• By MIKE MCKENZIE
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Sep 7, 2009

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Terrance Toliver, LSU’s wide receiver who tagged Washington with two long touchdowns, said that he and his young quarterback, Jordan Jefferson, both knew one thing that would be open for them to attack in the season-opening 31-23 victory Saturday against the Huskies.

“Corner blitz,” Toliver said.

Toliver, described by LSU coach Les Miles as “a terrific tall target for us the last two years,” caught-and-ran twice with moves that left a cornerback frozen (and one limping off), and nearly caught a third on a curl into the end zone.

“We watched film all summer, a lot of Southern Cal film because that’s where their new defensive coordinator came from, and we knew where every safety would be and every cornerback would be,” Toliver said.

“I’ve been catching and running on that corner route that way since I was in high school. I can’t say I was expecting what I did tonight, but I knew it was coming because we were so ready for that corner blitz.”

Actually, during the summer and fall camp, Toliver did say he was expecting it. He retracted his comment somewhat by adding, “Ever since (Demetrius) Byrd went to the NFL last spring, I’ve been telling people that I’m going to be making big plays.

“Tonight I was so pumped. It seemed like we hadn’t played in forever, and I was ready. But also, you know, I’m a team player and I don’t really care who gets the ball — Jo Jo (teammate Brandon LaFell, who caught the last touchdown to put the game out of reach late), or Chris (Mitchell).”

Toliver said that he and his teammates, like their head coach, would have Vanderbilt on the brain during the return flight to Baton Rouge on Sunday, and look straight ahead to Saturday.

“I definitely have some things to correct,” Toliver said. “Some of my routes. Be more alert. I messed some things up, and I’ll get that handled.”

Toliver said all in all the game rounded off an excellent trip for him and his teammates.

“I really enjoyed Seattle,” he said.

“I had been to San Francisco in ninth grade, but this was the furthest I’ve been from home (Hempstead, Texas). I loved seeing all the stadiums, and the Space Needle — whoa! I mean, 500 feet up there looking out over everything. That was definitely impressive.”

Levingston hurt