Auburn Tigers vs Louisiana State Tigers Match Player Stats On Sep 19, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Sep 19, 2015

BATON ROUGE, La. - Heisman Trophy candidate Leonard Fournette rushed for a career-high 228 yards and three touchdowns, including bruising runs of 39 and 29 yards, to power No. 13 LSU to a 45-21 rout of No. 18 Auburn on Saturday at Tiger Stadium.

Fournette's third touchdown, a 1-yard leap with 4:14 left in the third quarter, was his final carry of the day. Fournette appeared to bruise his left knee, but he came to the bench and waved off treatment.

Fournette averaged 12.0 yards – a school single-game record – on 19 carries and he finished just 23 yards shy of LSU's all-time single-game rushing record.

LSU (2-0) finished the game with 411 yards rushing and 485 yards in total offense.

Fournette's first two scoring runs were incredible displays of power and speed. On his 39-yard scoring run late in the first half that put LSU up 24-0, Fournette barreled over cornerback Blake Countess as though he were a speed bump.

On his 29-yard score that put LSU ahead 31-7 early in the third quarter, Fournette juked an Auburn defensive lineman with a head fake and then shook off cornerback Tray Matthews like a rag doll at the Auburn 15 and scored standing up.

LSU pounded Auburn (2-1) into submission from the outset. In racing to a 24-0 halftime lead, LSU outgained Auburn 307-70, including a 267-34 edge on the ground.

Fournette was the hammer and quarterback Brandon Harris was the nail. On the game's first play, Fournette raced 71 yards to the Auburn 4 on a simple dive off left tackle, and he piled up 169 yards on 15 first-half carries. It was his fourth consecutive 100-yard rushing game.

Fournette was tackled short of the end zone by cornerback Jonathan Jones on his 71-yard dash, but Harris got the touchdown three plays later by faking a pitch to Fournette and keeping around left end for a 2-yard score.

After forcing another Auburn punt - the Tigers punted four times and had an interception on five first-half drives - Harris drove LSU 78 yards in 13 plays. Harris got the payoff with a 1-yard flip in the right corner to tight end Colin Jeter. Harris kept the drive alive with a 27-yard scramble up the middle on third-and-7 from the Auburn 27.

By that time, LSU had outgained Auburn 152-10. Harris finished the half with 63 rushing yards on six carries and 7-of-10 passing for 40 yards.

The LSU defense flustered Auburn quarterback Jeremy Johnson, who was held to 36 yards passing in the first half and threw a woeful pass into double coverage that LSU safety Jamal Adams easily picked off early in the second quarter.

Johnson nearly was victimized for a pick-six later in the half, but Adams dropped a pass that hit him in the chest at the Auburn 40 with no one in front of him.

LSU made it 17-0 on Trent Domingue's 32-yard field goal, and Fournette completed the first-half assault with a 39-yard power run off left tackle in which he mowed down Countess at the 10, leaving him flat on his back.

NOTES: RB Leonard Fournette's 387 yards rushing are the most for any LSU running back in the first two games of the season. ... The victory was sweet revenge for LSU, which was dominated 41-7 last year at Auburn. ... Tigers coach Gus Malzahn lit into the officiating crew when it failed to call an LSU defensive lineman for an apparent offsides on the play on which DE Frank Herron forced a fumble by quarterback Jeremy Johnson. Herron recovered the fumble at the Auburn 5, and LSU scored two plays later. … Auburn started the game with a five-man defensive front, figuring LSU would pound the ball on the ground, but to no avail.