding Clayton again. The 24-yard pass made it 7-23 at the half.

After Corbello's 41-yard field goal field goal in the third quarter, Mauck closed out the scoring with a 6-yard TD pass to Demetri Robinson with 10 seconds left, extending the lead to 33-7.