GUICE LEADS SEC IN RUSHING YARDS AND ALL-PURPOSE YARDS

BATON ROUGE – All-America running back Derrius Guice, despite starting in just half of LSU’s 12 games, still managed to lead the Southeastern Conference in rushing yards and all-purpose yards as the 2016 college football season came to a close last night.

 

Guice led all SEC running backs with 1,387 rushing yards, which ranks as the fourth-highest single season total in LSU history. Guice also topped the SEC in all-purpose yards (1,716) and all-purpose yards per game (143.0).

 

Guice becomes the first LSU player to lead the SEC in rushing yards in 20 yards joining Kevin Faulk, who was the last Tiger to do it in 1996 with 1,282 yards. Faulk was also a sophomore that season and went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Tigers, finishing as the leading rusher in school history with 4,557 yards.

 

In 2016, Guice averaged a staggering 7.58 yards per carry, which also lead the SEC and ranked No. 5 in the nation. Guice’s 7.58 yards per carry fell just short of being both an SEC and LSU record as he failed to meet the established minimum of 200 carries to qualify. Guice totaled 183 carries in 12 contests for the Tigers in 2016.

 

Guice, who had 15 rushing touchdowns and one receiving TDs, led the SEC in total touchdowns, ranked No. 2 in the conference in rushing TDs and finished No. 5 in scoring with 8.0 points per game.

 

Sophomore defensive end/outside linebacker Arden Key led the SEC and ranked No. 4 in the nation with 1.09 sacks per game. Key set the LSU single-season record for sacks with 12 this year, bettering the previous mark of 11 set by Gabe Northern in 1994.

 

Key ranked second in the SEC in forced fumbles with 0.27 per game, while All-America cornerback Tre’Davious White finished No. 2 in the league in pas defended with 1.3 a contest.

 

All-America linebacker Kendell Beckwith recorded 91 tackles to finish with a 9.1 average, which ranked second in the SEC behind Vanderbilt linebacker Zach Cunningham’s 9.6 tackles a contest.