LSU Buries Clemson 51-10 Behind a 655-yard Day
Clemson led for a little over three minutes. Nolan Hauser's 49-yard field goal put the Tigers up 3-0 with 13:28 left in the first quarter, LSU's Scott Starzyk matched it from the same distance at 10:16, and that was the only lead of the afternoon. LSU won 51-10, and it was never close after the first quarter.
The decisive stretch came in about ninety seconds of game clock. Dilin Jones scored from a yard out with 3:36 left in the first quarter, and Jordan Ross returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown at 2:07 to make it 17-3. Sam Leavitt ran in from 8 and 13 yards in the second quarter, and it was 31-3 at the half. A 32-yard Leavitt throw to Winston Watkins Jr. and a 12-yard Jones run (the two-point pass failed) made it 44-3 entering the fourth.
The numbers are lopsided in every column. LSU had 655 yards, 335 passing and 320 rushing on 57 carries, against Clemson's 145 (105 passing, 40 rushing on 26 carries). That is about a yard and a half a carry for the visitors. LSU's defense sacked the quarterback four times, and Clemson threw the interception that Ross took home. Landen Clark threw a 30-yard touchdown to Phillip Wright III in the fourth, David Eziomume answered with an 11-yard run, and that was the last of the scoring.
LSU starts 1-0 and Clemson starts 0-1. Leavitt led the fantasy scorers with 38.5 points, 113 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on top of 230 passing yards (and an interception, so he was not perfect). Watkins had 25.4 and Jones 24.4.