#47 Houston – 12
#18 LSU – 24
BATON ROUGE, La. - No gamer has dominated throughout the history of Sensationalizationalism like Blue Edwards. Green's recent struggles against Blue, however, have been laughable: fourteen straight defeats, dating back to Ohio State's opening round win against Arkansas in the 2009 tournament. After opening the tournament a disappointing 0-2, Green got an 800 pound gorilla off his back with a 24-12 defeat of Blue's Houston squad.
LSU utilized its talent at the offensive skill positions to jump out to an early 7-0 lead with a long opening drive that milked 2:46 off the clock. Houston's impact quarterback Case Keenum was anxious to respond and aired the ball out deep on their first offensive play. LSU cornerback Chris Hawkins appeared to be out of position and beat down the field. Hawkins was able to quickly recover, however, and leaped high in the air to pick off Keenum's pass. LSU took advantage of the turnover, again driving right down the field, scoring on a Charles Scott two yard touchdown run to make it 14-0.
Keanum, failing to learn from his mistake on the opening drive, again had a pass intercepted by LSU's Hawkins on the first play of Houston's second drive. LSU settled for a 38-yard field goal by kicker Derek Helton, pushing the score to 17-0, where it remained at half.
LSU was able to punch in another touchdown following a forced fumble on Keenum early in the second half. Houston adding a couple of scores (with failed two-point conversions) in garbage time, capping the scoring at 24-12.
Overall, LSU doubled up Houston in first downs (12-6), and forced five turnovers, while only committing one of its own. LSU will look to build off the momentum of a solid offensive and defensive performance when it takes on the winner of Purdue vs. Oklahoma State in the second round.
Stats:
LSU
J. Jefferson – 193.7 QB Rating; 8/12 for 166 yds, TD, INT
C. Scott – 12 att for 42 yds, 2 TDs
B. LaFell – 5 rec for 116 yds
R. Alem – 3 tackless, 3 TFL, 3 FF
C. Hawkins – 2 INTs
J. Cultrera – 1 tackle, 3 FR
Those 3 TFL by Alem were also sacks. So, he sacked Keenum 3 times and forced a fumble each time. Perhaps the best individual defensive performance of the night.
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