LSU continued to ride its running game to victory on Saturday.
The then-No. 9 Tigers (4-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) racked up 399 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground in a 44-22 victory against Eastern Michigan University.
But LSU’s passing game wasn’t as successful against the Eagles (1-4, 0-1 Mid-American Conference).
Sophomore quarterback Brandon Harris started the game with a series of passes, completing three of his first four attempts for 52 yards. But struggled the rest of the game, completing only one of his next 11 attempts for 28 yards, including nine straight incompletions.
After suffering from key dropped passes and off-the-mark throws in the first half, the Tigers failed to complete a pass in the second half, attempting just two.
LSU coach Les Miles alleviated Harris of the blame and said the receivers need to help their quarterback.
“We would have thrown for 200 or 150 yards had we just caught the balls,” Miles said. “There’s nothing [Harris] can correct when he hits a guy dead in the hands, and [the receiver] doesn’t bring it in.”
After scoring two touchdowns on their first two drives, the ineffective passing game stalled the offense, which managed to add two field goals before halftime.
LSU’s passing struggles opened the door for a feisty Eagles team that scored two touchdowns in a 38 second span to pull within three points late in the second half.
Eastern Michigan’s second touchdown was set up when the Eagles’ sophomore defensive lineman Luke MacLean intercepted Harris and returned it 13 yards to the LSU three-yard line. The miscue was LSU’s first turnover of the season.
While the passing game struggled, the running game allowed LSU to eventually pull away from the visitors from Ypsilanti, Michigan.
The Tigers entered the contest averaging 315 rushing yards per game while the Eagles defense gave up an average of 373.3 yards on the ground. Both of those averages increased after the game, as the Tigers ran for 399 yards.
Sophomore running back Leonard Fournette shouldered most of the load, turning loose for 233 yards for his third consecutive 200-yard game, a feat no Southeastern Conference player ever achieved.
The highlight of his day came when he took a handoff to the left side before turning the corner and accelerating past the defense for a 75-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half.
Miles was not shocked his star running back made another play when the team needed him.
“Leonard’s liable to do that at any time,” Miles said. “There’s not a time where you hand him the ball and he doesn’t have the opportunity to hit a homerun.”
In addition to his yards, Fournette added three touchdowns, bringing his season total to 11, already surpassing his production from last season of 10 scores.
Sophomore running back Darrel Williams helped boost the rushing attack, adding 89 yards on 11 carries. Freshmen running backs Derrius Guice and Nick Brossette combined for another 52 yards in relief when the game was securely in hand.
The Tigers came into the game 45-point favorites but were never close to covering the spread. Fournette said LSU thought Eastern Michigan would be an easy win and the team was joking around in practice, but he will make sure the Tigers don’t overlook their competition again.
“We took them lightly because of their record — because they never did anything,” Fournette said. “That’s on the leaders. That is our fault. We didn’t stop the laughing that was going on in practice, so we have to pick it up this week.”