Michigan State football RB LJ Scott pledges to keep improving

EAST LANSING  — LJ Scott's not dwelling on the past.

The Michigan State running back had a bounce-back game of sorts against Western Michigan on Saturday, but he's still not satisfied with his performance. 

Scott rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown on 18 attempts against WMU, including a 44-yard scamper on fourth-and-1 in the Spartans' win over the Broncos. 

A week earlier, the 6-foot-1, 229-pound junior fumbled twice in MSU's season-opening victory over Bowling Green. 

“I still feel like I have to deliver at a certain level just because those numbers wasn’t good enough for me,” said Scott, who caught three passes for 25 yards and a TD against WMU. “I know I can be better. I try and push myself every day. I’ve got guys that are trying to push me as well, like I said, I know what’s at stake for me and the team and that’s obviously winning.”

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MSU coach Mark Dantonio started Gerald Holmes over Scott against the Broncos, though Scott got the most carries (18) among the running back trio that includes junior Madre London. 

“There was some consistency to how they played,” Dantonio said. “All of them had some nice runs, but you know, (Scott) had the big one. Where it goes from there, really depends.”

When Scott returned to the sideline after the fumbles in Week 1, his teammates told him to just put the miscues behind him.

“I told him ‘just keep your head up,’ because mistakes happen, fumbles happen,” sophomore left guard Tyler Higby said. “We don’t fuss him. He’s one of the best backs in the Big Ten. We know he’s going to run people over and he came out in practice the next week and showed us that he’s going to do that. So I have all the confidence in the world.”

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Scott’s expectations going forward? He wants to average 100 yards rushing a game after MSU returns from this week's bye to play Notre Dame on Sept. 23 (8:30 p.m., Fox).

Until then, Scott’s not going to keep himself too hung up on his Week 1 mishaps. He’s sure people will find something else to talk about if he has a big game down the road.

“Things happen,” Scott said. “It’s all about how you bounce back and, obviously, when you do something good the next game, a lot of people seem to forget about those two fumbles in the first game.”

"... I know I’m a big part of this team and one of the biggest parts to the puzzle and I was just trying to come through for the team and redeem myself.”

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