LSU handles Chattanooga, 45-10
DJ Chark accounted for 176 all-purpose yards and both Derrius Guice and Darrel Williams ran for two touchdowns as LSU defeated Chattanooga 45-10 in its home opener at Tiger Stadium on Saturday night.
HOW THEY SCORED
First Quarter
Chattanooga 3, LSU 0
Score: Victor Ulmo 22-yard field goal. Time Remaining: 9:00. Drive: 65 yards in 13 plays. Time of Possession: 6:00. Key Play: On fourth-and-two, Nick Tiano completed a 4-yard pass to Bailey Lenoir for a first down at LSU’s 21.
LSU 7, Chattanooga 3
Score: Drake Davis 36-yard pass from Danny Etling. Jack Gonsoulin kick. Time Remaining: 6:23. Drive: 72 yards in 6 plays. Time of Possession: 2:29. Key Play: On third-and-eight, Etling ran 17 yards for a first down at LSU’s 47.
LSU 14, Chattanooga 3
Score: Guice 1-yard run. Gonsoulin kick. Time Remaining: :11. Drive: 57 yards in 4 plays. Time of Possession: 1:41. Key Play: On first-and-ten, Etling completed a 46-yard pass to Stephen Sullivan for a first down at Chattanooga’s 11.
Second Quarter
LSU 21, Chattanooga 3
Score: Guice 6-yard run. Connor Culp kick. Time Remaining: 5:41. Drive: 38 yards in 4 plays. Time of Possession: 2:01. Key Play: Greedy Williams intercepted Tiano’s pass at Chattanooga’s 38.
LSU 28, Chattanooga 3
Score: Chark 65-yard punt return. Culp kick. Time Remaining: 3:22.
Third Quarter
LSU 35, Chattanooga 3
Score: Darrel Williams 4-yard run. Culp kick. Time Remaining: 8:18. Drive: 76 yards in 13 plays. Time of Possession: 6:35. Key Play: On fourth-and-three, Etling completed a 6-yard pass to Russell Gage for a first down at Chattanooga’s 27.
LSU 42, Chattanooga 3
Score: Darrel Williams 3-yard run. Culp kick. Time Remaining: 4:23. Drive: 69 yards in 5 plays. Time of Possession: 2:45. Key Play: On second-and-eight, Etling completed a 48-yard pass to Chark for a first down at Chattanooga’s 19.
Fourth Quarter
LSU 42, Chattanooga 10
Score: Darrell Bridges 16-yard run. Ulmo kick. Time Remaining: 12:18. Drive: 86 yards in 3 plays. Time of Possession: 1:40. Key Play: On first-and-ten, Tiano completed a pass to Joseph Parker for 67 yards and a first down at LSU’s 19.
LSU 45, Chattanooga 10
Score: Culp 45-yard field goal. Time Remaining: 2:51. Drive: 43 yards in 10 plays. Time of Possession: 5:29. Key Play: On first-and-ten, Nick Brossette gained 11 yards for a first down at Chattanooga’s 24.
TURNING POINT
Chattanooga moved the ball on each of its first two possessions and came up with a field goal. Holding a 7-3 lead, LSU got a big play in the passing game – a 46-yard completion from Etling to Sullivan. That completion set up Guice’s first touchdown run. The Tigers defense then settled down and kept the Mocs under control the rest of the way. A Greedy Williams interception led to a touchdown which put the Tigers on top 21-3.
LSU OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME
Chark showed how much of a big-play threat he can be as both a receiver and a returner. Chark gained 103 yards on three receptions. Chark’s longest gain was a 48-yarder which set up one of the Tigers’ third-quarter touchdowns. Then, Chark returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown. He lost a 70-plus yard punt return earlier in the game due to an illegal block. For the night, Chark had five touches – the three receptions and two punt returns – for 176 yards. Chark’s 103 receiving yards were a career-high.
LSU DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME
Greedy Williams remained in the starting lineup even though Kevin Toliver was back from suspension. Williams’ performance indicated that he wants to remain on the No. 1 defense. Williams made five tackles – tied for the third most for the defense. He also intercepted a pass for the second consecutive week and broke up three passes. Instant replay overruled another Williams interception.
KEY TEAM STATISTICS
First downs – LSU 22, Chattanooga 12
Rushing first downs – LSU 14, Chattanooga 3
Rushing yardage – LSU 222, Chattanooga 68
Average yards per completion – LSU 25.8, Chattanooga 11.6
Total offense – LSU 454, Chattanooga 242
Yards per play – LSU 7.1, Chattanooga 4.1
Penalties – LSU 11, Chattanooga 4
Penalty yards – LSU 74, Chattanooga 10
Third-down conversions – LSU 5-of-12, Chattanooga 3-of-14
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICAL LEADERS
LSU
Derrius Guice: 15 carries, 102 yards, 2 touchdowns
Danny Etling: 14 attempts, 8 completions, 227 yards, 1 touchdown
DJ Chark: 3 catches, 103 yards
Devin White: 9 tackles
K’Lavon Chaisson: 2½ tackles-for-loss, 2 sacks
Corey Thompson: 1½ sacks
Greedy Williams: 3 pass breakups
Chattanooga
Darrell Bridges: 15 carries, 88 yards, 1 touchdown
Nick Tiano: 32 attempts, 15 completions, 174 yards, 0 touchdowns, 2 interceptions
Joseph Parker: 6 catches, 104 yards
Tae Davis: 13 tackles
NOTES
Ed Ingram started instead of Saahdiq Charles at right guard. Donnie Alexander, who was suspended for the opener against BYU, started at inside linebacker and made eight tackles. . .Five players who did not make the trip to New Orleans for the opener were not in uniform Saturday – wide receiver Dee Anderson, tight end Caleb Roddy, defensive end Frank Herron, outside linebacker Sci Martin and cornerback Kristian Fulton. . .After missing a 40-yard field goal attempt, Gonsoulin was benched in favor of Culp. Gonsoulin has missed two of his four field goal attempts. Culp made all four of his extra points and was 1-of-2 on field goal tries. Culp was short from 47 yards and connected from 45 yards. . .Cameron Gamble replaced Culp as the kickoff man. Three of Gamble’s eight kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. . .The 100-yard receiving game was the first of Chark’s career. . .Etling’s 227 yards were his third most since he came to LSU. He passed for 324 yards at Texas A&M and 276 yards against USM last season. . .Guice had the ninth 100-yard rushing game of his career. He now has 2,047 career rushing yards. Guice is now in 15th place on LSU’s all-time list. He moved ahead of Justin Vincent on Saturday. Guice trails Domanick Davis by nine yards. . .Greedy Williams has an interception in each of the first two games. . .Corey Thompson has 3½ sacks after two games. . .Devin White’s nine tackles were a career-high. Alexander matched his career-best with eight tackles. . .Walk-on Zach Von Rosenburg had a 42-yard punt in the fourth quarter. . .The Tigers have won their first two games for the 11th time in the past 12 years. The one season in that stretch when LSU did not start 2-0 was 2016. . .The Tigers have now won 48 straight home non-conference games. LSU is tied with Miami for the fifth longest such streak in the history of college football. Among schools currently in the FBS, only Wisconsin has a longer winning streak. The Badgers won 50 consecutive non-conference home games from 1897-1909. . .All eight of LSU’s victories with Ed Orgeron as coach have been by double digits. . .Chattanooga is 1-1. . .The paid attendance was 97,289.
FROM THE LOCKER ROOM
Coach Ed Orgeron’s comments: “We were plus-two in turnovers. We had none on offense again. We only had one penalty in the second half. We challenged them at halftime about the penalties. The penalties in the first half were unacceptable. Our receivers caught the ball very well. The whole defensive staff was disappointed on the last (touchdown) drive. There was a lack of focus. We were disappointed in our pass rush to start the game. Then, we got heated up. We always want to take shots in the passing game. We are going to take what they give us. (Deep ball) is what they gave us. The kickoffs were great tonight. We still have to find a field goal kicker. We don’t have one who can make the kicks we have to make. We have to get it fixed fast. Now, it’s on to Mississippi State. We have to get ready to play a better football game next week on the road.”
UP NEXT
LSU will play Mississippi State at Davis-Wade Stadium in Starkville in its Southeastern Conference opener Saturday. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Central. Mississippi State (2-0) defeated Louisiana Tech 57-21 in Ruston on Saturday night. The game will be available on ESPN or ESPN2.