Sophomore running back Leonard Fournette rushed for 233 yards and three touchdowns to lead the No. 8 LSU football team to a 44-22 victory over Eastern Michigan University on Saturday night.
The Tigers (4-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) came into the game with a 50-game winning streak against nonconference regular season opponents while the Eagles (1-5, 0-1 Mid-American Conference) entered tonight’s match tasked with avoiding their third consecutive loss.
LSU’s penalties were a topic of discussion all week, but it still committed seven of them for 51 yards. LSU coach Les Miles said the penalties committed tonight were more detrimental than they have been as of late.
“I think the things that bother me are very fixable,” Miles said. “I still don’t like the penalties. They are more threatening than they have been. It will be interesting to see what these look like.”
LSU played sluggish all game, but its less-than-stellar performance was overshadowed by Fournette’s Heisman-worthy showing. Fournette’s explosive jump cuts and punishing runs led to his third straight 200-yard rushing output, the first time that has been done in SEC history.
The Tigers opened the game with an eight-play, 73-yard-drive, highlighted by a 19-yard play-action pass from sophomore quarterback Brandon Harris to sophomore receiver Malachi Dupre on a deep crossing route. Fournette sealed the drive with a three-yard touchdown run to give the Tigers an early 7-0 lead.
The LSU defense forced Eastern Michigan into a quick three-and-out and the offense wasted no time scoring again on a four-play, 66-yard drive, which was capped off by a 19-yard touchdown run by Harris.
LSU has now outscored opponents 49-0 in the first quarter after jumping out to a 14-0 lead against Eastern Michigan.
Although the Eagles’ third series ended on interception by sophomore safety Jamal Adams, Eastern Michigan got on the board late in the second quarter. They put together a nine-play, 59-yard-drive with a six-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Shaq Vann.
The Eastern Michigan defense gave the Eagles some much-needed momentum just before the half when junior defensive linemen Luke Maclean intercepted a ball, which was inadvertently thrown by Harris after he was hit in the middle of his throwing motion. The offensive mishap was LSU’s first turnover of the season.
Eastern Michigan saw its best field position of the half after MacLean’s interception was returned to LSU’s 3-yard line. The Eagles were able to capitalize off the turnover when senior running back Darius Jackson scored on a one-yard rushing touchdown.
The Tigers countered the Eagles’ touchdown by converting on a 40-yard field goal, giving them a 20-14 lead heading into the half.
Fournette made his presence felt to start the second half by taking the first play from scrimmage 75 yards for a score. Fournette’s 75-yard gash sparked an LSU team that was only up six at the half.
“Big time players make big time plays,” Fournette said. “I guess that was my calling at that time.”
The LSU offense struggled to get the passing game going because of five key drops. Harris threw for 80 yards, completing just four of his 15 passes. None of the completions came in the second half.
LSU’s inconsistent air attack allowed Eastern Michigan to hang around before the Tiger defense dominated the majority of the second half. Senior linebacker Deion Jones started the Tigers’ defensive onslaught by intercepting junior quarterback Brogan Roback’s pass and returning it 26 yards into the end zone, stretching the Tigers’ lead to 44-22.
Jones, who was covering the flats on the play said he didn’t expect Roback to throw the ball in his vicinity.
“When it happened, I was like ‘there is no way he’s going to throw,’”Jones said. “The D-line did a great job of putting pressure on [Roback].”
Freshman cornerback Kevin Toliver II picked up his first career interception on LSU’s 2-yard line with eight minutes left to play. The three Tiger interceptions kept an overall sloppy game out of reach.
LSU is now 57-9 under LSU when winning the turnover battle. Junior safety Rickey Jefferson said turnovers are one of the team’s main priorities.
“[Turnovers] are one of those things that we preach as a defense,” Jefferson said. “We are going to get the ball. That’s our job, and that’s what we did tonight.”
LSU will head to Columbia, South Carolina, next week to take on the University of South Carolina.