Ridley enters Miles’ radar

• By GARY LANEY
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 3, 2009 - Page: 2C

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It’s not common for LSU coach Les Miles to single out a player for increased playing time at his weekly news conference.

But that’s exactly what he did Monday with running back Stevan Ridley.

Normally a key member of LSU’s special teams, Ridley rushed for a career-high 73 yards on eight carries in a 42-0 win over Tulane on Saturday. That might mean more playing time for a player whose progress was limited early in the season after undergoing off-season knee surgery.

“I hope so,” Ridley said. “If the opportunity presents itself, I hope I can go out there and just be a football player.

“I just wanted to treat it like any other time I touch the football,” Ridley said. “I’m used to going in there and running hard and making a play. Sometimes if you go out there and give it your all, some amazing things can happen.”

“I think you’ll look forward to Stevan Ridley getting more snaps,” said Miles, who suggested Ridley’s play on special teams has prepared him to make more of an impact as an every-down player.

“If you watch our special teams play, he plays key roles in our special teams, and I think it’s allowed him to play tough,” Miles said. “It’s given him experience on the field. I think it has allowed him to mature, and he is very comfortably a middle thread of our football team.”

It’s an interesting commitment for Miles coming just after Charles Scott’s first 100-yard game of the season. Ridley got all of his carries in one fourth-quarter drive against Tulane, eating up the bulk of the yards in a 98-yard drive. With Ridley such an emphasis on that drive, the sophomore wound up with more carries than Scott’s normal backups, Keiland Williams and Trindon Holliday.

Ridley has seen more offensive snaps since the bye week. In the Auburn game Oct. 24, he played some snaps at fullback.

“I run with the second-team offense against our first-team defense all the time in practice,” Ridley said. “If our defense can run and block against them, we can run with anybody. We have a sense of confidence as a group.”

Peek trying to get healthy

While much of the attention in Alabama’s passing game goes to talented sophomore wide receiver Julio Jones, tight end Colin Peek was actually the team’s leading receiver before the Oct. 24 Tennessee game.

But he never made it out of warm-ups against the Volunteers.