Running back Stevan Ridley will look to get the LSU Tigers' running game back on track during the 2010 season after a poor season last year. (LSU Photo)

The LSU Tigers football team entered spring practice with the goal of becoming a more physical football team up front and pounding the football.

The running game was on full display in their annual spring football game on Saturday.

Led by running backs Stevan Ridley and Michael Ford, the Tigers' ground game was dominant, rushing for a combined 340 yards.

The purple team, which featured Ford, tallied 207 yards, while the White team, featuring Ridley, accounted for 133 yards rushing.

Ford led all rushers with 19 carries for 139 yards, which included a 26 yard run.

"I thought Michael Ford had some nice runs, the kind of runs where you use your eyes and make cuts and make people miss," head coach Les Miles said. "It's really kind of what we needed."

Ridley started things off in the spring game with a dominant drive running the football. He had seven carries for 70 yards on the game's opening drive, capping the 80-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run.

"We put a premium on running the football," Miles said. "Stevan Ridley starts the day out with a nice drive in the early-going, and I felt like we executed extremely well there."

After the Tigers struggled running the ball behind a suspect offensive line in 2009, they want to make sure that doesn't happen again in 2010. The Tigers finished second to last in the SEC running the football last year.

The offensive line seemed much improved in the early going, and Ridley and Ford took full advantage of the improved play.

"You can't ask any more from the offensive line," Ridley said. "The first drive they came out and made some gaping holes and all I had to do was what came naturally to me, which is run the ball. They're working hard for us up front with the blocking."

Sophomore Russell Shepard also saw a number of carries in the game, despite playing wide receiver. The Tigers hope to play Shepard in a hybrid role to allow him to get the ball in space.

He carried the ball seven times for 58 yards during Saturday's spring game.

"We want to get the playmakers the ball, and I think he averaged nine yards a touch on two teams running the football," Miles said. "I think he is going to make some people miss in every game we play, and I think he'll get better."

"I like the way we run the football," he said. "I think we are physical."