Couch: LJ Scott ran like he was playing his last game at Spartan Stadium

EAST LANSING – Mark Dantonio described running back LJ Scott’s performance Saturday as “a good point to launch from.”

The NFL or a Heisman Trophy campaign — Scott will have to decide which he’d rather launch to.

The Michigan State junior ran like a player with good options Saturday. 

I think he’ll choose the NFL. It’s the safer play. Probably the smarter play for a player at his position, from his humble upbringing. The NFL will take him now, never mind his history of fumbles or modest yardage this season — 731 yards through 11 games. Because he’s an NFL running back. You could see it against Maryland. The patience, the burst, the wiggle in a phone booth.

Scott ran for 147 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries in MSU’s 17-7 win Saturday. It was his second-most productive day this season — only his second time over 100 yards — second only to his 194 yards a month ago at Minnesota.

There were two common threads between Saturday at Spartan Stadium and Oct. 14 in Minneapolis: Bad weather forced MSU to run to win; and MSU’s offensive line actually got a consistent push up front. Those are the only two games where that’s happened.

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When LJ Scott has a push or a hole eventually, he’s a devastating rusher.

“He’s a guy who’s patient and with today’s weather, it makes it even harder to tackle him,” Maryland linebacker Jermaine Carter said. “He was patient in hitting the hole. He would read you to see what you would do and just read you and cut back or something.”

That’s the Le’Veon Bell comparison that was so often made when Scott arrived at MSU. Less so these days. He has some of Bell’s attributes, no question. 

“There was one play in particular,” MSU quarterback Brian Lewerke said, “from my perspective in the backfield, it looked like there was nothing there, and LJ just waited, waited, waited and found a crease and went for 12 or so yards. It showed what kind of running back he is.”

Added Scott: “On my part, I just needed to do a better job of trusting that those guys up front would be able to get that block.”

In his defense, that block often hasn’t been there this season. As Lewerke put it, “We knew they weren’t the greatest run defense and had given up a lot of explosive plays.”

Indiana isn’t the greatest run defense, either. Iowa’s just OK, too. MSU couldn’t run against either of them. So this was noted progress. “A good point to launch from.” Something to build on next week at Rutgers, probably Jan. 1 some place warm and then … 

Probably with a different running back next year. Perhaps Madre London and Connor Hayward. Neither of them is quite Scott. 

If he wants to go, he’ll likely be chosen somewhere before the end of the fifth round, according to folks who project this sort of thing. Some have him higher. The NFL doesn’t care how many yards you rack up in college. To them, that’s just used mileage.

If he comes back, MSU will push his name for national honors. That’s the sales pitch. I don’t know how much he can improve his draft stock. Perhaps a relatively fumble-free 1,500-yard season would be worth something financially, a round earlier in the draft, a larger signing bonus. Perhaps not. I know this: It’d be one less year of earning an NFL paycheck, however long his NFL career is.

Scott spoke Saturday as if he’s returning. He spoke about playing for the seniors and next September at Spartan Stadium.

“Every game’s important, but when it comes down to the last moments, that’s when things start hitting people and they start noticing how important it is and what’s next in life,” he said.

I believe he was also talking about himself.

If this was it for playing in East Lansing, it’s a good legacy. Not a great one. He was MSU’s go-to back when it needed to run the football during its Big Ten title run in 2015. He’ll be remembered for the drive against Iowa and spinning and reaching for the end zone. He’s been a big part of this season’s program reclamation. And he’s got a couple games left. If he dazzles, he’ll flirt with reaching 1,000 yards.

If this was his final game at Spartan Stadium, it was arguably his best game here: A career-high 29 carries, his 147 yards second only to his 160 against Ohio State last season. And in miserably cold conditions.

“It was like an ice rink on the ground,” Scott said. “It doesn’t really hurt. It’s just very cold. I just tried to get up the next play and think about not how cold it is and run again.

“Damn near couldn’t feel my fingers half the time.”

For a guy who has a tendency to fumble, Saturday seemed like a day the ball might come loose. It didn’t — not by him at least. MSU's coaching staff doesn’t worry about that anyway. He’s their guy. This isn’t a three-headed show with London and Gerald Holmes. Not when MSU really needs to run the ball. It never has been.

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“We wanted him to sort of carry the load for us this game and told him that,” co-offensive coordinator Dave Warner said. “(We) told all the running backs that, but obviously he’s the guy that has done it in the past and we feel like he can be the guy for us.”

He will be. For two more games at least.

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.