Tigers explode on offense to win Texas Bowl 56-27

Monday was a light day for the Texas Tech Red Raiders and LSU Tigers before Tuesday’s AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium in Houston.

LSU running back Leonard Fournette (7) looks over his shoulder at Texas Tech defensive backs Jah’Shawn Johnson (7) and Nigel Bethel (1) as he scores on a 44-yard touchdown during the first half of the Texas Bowl NCAA college football game Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015, in Houston.

LSU raced 75 yards in four plays, the last 43 on another Fournette touchdown run, then intercepted Mahomes off a deflection inside the Tigers’ red zone.

Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes was able to make plays for the Red Raiders with his scrambling ability, finding open receivers when buying more time.

Fournette tacked on a three-yard score in the third quarter to push his touchdown total to 21. – Penalties: LSU ten for 86 yards – Texas Tech five for 53 yards. Overall, the Red Raiders are giving up 42.6 points and 540.2 total yards per game.

Series Record: LSU leads 2-0. For his career Williams has accounted for a school-record 94 career touchdowns (58 passing, 33 rushing, 3 receiving), which ranks third in ACC history.

Graham: Fournette against the Texas Tech rushing defense could create something magical.

Just hours prior to kickoff between Texas Tech and LSU in the Texas Bowl, the anticipation for the 2015 finale is at its apex.

LSU is 3-0-1 against the spread against the Big 12, 0-4 against the spread in their last four bowl games, and 6-14 against the spread after allowing 20 or less points in their previous game.

Fournette rushed for two touchdowns and Brandon Harris ran for a third to close out the quarter and put the game on ice.

The question thus becomes not whether coach Kliff Kingsbury will get chances to score against LSU, but just how many such chances will come his way. That’s not really a sustainable offense, and eventually the Red Raiders ran out of magic. Fournette will be running behind an offensive line with four returning starters, and the LSU defense will lose only three senior starters. That means Texas Tech will need to run the ball, too.

Texas Tech put together its second nine-play, 90-yard touchdown drive to get within 21-13 with 3:38 left before halftime as Mahomes found Grant for a 3-yard touchdown pass. If LSU plays like they care, they’ll win easily, but don’t expect them to in a bowl game that not a single guy on the roster wants to be in. There also could be some travel problems from Red Raider fans coming from Lubbock after a storm dumped nearly a foot of snow in the area on Sunday and Monday.

Texas Tech kept up with LSU through the first half of the Texas Bowl until the Tigers literally ran away with the win, 56-27.

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.

On the heels of this well publicized spectacle, LSU watched its number one recruiting class take a hit as multiple recruits made a decision to decommit from Baton Rouge.