Sep 16, 2007, 3:27 GMT
Baton Rouge, LA - Ryan Perrilloux had three touchdown passes as second-ranked LSU destroyed Middle Tennessee, 44-0, at Tiger Stadium.
Perrilloux finished the game 20-for-25 for 298 yards and an interception and Demetrius Byrd had 86 receiving yards and a score for the Tigers (3-0), who have won their first three games by a combined score of 137-7.
'I like the fact that our football team, no matter who we play, comes out with a level of excellence and with passion,' said LSU coach Les Miles. 'They get to the ball. When you look at the scores today, at teams that BCS schools supposedly should just hand over, when it is just another ranked team that is playing a team that is not that good. You find that those ranked teams fight for dear life or get upset. At any event, that doesn't happen here. Our guys understand in every contest we come to play.'
Joe Craddock IV was just 6-for-11 for 59 yards for the Blue Raiders (0-3), who only managed 90 yards in the game, including just nine rushing.
'You have to play perfect against a team like LSU,' said Middle Tennessee coach Rick Stockstill. 'We had some chances early to score, but give their defense credit. They swamped us. They stuffed us. We got some things going, but we just couldn't sustain drives well enough against them. They were just too strong, too physical.'
Middle Tennessee's offense was coming off a 42-point performance in a 58-42 setback to Louisville last weekend.
The Tigers took the lead on their first possession of the game as a 12-play, 64-yard drive was capped off by a 29-yard field goal from Colt David for a 3-0 lead 4:24 in.
Middle Tennessee responded with a good drive that got into LSU territory, but it stalled and the team had to punt.
LSU then made it a 10-0 game when the team got the ball back. On 3rd-and-11 at its own 19, Perrilloux hooked up with Byrd on a 24-yard play. Perrilloux then got the ball into the end zone on a 13-yard pass to Charles Scott for a 10-0 lead on the last play of the first quarter.
The Blue Raiders went for it on 4th-and-4 from the LSU 38, but an incomplete pass resulted in the Tigers getting the ball back and on the first play Perrilloux and Boyd got together for a 62-yard touchdown pass and a 17-0 lead with 9:47 left in the second.
A pair of field goals from David, one from 35 yards out and another from 27 yards out on the last play of the first half gave LSU a 23-0 lead heading into the locker room.
After stopping Middle Tennessee on the opening drive of the second half, LSU made it a 30-0 game on an 18-yard touchdown run from Brandon LaFell.
Phillip Tanner fumbled the ball on the second play of the Blue Raiders' next possession and Perrilloux made them pay with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Terrance Toliver to make it a 37-0 game.
Richard Murphy's eight-yard touchdown run with 1:27 left in the third gave the Tigers a 44-0 lead.
Game Notes
LSU won the only previous meeting with Middle Tennessee by a score of 30-14 in 2001...The Tigers had 505 yards of total offense...Jacob Hester led the LSU ground attack, which totaled 203 yards, with 10 carries for 57 yards...Jared Mitchell had six catches for 82 yards for the Tigers.
© 2007 The Sports Network
Game Notes.
Your Talkback on this Story