Favorite Leonard Fournette leads group of SEC stars among Heisman contenders

The Bears (3-0) extended the nation’s longest home winning streak to 18 games, including the first eight at their campus stadium in the Brazos River.

LSU running back Leonard Fournette has been named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week for a third consecutive week, the league office announced on Monday.

Emboldened by their defensive success, Syracuse’s offense put up some points of their own.

He did, and then added a 62-yard TD run that gave LSU a 24-10 lead late in the third quarter. But as the team learned against Leonard Fournette and LSU, explosive plays are pivotal in close games.

It would also allow Fournette to threaten Barry Sanders’ modern-day FBS record of 2,628 rushing yards, set in the 1988 season.

Still, he became the first LSU player in program history to register back-to-back 200-yard rushing games.

With Syracuse trailing 31-17 after another LSU, Mahoney’s interception came on SU’s next possession.

Several plays later, he hit Malachi Dupre in the end zone on fade route to help LSU seal the deal with less than ten minutes to play.

Ridiculous is the ideal way to describe Fournette’s running style, as every time he touches the ball, fans wait to see something electrifying. “I think you can see that thing tightened up throughout the game (at Syracuse)”.

Mahoney opened this season as the Orange’s fourth-string quarterback and got the nod to start Saturday with starter Terrel Hunt out for the year and backup Eric Dungey sidelined by a concussion. Fournette rushed for 1,034 yards as a freshman past year, 205 more than Jackson did as a freshman in 1982.

Of course, LSU let Syracuse up off the mat. “He’s the same person and he doesn’t change”.

Things would change in the second half, largely thanks to Fournette. The Orange quickly punted back, pinning LSU at its 9 after White’s fair catch.

“Too many big plays”, Syracuse coach Scott Shafer said. While his hyper-competitive personality shared some of those feelings, he made sure each of those players understood how the game showed the potential Syracuse has. “We just have to play our part and keep points off the board”. In addition, quarterback Brandon Harris was sacked twice. He finished 16 of 38 for 154 yards with 3 touchdowns against LSU in a game that did not have a turnover until Mahoney’s pass was deflected and intercepted by linebacker Deion Jones midway through the fourth.

The play was reviewed, but it was ruled that neither of Harris’ knees touched the ground before the pitch.

On four-straight Fournette runs, the Tigers answered back.

“I was blocking and I called out to (Harris) and I almost dropped it”, Fournette said. “So I did a great job of handling the ball and trying to put our team in a good situation”.

It will also mark the first time the Tigers have ever met the Orange in the regular season.

The Orange started three drives from near midfield and only managed a 43-yard field goal by Cole Murphy in the second quarter.

“Yeah, haven’t been to New York with an LSU team before”, Miles said. “We were a very good football team today, characteristics of a dominant team, but we didn’t dominate”.