When Auburn junior linebacker Johnathan “Rudy” Ford now-infamously claimed, “It shouldn’t be that difficult or that much of a challenge” to stop sophomore running back Leonard Fournette, the budding-superstar tailback made one thing abundantly clear on a sweltering Saturday afternoon at Tiger Stadium: Actions speak louder than words.
Exactly 228 yards and three touchdowns of actions.
“Words are words,” Fournette said. “This game is about playing.”
Topping a career high with 169 rushing yards in the first half alone, Fournette punished the Auburn defense in spectacular fashion, finishing just 22 yards shy of LSU’s single-game rushing record in a 45-21 home opening win.
Fournette was coy about the pre-game smack talk, saying he laughed when he heard it. He said it motivated his teammates more than him, namely sophomore quarterback Brandon Harris, and he lauded his offensive line off the bat.
But he acknowledged he found Ford after the game, even if it was “all love.”
“During the preparation of this week, everybody [heard] what [Ford] said,” Fournette said. “We took it into consideration. You can’t come into our house and talk crazy and expect to come out with a ‘W.’ Brandon Harris was upset more than me.”
His demolition of the road Tigers began on the first play from scrimmage.
Fournette took the opening handoff from Harris, made one cut and was off to the races, making a defensive back miss near midfield before being corralled at the four-yard line. The 71-yard scamper set up a two-yard scoring plunge from Harris on an option play two plays later, but it was hardly the second-year back’s best run.
Some are only believable through actually viewing. Each run displayed at least one of Fournette’s elite traits.
He flashed his speed on the first long run. Then, it was his shiftiness and his power on a 40-yard touchdown off the left side, shrugging off an arm tackle and plowing through Auburn senior nickelback Black Countess on his way to the house.
Fournette didn’t just plow through him. He sought out Countess, slightly turning his 230-pound frame to lower his shoulder at the helpless defensive back.
And it wasn’t the only time when defenders were left on their backs after colliding with the sophomore.
“He did some things today where I said, ‘Wow,’” LSU coach Les Miles said. “He took one of their tackles and threw him into another tackle and still came out in the other end. That was a guy that lacked a little resolve to tackle Leonard. When you have a big back, who can really move his feet, at times it can be very difficult to tackle him.”
LSU was in control heading into halftime, leading 24-0 at the break, but the home Tigers needed to quell the momentum Auburn had after scoring on its opening possession in the third quarter.
Fournette had the answer, again. He showed his balance and strength as he received a pitch near the Auburn 35-yard line and juked one defender, flipped sophomore safety Tray Matthews over his shoulder and evaded a third tackler as he skipped into paydirt for a 29-yard score.
“I can’t explain that one,” Fournette said. “I was about to jump over him. I thought he was going to come low. Actually, he jumped over me.”
For good measure, he punched in his third touchdown with a leap over the top of the line from one yard out with 4:14 left in the third quarter. From there, his day was done in the LSU backfield, yielding to the other three running backs.
Fournette’s eventual successors took advantage of their opportunities, running for 109 of the team’s 417 total rushing yards, but Fournette’s runs are those that were featured on SportsCenter. And none of it surprises his teammates.
Sophomore defensive tackle Davon Godchaux speaks about the purple and gold statement maker without hesitation.
“Leonard Fournette is the best running back in the country,” Godchaux said. “I believe that. I see it in practice every day. I see it on the field and off the field each and every day.”