Saturday’s contest between then-No. 5 LSU and Western Kentucky University featured one of the best individual players in the country, one of the nation’s top scoring offenses and a heavy downpour prior to kickoff, flooding the sidelines.
But it was LSU sophomore quarterback Brandon Harris and the Tigers’ (7-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) passing game that stole the show.
Harris threw for multiple career highs with 286 yards and three touchdowns during the Tigers’ 48-20 win against WKU.
Throughout most of the first half, rain fell into Tiger Stadium like waves hitting a beach, resulting in poor play early on both sides.
Harris was 4-of-9 in the first half, including three drops that slipped through the receivers’ hands. Even Heisman Trophy candidate sophomore running back Leonard Fournette was held in check as WKU’s defense contained him to 86 yards in the first half for 5.4 yards per rush.
LSU junior defensive end Lewis Neal said the weather affected his ability to pressure WKU quarterback and graduate student Brandon Doughty.
“It was frustrating,” Neal said of the weather. “I would beat my man, but when I would turn, I would slide. But that’s just football. You’ve got to get up and keep going.”
Although the Tigers’ defense would have liked to get more pressure, it stifled the WKU offense in the first half. Doughty completed 74 percent of his first-half passes for 128 yards but put just seven points on the board.
When the second half started, the rainfall mostly dissipated. LSU’s playcalling still favored the run, but when passes were called, Harris and the receiving corps rose to the occasion.
Doughty was not going away quietly. On the Hilltoppers’ first drive of the second half, he went 4-of-4, including a 39-yard touchdown strike to senior wide receiver Antwane Grant, which brought WKU within four points of the Tigers, 17-13, after a failed extra point.
Then, Harris took over.
The Bossier City, Louisiana, native completed 6-of-10 passes for 133 yards and a 61-yard touchdown to freshman wide receiver Tyron Johnson. The Tigers outscored WKU, 20-7, in the third quarter, giving them a 34-13 advantage by the end of the period.
“Each game, we keep getting better and better,” said sophomore wide receiver Malachi Dupre. “Confidence is growing. In a game like this, where the weather wasn’t optimal, we still performed.”
Junior center Ethan Pocic said the ability of the passing game was always there, but now it’s all coming together. He said when defenses stack the box to stop Fournette, Harris can throw a dart to a receiver in one-on-one coverage.
“They’re grooving more,” Pocic said of the passing game. “We’ve had the talent. We’re just all getting on the same page. When they load up the box, we’ve got to throw it.”
Dupre said the game was critical for Harris and gives the team momentum heading into the meat of its schedule, spearheaded by the Tigers’ matchup against the University of Alabama on Nov. 7 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
He said LSU’s balanced attack Saturday night was exactly what the team wanted to achieve.
“We’re going to be facing a great defense in Alabama,” Dupre said. “Giving the ball to Leonard [Fournette] is a great thing. He makes plays a lot of times when there’s not a play to be made, but going into a game like that, you have to have balance. Without that, it’ll be very hard to beat a team like that.”