Leavitt Throws Four Touchdowns as LSU Shuts Out Mississippi State
Sam Leavitt completed 31 of 38 passes for 289 yards and four touchdowns, and LSU beat Mississippi State 31-0 without ever being behind or tied.
It started early. Leavitt hit Eugene Wilson III from 10 yards with 9:57 left in the first quarter, then found Jackson Harris from 27 yards before the quarter ended. Harris scored again from 17 yards in the second, and LSU led 21-0 at the half. Scott Starzyk kicked a 26-yard field goal in the third quarter, and Leavitt closed his night with a 6-yard touchdown to Malik Elzy with 0:31 left in the third. That was the last score of the day.
The odd part is the stats. LSU outgained Mississippi State 380 to 291, which is a win but not a 31-point one. State actually ran the ball better, 170 rushing yards on 42 carries against 91 on 30 for LSU. The difference was that State threw an interception, LSU did not, and the Bulldogs got 0 points out of those 291 yards. LSU lost a fumble too, and still shut them out. Those are the numbers of a team that cashed in everything it had. (That is a compliment.)
LSU moves to 5-2 and Mississippi State falls to 4-2. The Bulldogs were shut out in a game in which they ran 42 times, which is a lot of carries for zero.
For fantasy it was a banner day for LSU's passing game. Leavitt's 36.7 points were well above his 28.2 average over the previous three games, and Harris had 26.5 off two touchdowns. Dilin Jones, with 18 carries and 8 catches, finished at 22.2.