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Stevan Ridley wants to see the 12th-ranked Tigers get more help from at least one of their two quarterbacks as they make a final push to get back into the Southeastern Conference Western Division race.
''Neither quarterback has stepped up and taken a leadership role with his performance,'' Ridley, who is LSU's leading rusher, said of Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee. ''Both are playing hard. It's hard to be perfect. It's frustrating, but what can you do.''
LSU (7-1, 4-1 SEC) has been good on the ground, averaging 179.1 yards per game. Ridley has rushed for 723 yards.
The passing game, however, is averaging an anemic 138.8 yards. Jefferson has been the better scrambler and Lee the better passer, but neither have been consistently productive.
''Until one separates from the other one, we're just going to be rolling with two quarterbacks. That's who we are right now. What can we do? You can't say 'The hell with it.' You can't bring in new guys. We're just going to keep pushing.''
The Tigers acknowledged they took their 24-17 loss at Auburn last week pretty hard, and that after eight straight weeks of drama-filled football, they were ready for week off before regrouping for a visit by No. 6 Alabama (7-1, 4-1) on Nov. 6.
''The off week is coming at a good time,'' senior left tackle Joseph Barksdale said. ''Every break comes at a good time for your body. I need the off week first to get the loss out of my head. - I hate losing. The whole week has been bad for me because I hate losing.''
LSU opened with seven straight victories, two of which came down to the final seconds. But the Tigers could not pull off the upset at Auburn, in part because they continued a season-long trend of struggling on offense. If not for a 39-yard touchdown on a halfback pass from Spencer Ware to Rueben Randle, LSU would have barely gained 200 yards the entire game.
Meanwhile, the LSU defense, a strength of the team all season, had no answer for the Auburn running game. Quarterback Cam Newton rushed for 217 yards and two touchdowns. Overall, Auburn gained 440 yards on the ground. The game-winning touchdown came on a 70-yard run by Onterio McCalebb.
The loss means LSU is no longer in control of its own destiny in the Southeastern Conference's Western Division race. Alabama also has one league loss, so the loser of the Alabama-LSU game will slip out of the top two in the SEC West.
''Alabama is coming in here and they are not going to be feeling sorry for us,'' Ridley said. ''It's kind of tough right now. Everybody is down.
''But, we'll be ready to go. We're not going to sulk. There will be two great football teams going at it. It's my role as a leader to keep everybody in the right direction.''
Barksdale believes that the entire offense has underachieved during the first eight weeks of the regular season. He is not happy with the results.
''I'm upset because I know how good this team is,'' Barksdale said. ''It's like a teacher who has a smart kid. If that kid doesn't perform up to his level, the teacher is upset. If you lose a game, you have to get better. We have two weeks, a lot of time to rehab some of those things. We have to get better.''
