LSU’s Five Rushing Touchdowns Blazes Past UAB To 41-10 Victory

Posted on by Jace LeJeune

A week after the offense struggles on the road in a 13-10 win over Arkansas, the best dose of medicine for the LSU offense on a cold, rainy night in Tiger Stadium was the running game in a 41-10 win over UAB.

To cap off the Tigers’ last home game of the regular season, the running game heated up when the temperature was in the 40’s as the offense had 266 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. Despite not having leading ball carrier Josh Williams and also Armoni Goodwin, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock leaned on the other two scholarship running backs Noah Cain and John Emery Jr.

“It was very important. We already knew going into last week, playing Arkansas, that everyone had to play their best game but it’s tough. All of Coach Kelly’s speeches touch on the mental toughness of getting back on track and just playing football. We all know we can play. I’m just glad we were able to execute tonight at a high level.”

LSU RB Noah Cain on importance of offense getting back into rhythm

Cain had a three touchdown night to go along with 76 yards on 13 carries. Although Emery fumbled the ball twice, he showed his explosiveness with 46 yards rushing and also started the scoring with a two yard touchdown run. Even though both running backs combining for four touchdowns, it turned out that neither was tonight’s leading rusher.

Jayden Daniels and John Emery Jr. both run for touchdowns tonight against UAB. (Photo taken by Jason Saucier)

That honor belongs to LSU’s dynamic quarterback Jayden Daniels. After struggling last week with only 86 yards passing against Arkansas, Daniels had a bounce back night and showed why he was so great in the Tigers’ three game stretch against Florida, Ole Miss, and Alabama. For the third time this season, Daniels threw for over 200 yards and ran for over 100 yards in a single game. Heading into this season, no LSU quarterback has ever done that through four quarters and this year, the Arizona State transfer has done so twice. In the win, he completed 22 of 29 passes for 297 yards including a touchdown pass to Brian Thomas Jr. while leading the team with 111 yards rushing and another touchdown on 12 carries.

“Jayden Daniels prepared really well, and you can make the case this was his best game of the year. He pushed the ball down the field vertically, saw things, and he was assertive. I think he was responsible for over 400 yards. Anytime a quarterback does that, that’s a pretty good day. So, I think that decisiveness and that assertiveness, you could see it in his preparation this week.”

LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly on Jayden Daniels’ performance

In the passing game, Malik Nabers put on a show as he had seven catches for 129 yards with three of those grabs going for 20 yards or more. In the game, Nabers also reached 1,000 yards receiving in his career while also notching his first 100 yard performance of the season. With Kayshon Boutte being out because of the flu, it was the Tigers’ leading pass catcher this season that took over the game.

“It was good. Like I said last week, I had a great week of preparation. I felt like as an offense, we didn’t. We attacked the week harder. It was good, you know. If you prepare harder, then the end will be easy. We just go out and perform.”

LSU QB Jayden Daniels on offense bouncing back from last week

Defensively, it was a slow start for the Tigers. After giving up a big 66 yard return on special teams, UAB would tie the game at 7 with a touchdown run by DeWayne McBride and then would make a field goal to pull within four at 14-10, but that was as close as it would get for the Blazers. LSU would then either force a punt or a turnover on downs the next nine UAB drives and would outscore the opposition 27-0.

On senior night, defensive end Ali Gaye sacks UAB quarterback Dylan Hopkins for a loss in front of his family, who saw Ali play for the first time in person at Tiger Stadium. (Photo taken by Jason Saucier)

On senior night, Ali Gaye had a sack in front of his family that came to see him play for the first time ever in Tiger Stadium. Joe Foucha had four tackles. Jay Ward and Micah Baskerville had three tackles a piece. Mekhi Garner and Jarrick Bernard-Converse had two tackles. LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly loves how this senior class has set the tone for this team from becoming a last place team in the SEC West last season to first this season. He is also proud of how this team has mentally grown over the course of the season.

“I told our team in our meeting before we head to the stadium-called our Mental Edge-I told them I wanted to be able to come in front of media and talk about the growth of this football team. In particular, the mental toughness that they have acquired over the year.”

“Mental toughness to me in our team is accountability. It’s their ability to count on their teammates and themselves out there. This team did that against a team, if you listen to people talk, you’re supposed to beat them. It requires an accountability that you’re intentional in what you do, do your job when you’re supposed to do your job and you do it the right way, the way it’s been taught.”

“I am so proud of our mental toughness and their ability to do it the right way late in November against a team they’re supposed to beat. The wins have been nice. The individual achievements have been really neat-the SEC West Championship, but I’m most proud of the mental toughness this group has shown.”

LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly on the team’s mental toughness

Leading the team in tackles tonight was Greg Penn and freshman phenom Harold Perkins. Penn had eight tackles and a TFL while Perkins had five tackles and two tackles for loss. The Tigers’ rushing defense shut down one of the nation’s leading rushers in UAB’s McBride. McBride came in averaging 156.3 yards per game, but only ran for 34 yards while only averaging 2.6 yards per carry against this brick wall LSU defensive front. The passing game was not much of a factor either with Dylan Hopkins completing less than 50% of his passes for 158 yards.

“I think that our preparation during the week was a big emphasis on stopping the run. (DeWayne McBride) is one of the best running backs in the country. Coach House put together a great game plan on stopping the run game and we went out there and executed it well.”

LSU LB Greg Penn on shutting down UAB’s rushing attack
LSU defensive lineman Jaquelin Roy (99) and linebacker Harold Perkins (40) played a big role in shutting down one of the best running backs in the country for UAB. (Photo taken by Jason Saucier)

It was a great way to close out the home season and to cap off the last game in Tiger Stadium for the seniors. LSU now improves to 9-2 overall and will have one more regular season game against Texas A&M before making the trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game.

Pregame:

1st Quarter:

2nd Quarter:

3rd Quarter:

4th Quarter:

Final Stats:

Offensive Cumulative Stats:

STATUABLSU
NET TOTAL YARDS259565
NET RUSHING YARDS48266
Rushing Attempts2241
Average Per Rush2.26.5
Rushing TDs15
Yards Gained63268
Yards Lost152
NET PASSING YARDS211299
Completion-Attempts17-3523-31
Completion Percentage49%74%
Avg Per Completion12.413.0
YAC10386
Passing TDs01
Drops (%)2 (06%)1 (03%)
TOTAL 1ST DOWNS1231
Rushing 1st Downs315
Passing 1st Downs813
Penalty 1st Downs13
TOTAL PLAYS5772
Avg Yds/Play4.57.8
Rushing-Passing22-3541-31

Offense Efficiency Comparison:

STATUABLSU
RED ZONE ATTEMPTS2-36-7
Red Zone Points1041
RZ TDs Rush-Pass1-05-1
RZ FG Made-Att1-10-0
RZ Turns11
3rd Downs4-1411-13
4th Downs0-30-1
Penalties8-733-39
Fumbles-Lost0-02-2
Pts Off Turns00
POSSESSION TIME26:5133:09

Special Teams Comparison:

STATUABLSU
Punts-Avg6-45.81-44.0
Inside2021
Field Goals1-10-0
Kick Returns2-891-20
Punt Returns1-03–3

Defensive Comparison:

STATUABLSU
TACKLES7748
Solo Tackles3928
Tackles for Loss45
TFL Yards-5-18
Pass Breakups35
QB Hurries01
Sacks11
Sacks Yards-1-6
Takeaways FR-INT2-00-0
Forced Fumbles20
Fumble Recoveries20
FR Yards00
Interceptions00
INT Yards00
TDs INT-FR0-00-0

UAB Passing:

#PLAYERC-AYDSTDIC%RTG
9HOPKINS,D14-29158004894
4ZENO,J3-6530050124.2
PASS TOTALS17-352110049

UAB Receiving:

#PLAYERNOYDSTDLNGAVGTGTC%YACDR
11SHROPSHIRE,T45403613.5123301
48DAMOUS,B35602718.7560470
7RUDOLPH,S22702013.545000
84PAYNE,D2170138.52100200
2FARRIER II,F212015636701
3JONES,T127027271100290
8BOYKIN,D1707725000
22MCBRIDE,D16066110070
10MCDONALD,T15055110000
9 RECEIVERS1721103612.435491032

UAB Rushing:

#PLAYERATTYDSTDLNGAVG
22MCBRIDE,D1334162.6
1BROWN JR.,J624094
5WITHERSPOON,L1-400-4
9HOPKINS,D2-600-3
4 RUSHERS2248192.2

UAB Punting:

PunterNOYDSAVGLNGI2050+
GREENWELL,K627545.85522

UAB Field Goals:

KickerTimeDistResult
M.Quinn2nd-14:5729GOOD
TOTAL1-1LONG OF 29

UAB All Purpose Yards:

PlayerTotRushRecKORPRIR-FRTDs
BROWN JR.,J9024066000
DAMOUS,B560560000
SHROPSHIRE,T540540000

UAB Defense:

#Player (Starter)TotTkSoloSackTFLIntBrUpQBHFF
1J.Key129010000
0K.Swoopes (S)63000001
50N.Wilder (LB)62000000
12G.Cash (S)53000000
20D.Bynum (CB)54010000
10N.Eason Jr.53010000
11D.Miller53000001
98T.Howard42000000
7T.Taylor (LB)30000000
93M.Fairbanks II (DE)310.50.50000
15D.Tuazama30000100
25R.Ellis32000000
92K.Penn30000000
4S.Thomas V (CB)21000200
21W.Boler (S)20000000
3C.Daniels22000000
96A.Carbajal III21000000
44I.Forte (DL)100.50.50000
99F.McWilliams (DL)10000000
10T.McDonald11000000
13R.Collier10000000
33C.Dempsey11000000
51T.Brown11000000
TOTALS7739140302

UAB Punt Returns:

ReturnerNOYDSAVGLNGTD
THOMAS V,S100000

UAB Kick Returns:

ReturnerNOYDSAVGLNGTD
BROWN JR.,J16666660
THOMAS V,S12323230
TOTAL28945660

UAB Team Stats By Quarter:

1stRushPassCAITotYAvg3rdsPens
1st55-88-858-8-0937.21-20-0
2nd14-18-605-8-0615.10-33-24
3rd49-3311-131-11-0462.33-62-17
4th24-68-533-8-0594.90-33-32
Total1222-4835-21117-35-02594.54-148-73

UAB Scoring Summary:

QtrClockScoreTypePlayDriveScore
109:19TDRUSHD.McBride 5 yd rush
PAT kick by M.Quinn (GOOD)		3/30/1:127-7
214:57FGM.Quinn 29 yd Field Goal11/63/6:0214-10

LSU Passing

#PLAYERC-AYDSTDIC%RTG
5DANIELS,J22-292971076173.3
13NUSSMEIER,G1-22005058.4
PASS TOTALS23-312991074

LSU Receiving:

#PLAYERNOYDSTDLNGAVGTGTC%YACDR
8NABERS,M712904718.4888391
11THOMAS JR.,B421185.3410050
80BECH,J36102920.347530
86TAYLOR,M339015133100260
10JENKINS,J22902514.554080
2LACY,K212014636700
21CAIN,N16066110050
82MASHBURN,J12022110000
8 RECEIVERS23299147133174861

LSU Rushing:

#PLAYERATTYDSTDLNGAVG
5DANIELS,J121111289.3
21CAIN,N13763155.8
4EMERY JR.,J9461145.1
12DAVIS JR.,D5280165.6
36DEMAS,N25052.5
5 RUSHERS412665286.5

LSU Punting:

PunterNOYDSAVGLNGI2050+
BRAMBLETT,J144444410

LSU Field Goals:

KickerTimeDistResult
TOTAL0-0LONG OF 0

LSU All Purpose Yards:

PlayerTotRushRecKORPRIR-FRTDs
NABERS,M12901290000
DANIELS,J11111100001
CAIN,N10276620003

LSU Defense:

#Player (Starter)TotTkSoloSackTFLIntBrUpQBHFF
30G.Penn III (LB)85010000
40H.Perkins Jr. (LB)53020100
13J.Foucha (DB)41000010
18B.Ojulari (DE)42000000
5J.Ward (DB)33000100
23M.Baskerville (LB)31000100
2M.Garner (DB)21000000
11A.Gaye (DE)21110100
24J.Bernard-Converse (CB)20000100
99J.Roy (DL)22000000
3G.Brooks Jr.21000000
10J.Jenkins22000000
28M.Burns22000000
33W.Weeks20000000
15S.Ryan11000000
32D.Tolan10000000
35S.Jones11010000
44S.Roy11000000
95T.Hill11000000
TOTALS4828150510

LSU Punt Returns:

ReturnerNOYDSAVGLNGTD
CLAYTON JR.,G3-3-0120

LSU Kick Returns:

ReturnerNOYDSAVGLNGTD
CAIN,N12020200

LSU Team Stats By Quarter:

1stRushPassCAITotYAvg3rdsPens
1st79-418-1136-8-01549.13-30-0
2nd1011-8511-1169-11-02019.13-31-15
3rd79-495-414-5-0906.42-32-24
4th712-917-294-7-01206.33-40-0
Total3141-26631-29923-31-05657.811-133-39

LSU Scoring Summary:

QtrClockScoreTypePlayDriveScore
110:44TDRUSHJ.Emery Jr. 2 yd rush
PAT kick by D.Ramos (GOOD)		9/79/4:117-0
105:59TDRUSHN.Cain 5 yd rush
PAT kick by D.Ramos (GOOD)		8/75/3:2014-7
205:20TDRUSHN.Cain 1 yd rush
PAT kick by D.Ramos (GOOD)		12/79/5:1621-10
200:40TDRUSHN.Cain 1 yd rush
PAT kick by D.Ramos (GOOD)		4/55/0:3428-10
306:50TDRUSHJ.Daniels 2 yd rush
PAT kick by D.Ramos (FAIL)		6/57/2:4634-10
409:46TDPASSB.Thomas Jr. 5 yd reception thrown by J.Daniels
PAT kick by T.Finison (GOOD)		9/86/3:3441-10

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