With rain beating down starting at 2 p.m. and continuing through kickoff, Tiger Stadium became the playground-puddle 101,861 fans sat in to watch No. 5 LSU defeat Western Kentucky University, 48-20, on Saturday’s Homecoming Game.
The Tigers (7-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) were without some key defensive players against Western Kentucky (6-2, 4-0 Conference USA). Defensive tackle Christian LaCouture and cornerback Tre’Davious White did not play on Saturday.
Sophomore defensive tackle Greg Gilmore replaced LaCouture for his first career start at LSU.
LaCouture and White are critical pieces to LSU’s defensive success, and were not on the field against the Western Kentucky offense — averaging 407.1 passing yards per game.
“They made us earn a victory tonight,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “The opponent proved to be a very quality opponent.”
After four-straight Leonard Fournette carries to begin the game, sophomore quarterback Brandon Harris combined with sophomore wide receiver Malachi Dupre on his first passing attempt for a 55-yard play-action touchdown with 12:13 remaining in the first quarter.
Fournette finished with 150 yards on Saturday on 26 attempts. Saturday marked his 12th 100-yard rushing game and ninth in a row, tying Charles Alexander for the school record — but, his show was stolen by Harris, who threw for 286 passing yards, a new career high.
He completed 11-of-20 passes for three touchdowns, also a career high, in his best outing as a Tiger, including one touchdown to freshman wide receiver Tyron Johnson for his first-career touchdown, a 61-yarder.
It was a leaping, highlight-reel grab by Johnson after an under-thrown pass from Harris.
“I know how I felt when I got my first touchdown,” said sophomore wide receiver Travin Dural, who caught “I know he’s extremely happy. It’s a great feeling. I’m happy for him.”
Dural, along with Dupre caught the bulk of Harris’ passes on Saturday. The two combined for eight catches for 218 yards and two touchdowns on the soggy Tiger Stadium field. It rained on-and-off throughout the contest, but LSU’s passing attack didn’t miss a step.
“Early on the weather conditions were terrible,” Miles said. “If it has stayed that way, no one would of had any success through the air. It turned out pretty nice to me. I kind of enjoyed it.”
The LSU passing game was backed by 211 total rushing yards between five rushers. Sophomore running back Darrel Williams and freshman Derrius Guice followed Fournette with a score of their own in the second half.
Western Kentucky countered the Tigers’ first score with 10:55 remaining in the second quarter on a forward, shuttle pass to junior running back Anthony Wales for a seven-yard touchdown.
Western Kentucky senior quarterback Brandon Doughty composed the Hilltoppers first touchdown drive, finishing the first half with 128 yards, completing 16-of-30 passes for one touchdown in the first half.
Doughty finished the game with 37-for-61 for 328 passing yards, three touchdowns and one interception. With his three scores on Saturday, Doughty threw a touchdown pass in 22-straight games, but Saturday’s weather conditions nearly altered his streak.
“We are a throwing team,” said Western Kentucky coach Jeff Brohm. “When it’s raining cats and dogs, it’s a little tougher than a sprinkle. We tried to be aggressive. It was tough to hold onto the ball.”
The Tigers lead the Hilltoppers, 14-7, heading into halftime after a Darrel Williams two-yard touchdown with 1:25 remaining in the second quarter.
LSU received the ball to start off the third quarter, driving and scored on a field goal on its first drive of the half.
Trent Domingue remained perfect this season with two field goals tonight and six extra points on Saturday.
Doughty completed a 39-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Antwane Grant on the next drive, making it 17-13 with 8:36 left in the third quarter.
Doughty effortlessly threw the touchdown pass to Grant, after another busted coverage by the LSU secondary.
The Tigers’ defensive backs slipped again with 13:04 left in the fourth quarter when Doughty found the wide-open junior wide receiver Taywan Taylor on a wheel route for a touchdown.
Senior safety Jalen Mills was sidelined in the second quarter, battling a “soft tissue injury,” LSU coach Les Miles said.
Mills is known as the vocal leader in the defensive backfield. And with Mills and White absent against Western Kentucky, coverages were blown throughout the night and senior linebacker Debo Jones could not explain why.
“Mental errors I guess, I really don’t know,” Jones said. “We’ve got to polish that up.”
Beyond the errors, sophomore safety Jamal Adams led the pack of defensive backs, statistically. Adams collected his third interception of the season against WKU, and forced one fumble.
Miles acknowledged the secondary’s mistakes, but he’s hopful going forward because of the playing experience his younger players had tonight will Mills and White off the field.
“We missed [Tre’ White],” Miles said. “Anytime you put a young guy in and he makes some young guy mistakes, you have an opportunity to improve him and coach him. With victory, we built some depth. That will benefit us going forward.”
You can follow Christian Boutwell on Twitter @CBoutwell_TDR.