By Ryan Rogers
LSUsports.net
BATON ROUGE — LSU put forth a solid performance both offensively and defensively on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium to shut out the Kentucky Wildcats for the first time since 1997, 34-0. Josh Booty also threw for 225 yards and three touchhdowns without an interception. Please check back for notes, quotes and the complete story.
A great defensive exhibition by LSU allowed the Tigers to pummel Kentucky in LSU’s best four-quarter performance of the year. With the crucial victory LSU improves to 4-3 and 2-2 in the Southeastern Conference and keep its bowl hopes very much alive.
The LSU offense was sparked by a great performance by the Booty and the offensive line. The offensive line protected Booty all night giving him time to scan the field and find open receivers.
The O-line aided Josh Booty in earning his first SEC win as a starter. LSU allowed only one sack against Kentucky.
The Tiger running game iced the affair as LSU grinded out 114 yards on 46 tough carries.
LSU was outgained on the night, 397-339, however the defense held Kentucky to 1-of-6 on fourth down conversions. Altogether, LSU earned possession on five missed fourth downs, three fumbles and one punt and a shutout-saving interception by true freshman Eric Damond.
Offensively, LSU finished the game 11-of-19 on third down and 2-of-2 on fourth down, both in the fourth quarter
FIRST HALF RECAP
LSU opened the game with an impressive 74-yard touchdown drive. Josh Booty hit Josh Reed on a 7-yard out route for the touchdown giving LSU an early 7-0 lead.
The score was set up by a big play earlier in the drive. Jerel Myers caught a Josh Booty pass across the middle. He then shook off a couple Kentucky defenders and sprinted down field for a 36-yard gain to convert on third down. Booty looked sharp on the opening drive going 3-for-4 with 57 yards passing.
Booty finished the first half 6-of-19 for 100 yards and one touchdown. Kentucky’s capacious quarterback Jared Lorenzen was 17-of-27 for 161 yards without a touchdown. Lorenzen has spread the ball around finding 10 different receivers for completions in the first half.
Kentucky moved the ball well on its first possesion. However, the Wildcats failed to get any points out of a 55-yard drive when Seth Hanson missed a 46-yard field goal attempt.
LSU caught a break when Kentucky punt returner Kendrick Shanklin muffed the first of two Donnie Jones punts. It was recovered by LaVar Johnson. LSU took over at the Kentucky 30 yard line. LSU capitalized on the turnover with a 38-yard field goal by John Corbello. The score extended LSU’s lead to 10-0 with 43 seconds left in the first quarter.
The LSU defense made two big palys to halt a potential Kentucky scoring drive. The Wildcats went for it on fourth-and-one. The 275-pound Jared Lorenzen was stopped by Jeremy Lawrence at the line of scrimmage for no gain on the quarterback sneak ending the drive. LSU took over at their own 23-yard line. Earlier in the drive LSU cornerback Demetrius Hookfin broke up a deep pass intended for Wildcat receiver Quentin McCord.
The Tiger defense again held on fourth down with 5:25 remainig in first half keeping Kentucky off the scoreboard. Lorenzen was pressured by Treverance Faulk and his pass had no chance of being completed. The Tigers took over at their own 38-yard line. LSU has been successful in bending but not breaking defensively against Kentucky.
LSU had another oppurtunity to score just before halftime. Corbello missed a 43-yard attempt with no time remaining in the half. The attempt was set up by a 49-yard drive
The LSU offense would have had more success in the first half, but dropped passes by LSU receivers continued to haunt the offense. LSU dropped five crucial passes in the first half. Three of those passes were potential touchdowns.
Rushing-wise the Tigers accumulated 45 yards on the ground. LaBrandon Toefield has 10 carries for 45 yards.
SECOND HALF RECAP
Kentucky opened up the second half with typical Hal Mumme trickery. The Wildcats ran a reverse on the kickoff in which Kendric Shanklin handed the ball off to Ernest Simms which resulted in a 30-yard gain. After the Wildcats started to move the ball, the defense came up big by forcing a turnover. Treverance Faulk recovered a Martez Johnson fumble giving LSU great field postion at their own 47-yard line.
LSU added to its lead when freshman Devery Henderson scored on an end-around from eight yards out. The PAT was good and LSU led 17-0 with 11:06 remaining in the third quarter. The score was set by two Booty completions to Reed and tightend Eric Edwards. Edwards made a nice over-the-shoulder catch on a well placed pass by Booty.
The LSU defense remained steadfast and held on fourth down for a fourth-consecutive time. Lorenzen’s pass was incomplete as he was again under pressure on fourth-and-five. LSU took over at its own 31-yard line.
Kentucky’s punt returners continued to struggle fielding the punts and LSU caught another break when Derek Abney muffed a Donnie Jones punt. The ball was recovered by Tommy Banks and LSU took over at the Kentucky 12 yard line. Josh Booty connected with Reggie Robinson on a 16-yard touchdown strike three plays later and LSU took a commanding 24-0 lead with 4:02 remaining in the third quarter.
LSU forced Kentucky to turn the ball over on downs four the fifth time late in the third quarter. Hal Mumme called for a fake punt on its own 35-yard line. Kentucky upback Joel Bryan took the snap and ran around left tackle. The LSU defense was not fooled as Bradie James and Randall Gay combined to make the tackle. and LSU took over at the 39 yard line. LSU capitalized with a 31-yard field goal by Corbello. LSU led 27-0 with 14:00 remaining in the game.
For the sixth time Kentucky came up empty on a fourth down conversion attempt. On fourth and 10 Lorezen’a pass intended for Dougie Allen was broken up by Damien James. LSU took over at its own 24-yard line.
LSU then added its final score, a perfectly thrown pass from Booty to Edwards at the goal line from 25 yards out to give LSU a 34-0 lead.
True freshmen Erin Damond made a huge play to late preserve the shutout. He intercepted a Lorenzen pass on a fade route in the endzone in jugguler fashion. After he took a knee, LSU regained posseion at the 20-yard line.
LSU vs. Kentucky Game Notes ? October 14, 2000
- The captains for LSU were Louis Williams, Trev Faulk, Fred Booker and Michael Lillie
- The crowd of 85,664 is the third-largest in the history of Tiger Stadium behind only the 91,682 that witnessed LSU beat Tennessee 38-31 (OT) on Sept. 30, 2000 and 87,188 that saw LSU beat Western Carolina 58-0 on Sept. 2, 2000
- LSU and Kentucky are meeting for the 49th consecutive year which is the third-longest running series that the Tigers are involved in, behind only Mississippi State (57 years) and Ole Miss (56 years). The two teams have met every year since 1952.
- Louis Williams extended his team-high starting streak to 29 as he started the game at center. Other Tigers extending long starting streaks were Fred Booker (24), Jerel Myers (18), Ryan Clark (18) and Trev Faulk (15)
- Rob Sale saw his first start for the Tigers at left guard. He is the only Tiger to get his first start in this game.
- Jerel Myers 36-yard reception from Josh Booty on the third play of the game was his second-longest of the season. Only the 45-yard touchdown reception he had in the 58-0 win over Western Carolina on Sept. 2 was longer.
- LSU scored a touchdown on the first drive of the game for only the second time this season, the other coming in the 58-0 win over Western Carolina on Sept. 2. The Tigers did have an opening-possession field goal in the 38-31 (OT) win over Tennessee on Sept. 30.
- LSU extended its streak of not allowing a score on the opening possession of the game to 12 when Seth Hanson missed a 45-yard field goal. The Tigers last allowed an opening drive score to Kentucky in a 31-5 loss on Oct. 16, 1999.
- With his touchdown catch in the third quarter, Reggie Robinson‘s streak of consecutive games with a catch to 24. Jerel Myers extended his streak of consecutive games with a reception to 18, marking every game of his career. Josh Reed moved his streak into double-digits as he had a reception for the 10th straight game.
- Josh Reed hauled in his seventh touchdown of the season on a seven-yard strike from Josh Booty in the first quarter. The seven TD’s is already the most in a year since Tony Moss and Eddie Fuller each had nine in the 1989 season.
- Trev Faulk recorded his first career sack by taking down Jared Lorenzen for a two-yard loss in the first quarter.
- LaVar Johnson recovered a fumbled punt, which led to a 39-yard John Corbello field-goal, for the second time this season when Kendrick Shanklin dropped a first-quarter punt. Johnson’s other recovery came in the 13-10 loss to UAB on Sept. 23.
- Holding Kentucky scoreless in the first half marked the first time LSU has held a conference opponent scoreless in a half since the Tigers held Alabama scoreless in the first half on Nov. 7, 1998. Alabama came back to win 22-16.
- Trev Faulk recovered his third fumble of the year in the third quarter, with the other two coming against Auburn and UAB. His three recoveries have led to 17 points for the Tigers (3 vs. Auburn, 7 vs. UAB, 7 vs. Kentucky).
- Dervery Henderson ran for his second touchdown of the season on an 8-yard scamper. His other touchdown came when he broke loose for a 32-yard score in the 58-0 win over Western Carolina on Sept. 2.
- Tommy Banks recovered a fumble on a third-quarter punt. It is the first defensive fumble recovery of his career.
LSU vs. Kentucky Game Notes ? October 14, 2000
- The three fumble recoveries for the Tigers is the most for an LSU team since doing so in a 31-10 loss to Florida on Oct. 9, 1999. The Tigers last recovered more than three when picking up five Mississippi State fumbles in a 44-24 win on Sept. 10, 1994.
- Reggie Robinson‘s 15-yard touchdown reception was his second of the season and the first since he connected with Josh Booty for an 80-yard TD in the 58-0 win over Western Carolina on Sept. 2.
- Josh Booty has now thrown for at least two touchdowns in each of his starts this season except the loss to UAB.
- With field goals of 38 and 31 yards, John Corbello became the first LSU player to have more than one field goal in a game since he hit three in a 23-22 loss to Georgia on Oct. 2, 1999.
- Eric Edwards 25-yard touchdown reception from Josh Booty in the fourth quarter was the first time he has scored.
- Erin Damond intercepted a pass for the first time in his career. The pick came in the endzone, securing theLSU shutout.
- Despite being outgained in total yards 397 to 339 LSU defeated Kentucky. It is the second time this year that LSU has allowed more yards than it gained and won, with the other coming in the 28-13 win over Houston on Sept. 9. Houston racked up 438 yards to LSU’s 297.
- This was the first time LSU has blanked an opponent since the 58-0 win over Western Carolina on Sept. 2, 2000. It is the first shut-out against an SEC team since a 27-0 win at Alabama on Nov. 8, 1997 and the first home shut-out of a conference opponent since LSU beat Vanderbilt 35-0 on Oct. 5, 1996.
- It is the first time since 1997 that the LSU defense has registered two shutouts in a season (58-0 vs. Western Carolina and 34-0 vs. Kentucky). In 1997, LSU beat Akron, 56-0, and Alabama, 27-0.
- It is the first time Kentucky has been shut out in the Hal Mumme era. The last time the Wildcats last went scoreless on Sept. 28, 1996 in a 65-0 loss to Florida.
- The LSU win stops Kentucky’s win streak in the series at two. The Wildcats have yet to beat the Tigers three straight times.
LSU HEAD COACH NICK SABAN QUOTES
“We are happy for the players. It was good to see them bounce back today like they did. I’m happy for the defensive players who got a shut-out. Our offense did a good job in the game, and we did what we had to do.”
“We didn’t turn the ball over today. Our special teams did a good job of getting some turnovers which really affected field position.”
“The offense was able to keep the ball. The time of possession was really in our favor. Even though we didn’t make them punt it, we found ways to stop them. There were a lot of fourth down situations where they went for it and we were able to make a play when we needed to.”
“They got some yards, but they didn’t get any points.”
“Our goal today was to not give up big plays, make them earn it the hard way for their scores, and I think the players played with a lot of patience to do that, and we did a pretty good job of executing to pressure the quarterback and effect him when we needed to.”
“I wasn’t pleased with the way we ran the ball in the first half, but we did a lot better in the second half. We did a good job taking the air out of the ball at the end of the game.”
“We dropped some balls in the first half, probably didn’t play as well in the first half offensively as we did in the second, but we played for 60-minutes, and the guys kept competing, and I was really pleased with that.”
“This is a good win for us to get back to the right side of the ledger. We have a challenge every week that we need to go through. I think we need to step up to the task of being able to handle a win and put a couple in a row, or we are not going to have the type of season that we would like to have. We’ll see if we are up to it.”
QUOTES FROM KENTUCKY HEAD FOOTBALL COACH HAL MUMME
“This was the first time that one of my teams has been shut out in a game since I became a head coach. I told my guys in the locker room that they set an all-time record. They have not scored in the last six quarters.”
“Of course it helps if you drop eight balls, let balls bounce off of your shoulder pads for interceptions, fumble on their end of the field, and put punts on the ground. The only positive out of the whole night was our defense. I thought that our defense played well enough for us to be in the ball game. There was a total lack of response on offense. And I run the offense. So it is my fault.”
“If I had an answer to why we made so many mistakes then we wouldn’;t be making the mistakes. All I can promise you is that I’;m going to do my best to find out. It’;s not something that we are accustomed to.”
“We had almost 400 yards on offense tonight. We were moving the ball up and down the field but we just couldn’;t score. Coach Saban and them did a great job of bringing blitzes in the red zone, but we see that all the time. It’;s something that we should be able to pick up.”
“I thought that our defensive kids played tremendous against the run tonight.”
KYLE KIPPS — DE
“It was great, we played great defense. They drove the ball down the field. Once they got in the red zone we seemed to stop them. We knew that with Kentucky’s offense they’d try to hit the short passes and then go long. And we just couldn’t give up the long one. (Kentucky’s QB) I think we got a lot of pressure on him. We’ve been working on that all week.”
ERIC EDWARDS — TE
“Booty plays good in a lot of games, it’s just some of the decisions that he makes. I think tonight he played really well, with great poise. ( Running game) — we had to change a lot of blocking schemes to get the running game going. (TD Pass) — I’ve been waiting a long time for that. I was just glad I could make the play.”
LABRANDON TOEFIELD — RB
“We knew that they were going to do a lot of stunts. We thought that they were going to score some points and we knew that we were going to have to put some points on the board. We knew we had to come out and be error free. They’re a high powered offense. Our defense played well and we had good practices all week. I think we got to come back next week and practice hard and beat Mississippi State.”
Reggie Robinson – 4 -wide receiver
“It was important for us to come out and play 60-minutes. We haven’t put two games (together) back to back, and Coach said we need to start today.”
“Okay, we played 60-minutes today, so starting Monday we are looking forward to playing Mississippi State.”
Josh Booty – 14 – quarterback
“I think we needed to (get the win) it was critical. We talked about last year all week. We were a 3-8 team, and we wanted to come out and win our fourth ball game and get rid of the 3-8 scenario we had last year.”
“I thought the guys were really fired up. You could tell we were ready to play. We executed from the beginning. I thought we could have scored a few more times in the first half.”
“Our defense played wonderful, and the line gave me time to throw. That’s all I needed tonight.”
QB Jared Lorenzen
“We just haven’t been scoring points, I don’t know, people are bringing blitzes on us- they are bringing different looks, stuff I have never seen before and stuff I never knew was possible. It is really hard to stop what they are doing. Our defense played well, we should have won if we have played offense right. You are not going to have many 50-60 yard gains when they are playing like that. We are never going to win another game if we do not do things differently. We get across the 50 and I will fumble or I will throw a bad pass. We are in a real bad funk and we need to get out of it.”
Marlon McCree, LB
“It will be tough to comeback after this one. It got tougher to try and comeback as all the bad things continued to happen. I’m just happy I and all of my teammates came out of here healthy.”
“LSU was really sound at the quarterback position tonight. We knew he (Booty) could do some things. They did a lot of things to protect him and keep us from getting to him. They had a good gameplan.”
Keith Chatelain, C
“We knew LSU’s defense had the potential to play well. They played a great game. Forget that bend don’t break stuff, they shut us down. They did a good job forcing turnovers.”
“We weren’t surprised at anything they did defensively. We knew exactly what they were going to do. They did a good job executing.”