Fournette happy with ‘productive’ bowl performance but wants title next season

LSU’s 56 points broke the school record for points in a bowl game and set a new Texas Bowl for points by a single team.

Though about 100 yards less than Pat Mahomes’ total, LSU quarterback Brandon Harris tossed for 254 yards.

The Tigers capped a 9-3 season just shy of the 10-win plateau thanks to the early cancellation but were still 7-0 and ranked No. 2 entering November.

Mahomes finished the game with 370 yards on 56 passing attempts and had four touchdowns among his 28 completions.

LSU is 48-3 in non-conference games under Miles…. Four Tigers combined for six sacks in the game, with Davon Godchaux and Kendell Beckwith accounting for two each.

“That was a different level of pass rush than what we’ve seen this year”, Kingsbury said.

In his defense, Leonard Fournette plays in the SEC, so rushing for that many yards against the quality competition that he faces would have been unprecedented, especially the way his team’s season went, according to NOLA.com. He went untouched through the Texas Tech defense for 43 yards, showing that the 230-lb. power back was also the fastest player on the field. The Tigers averaged just 173 passing yards per game, passing only 36.8 percent of the time, a similar rate to LSU’s play selection last night. Patrick Mahomes connected with Jakeem Grant for his second touchdown of the game.

Story of the Game: This game was actually pretty close for the first half, even though LSU was winning the box score.

“I knew it would be a challenge, particularly when we had to go into throwing mode every play”, Texas Tech Coach Kliff Kingsbury said.

A busy day is followed by another interesting one: Auburn play Memphis in the Birmingham Bowl, North Carolina State play Mississippi State in the Belk Bowl, Texas A&M face off against Louisville in the Music City Bowl and #25 USC face off with Wisconsin in the Holiday Bowl. Fournette fell just shy of 2000 yards on the season, but he re-asserted himself as the elite back in the country.

His play, plus the presence of Fournette for another season, gives LSU fans reason for optimism in 2016 with another season of Les Miles as coach. Second-leading receiver Travin Dural, who missed LSU’s last two games with a torn hamstring, also is expected to return.

Fournette raced for a bowl record number of points rushing for four touchdowns and catching another.

Nick Stevens orchestrated a quick-hitting drive in the final minute with no timeouts, but receiver Jordon Vaden was unable to get out of bounds at Nevada’s 12-yard line, and time ran out on the Rams. In addition to Fournette, LSU running back DJ Chark found ways to run with the ball, including a 79-yard touchdown in which he was hardly touched.

The Red Raiders would respond later in the quarter.

The Red Raiders were driving down the field in the third quarter down 28-20 when an interception from sophomore quarterback Patrick Mahomes ended their momentum.

In the box score it doesn’t look wonderful, but to make this throw while running one direction and come back across your body – that takes some arm strength and skill.