LSU Tigers vs Mississippi State Bulldogs Match Player Stats On Sep 12, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Sep 13, 2015

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Heisman Trophy candidate Leonard Fournette rushed for a career-high 159 yards and three touchdowns and No. 14 LSU had just enough to hang on for a 21-19 victory over No. 25 Mississippi State on Saturday night at Davis Wade Stadium.

Fournette had scoring runs of 1, 26 and 18 yards and gained 159 yards on 28 carries, his best output in two seasons.

Mississippi State had a chance to win the game at the end, but Devon Bell missed two shots at a 52-yard field goal attempt.

Actually, Bell's first attempt from 52 yards was hooked badly, wide to the left. But LSU had called a second consecutive timeout in an attempt to "ice" the kicker.

Given the reprieve, Bell then sailed his second attempt wide right.

Mississippi State roared back from a 21-6 deficit with 6:48 left in the third quarter after Fournette scored his third touchdown on an 18-yard sweep around right end. He was untouched on the play.

But Bulldogs quarterback Dak Prescott led Mississippi State on a 14-play, 87-yard drive to narrow the deficit to 21-13 and then went 6-of-6 on a 92-second touchdown drive that cut it to 21-19.

The score came on a 5-yard pass to De'Runnya Wilson, but the Bulldogs lost a chance to tie the score with 4:00 left when running back Ashton Shumpert dropped a potential two-point conversion at the goal line.

Harris seemed to settle down on his second possession, finding wide receiver Travin Dural all alone on a 37-yard post pattern that looked as though it would be LSU's first touchdown of the game. But the score was nullified by a holding penalty on right guard John Boutte.

But Harris came right back and drilled a 24-yard completion to wide receiver Malachi Dupre on third-and-11 to keep the drive alive, and Fournette capped the eight-play, 48-yard drive by taking a direct snap from center and hurdling into the end zone.

The LSU defense continued to hound Prescott, forcing six consecutive punts to start the game. When defensive end Davon Godchaux sacked Prescott on third down, a poor punt set up LSU in Bulldogs' territory again at the 46.

Harris hit Dupre for 20 yards on first down and Fournette got the rest with a powerful run around left end in which he hurdled defensive back Kendrick Market and then dove into the end zone for a 26-yard score.

The Bulldogs finally got on the board, cutting the deficit to 14-3, with a 43-yard field goal 43 seconds before halftime.

NOTES: Mississippi State played its first home game in recently expanded Davis Wade Stadium, which added 16,000 seats (complete with the Bulldogs' trademark cowbells) in the north end zone to increase capacity to 61,337. ... Freshman DE Arden Key, a top LSU recruit from Georgia, had a sack on his first defensive series. ... LSU had another TD called back in the first half -- an 89-yard reverse by Travin Dural -- because of a holding call by WR John Diarse.