Coach Les Miles says Etling will play well, if he focuses on the task at hand. And if they don’t run to your side, you’re not going to make a tackle. “It’s over. Let’s go get some food, ‘” he said. Since he did not recover his own fumble where the ball advanced forward on fourth down, LSU had to turn the ball over on downs just short of the line to gain.
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Instead, it turned into fright night in Death Valley. Then, bam, Williams hit wide receiver Fred Ross for 25 yards to the 7 and found him again for the touchdown with 3:30 to play.
The game was on the line.
Senior quarterback Joshua Dobbs threw two touchdown passes to junior receiver Josh Malone as Tennessee sidestepped an upset bid by OH to post a victory in non-conference play at Knoxville, Tenn. “Arden Key, Lewis Neal, Beckwith”.
With injuries making that many lineup changes necessary, LSU rushed for 177 yards and allowed just five tackles for loss to a front seven that was leading the SEC in that category. But Williams fumbled on fourth down and LSU took over to seal the win. “I’m going to get him'”.
Will Mississippi State hang with LSU tonight when the two teams square off at 7:00PM ET in SEC play?
Zay Jones caught 22 passes for East Carolina (2-1), setting a school record. This was much more what we were in search of. And a lot of that goes back to the offensive line and selection of running backs. With a 23-3 halftime lead, Les Miles’ crew was in control and would suffocate the Bulldogs in the first half. Johnathan Calvin was called for running into the kicker for a 5 yard penalty on a successful Colby Delahoussaye field goal, enough to give LSU first down at the Bulldog 13.
“Well yeah, we didn’t play well past year”, Williams said. “I understood, and I really wish him well”. I’m not sure everybody feels that is the case.
Fournette punched it into the end zone from five yards out three plays later for his first touchdown of the season, extending the LSU lead to 14-0 with 35 seconds left in the first. Etling’s best throw of the game had come a few plays earlier when he stood tall in the face of a blitz and threw a 15-yard out pattern to Malachi Dupre to pick up a third-and-9. Texas A&M put up 231 rushing yards at Auburn Saturday in a 29-16 win. “I think the players that play defense for them are talented”.
Regardless of how you answer that question, it’s a win for LSU and in their current position, they’ll take them however they can. “So, we’re fortunate that it finished like it did”.
“That was a huge play”, safety Jamal Adams said of the punt. It eventually led to a fourth-and-one, and right when it looks like Fournette is about to break loose and ice things, he coughs the ball up. We’re going to get that corrected immediately. “Catch that and we win the game”. We love getting him on the edge and getting all of us on the edge. And that’s the same South Alabama squad that was torched for 256 yards passing and three touchdowns by former LSU quarterback Anthony Jennings during a 28-23 setback at UL-Lafayette Saturday night.
As refreshing as that balance was to see, it swung decidedly out of whack in the second half, with 19 runs to 10 passes. “We need to finish a little better”.
We know what Fournette is, so why not work on the rest of the offense?
Texas A&M senior quarterback Trevor Knight, a transfer from Oklahoma, completed 20 of 40 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown at Auburn Saturday. “He made plays with his feet”.
“They didn’t have Leonard Fournette last week and they still had a couple guys who still tote the ball pretty good and had a bunch of big runs”, Bulldogs defensive end A.J. Jefferson said. Harris wasn’t working and hadn’t made the improvements LSU was hoping for from last year to this year.
One of the keys to any LSU game from last season and on into the future, until a solid playmaker emerges under center, will be the Tigers’ production and game management by their quarterback. LSU’s 2015 season-high for a complete game was eight (three times). LSU cornerback Tre’Davious White and company should have some opportunities for interceptions.
“We have some guys that can fly”, said Miles of his speedy defense.
Steele said Sunday that LSU starting quarterback Danny Etling was the scout team quarterback for his defense last season when he was the defensive coordinator at LSU.
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Mississippi State could too easily have wilted away in the final period.
