“And then up front, their up field can get after you, so it will be the best defense we’ve seen and the biggest challenge offensively”. “We would expect him to have nights like this”. “He plays multiple positions for us, and I thought he did a good job on Terry Allen early”.
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“I remember him taking over and them having immediate success there and really helping take Oklahoma State to the next level”, Kingsbury said of Miles’ work with the Cowboys.
LSU sacked Mahomes six times and impressed Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury.
Cain, who has been the Tigers’ biggest deep threat this season, kicker Ammon Lakip and tight end Jay Jay McCullough will not play Thursday in the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma.
So after all the fun team events in Houston, including the rodeo thing and playing with the kids, it’s time for the LSU Tigers to focus on the business at hand, the bowl game itself.
Fournette joined Alabama’s Derrick Henry as the only running backs in Southeastern Conference history to rush for more than 1,900 yards in a season. Frankly, this is the kind of team LSU is built to absolutely destroy: a spread offense coupled with a smallish defense that doesn’t tackle very well.
The bigger the hole for Texas Tech – as shown all season – the more Mahomes was relied upon to bring the game in and the more he became less efficient. LSU ranks 10th in the nation in rushing, the Red Raiders rank second-to-last in the country at stopping the run. LSU is an outstanding football team, so if Tech wants to win this game, they can’t afford to have costly penalties. Texas Tech Red Raiders recorded 390.1 passing yards and 206.0 rushing yards while allowed 270.3 passing yards and 272.7 russhing yards with turnover differential of -0.2.
Fournette’s backup, Derrius Guice, looks capable of piling up yards as well.
“Records are meant to be broken, I might break it next year, you never know”, Fournette said.
Karson Roberts threw two touchdown passes and had 69 yards rushing and another score for Air Force.
On the first play of LSU’s third possession of the game, Harris faked a handoff to Fournette right, and he took the defense with him. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes had four games of at least two interceptions, and will be facing elite defensive backs. Grant caught two touchdown passes from Mahomes in the first half to keep Texas Tech close.
For the Tigers, (9-3, 5-3 SEC), this bowl victory put a stamp on an otherwise roller-coaster season, going from winning their first seven games to being ranked second in the initial College Football Playoff rankings and Fournette being virtually handed the Heisman Trophy, only to follow it up with three consecutive blowout losses calling into question about the Tigers’ conservative offensive philosophy and Miles’ murky future with the program.
To a point, the frustrations of Tigers fans are understandable; LSU appears to possess the pieces for an offense that could give opponents nightmares. What’s worrisome for Texas Tech is how its high-octane offense performed in other games.
LSU made it 21-6 after a 16-yard punt return set the tigers up at the Red Raider 42.
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Norense Odiase and Keenan Evans added 14 points apiece for Texas Tech, which made 52 percent of its field goal attempts. Fournette darted untouched for a touchdown that moved the Tigers’ advantage to 28-20 with 8:17 remaining in the third quarter.
