Photo by Kirby Lee-USA Today Sports/Reuters; logos via sportslogos.net
Two in-state programs met inside Tiger Stadium for a Saturday night matchup. The #11-ranked LSU Tigers hosted the 2-3 McNeese Cowboys in week five after a convincing 35-6 win over Texas A&M. McNeese, meanwhile, had a 27-24 comeback win over East Texas A&M at home.
The Bayou Bengals improved to 4-1 with a 49-14 victory, with Sam Leavitt starting on Saturday night before turning the keys to the offense to backups Landen Clark and Husan Longstreet. With the loss, McNeese fell to 2-4.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
LSU elected to start Sam Leavitt at quarterback, who was listed as a game-time decision coming into the game and played the whole first half. Safety Tamarcus Cooley intercepted McNeese quarterback Jake Strong on the game’s opening drive and returned the football to the McNeese 48-yard line. The Tigers scored in nine plays, with Dilin Jones taking the direct snap one yard into the end zone. That was one of two first-quarter touchdowns LSU scored; the other being a Sam Leavitt one-yard touchdown pass to tight end Roman Mothershed.
McNeese went 30 yards in seven plays on its opening possession before the Cooley INT. The rest of the first half wasn’t as successful for Pokes, who netted one yard in their final six drives. Five resulted in three-and-out punts, and the other was where both teams went into the locker rooms.
Leavitt turned the ball over for the first and only time in the early stages of the second quarter when Lorenzell DuBose picked off LSU’s signal caller near the Cowboy endzone. The Tiger offense was on a roll after that. On their final three drives of the first half, the Bayou Bengals reached paydirt.
Head coach Lane Kiffin subbed in Landen Clark near the goal line, and the backup QB scored on the ground from three yards out. Next up was a six-yard touchdown pass from Leavitt to Corey Barber Jr. as the Tigers went 65 yards in seven plays. Clark subbed back in on LSU’s final first-half drive but was then taken out again for Leavitt with under a minute to go. Leavitt found Barber Jr. wide open for a 12-yard score with 57 seconds left.
The Tigers went into the half recording nearly 350 yards of offense, holding McNeese to 31 on their side, and on top 35-0 with another half to play.
LSU received the second half and went down the field for another red zone touchdown. Coach Kiffin got a little creative with his freshman defensive lineman. Deuce Geralds lined up at quarterback and took the snap one yard for the score.
Clark subbed in midway through the third and was at quarterback for the remainder of the game. The sophomore signal caller connected with Jackson Harris on his first play back for a gain of 38 yards. That set up an 11-yard touchdown by Harlem Berry three plays later.
It was a struggle for McNeese through a majority of the game, but the Pokes scored twice in three plays. A punt return by Solo Lewis set up a one-play touchdown where backup quarterback Brady Barrier threw a wide receiver bubble screen to Jamaal Lewis, who ran 43 yards down the sideline to put the Pokes on the board. Two plays into their next drive, Levi struck again, this time on a double reverse as he ran 64 yards to the house to make it a 49-14 game with 3:32 left in the third quarter.
Husan Longstreet took over to open the fourth, and LSU added to its lead early on. Running back Stacy Gage broke loose on a pair of big-play runs, scoring from 46 and 39 yards on back-to-back drives. Those were the final touchdowns scored as LSU improved to 4-1 with a 63-14 win over McNeese, who dropped to 2-4.
BIG NUMBER: 30
McNeese recorded 30 yards in seven plays on its first possession. That was the longest opening drive the Tiger defense allowed to this point this season. In the previous four games, LSU didn’t allow a drive to last longer than four plays or 15 yards.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Sam Leavitt
LSU’s starting QB played for about half of the game before being subbed out, but made the most of his opportunities. Leavitt went 18/23 for 176 passing yards and three touchdowns as the Tigers took down the Pokes 63-14.
Comments