BATON ROUGE — LSU senior running back Terrence Magee started with a career-long kickoff return and finished his evening with two touchdown runs in the third quarter to spark the Tigers past Kentucky, 41-3, on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.
Magee, LSU’s No. 18, tallied a career-best 220 all-purpose yards including 127 rushing on only nine carries, with scoring runs of 9 and 23 yards in the third quarter. The Franklinton native accounted for 121 of LSU’s 131 yards of total offense in the opening stanza of the second half that gave LSU its final margin.
LSU (6-2, 2-2 SEC), which became bowl eligible for a school-record 15th-straight season, complimented Magee’s big night with defense and special teams that took a firm hold of the game in the first 10 minutes and let loose.
The Tigers’ defense came out of the lockerroom firing to the ball in each half. LSU held Kentucky to 48 yards of offense in the first quarter and 17 in the third quarter.
Magee opened the game with a 49-yard kickoff return that setup a 1-yard touchdown run by Leonard Fournette, before Tre’Davious White returned a punt 67 yards for a touchdown that put the Tigers ahead 17-0 with 5:47 remaining in the opening quarter.
LSU added 10 more points in the final 44 seconds of the first half to lead 27-3 at the break. A 32-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Anthony Jennings to wide receiver Travin Dural was followed by catching Kentucky off guard on the ensuing kickoff that the Tigers recovered behind the Wildcats front line. Colby Delahoussaye capped the half 35 seconds later with a 35-yard field goal.
The Tigers return to Tiger Stadium next Saturday at 6:15 p.m. CT on ESPN, as No. 3-ranked Ole Miss (7-0, 4-0 SEC) comes to town undefeated for the first time since 1963.
Jennings started for the Tigers and played into the fourth quarter, completing 7-of-14 passes for 120 yards including the Dural touchdown. Freshman backup QB Brandon Harris entered late and ran once for eight yards.
Fournette and Jennings each added 40 rushing yards, while freshman Darrel Williams ran 10 times for 61 yards and Kenny Hilliard added 29.
LSU outgained Kentucky, 423-217, including 303-71 rushing. The Tigers were 7-of-13 on third down and averaged 6.4 yards per play.
The Tigers defense spent a good portion of the game in the Kentucky backfield, collecting eight tackles behind the line of scrimmage including two sacks. Linebacker Kendell Beckwith led the way with nine tackles, while safety Jamal Adams had eight. Defensive end Danielle Hunter batted down three passes at the line and had six tackles.
Kentucky (5-2, 2-2 SEC), which entered Tiger Stadium with five wins for the first time in history, left with a loss for the 24th time in its past 28 visits. In its most recent four games in Baton Rouge, the Wildcats have now been outscored, 159-10.
Kentucky quarterback Patrick Towels was 19-of-36 passing for 146 yards and ran seven times for 16 yards. Mikel Horton led the Wildcats with 29 rushing yards on five carries, while Demarco Robinson had 52 receiving yards.
The Wildcats threw a bag of tricks at the Tigers – faking an onside kick, snapping directly to running backs, attempting to draw an offsides penalty on a field goal attempt, trying three fourth downs – but nothing worked against the improving LSU 11.
A week after allowing 115 punt return yards to Florida, LSU was much improved in all aspects of special teams. The Tigers gave up only one return for one yard, while punter Jamie Keehn averaged 44.2 yards in net punting with three fair catches and two inside the Kentucky 20-yard line. Including the touchdown, White had 114 yards in punt returns for the Tigers.
Blow-by-Blow
Kentucky won the toss and deferred its decision until the second half. While defending the south endzone, the Tigers chose to receive the opening kickoff and start a wild first half of football.
As the Wildcats shifted into an onside kick formation, LSU’s kickoff team responded with a move toward the line. Rather than making the short kick, Kentucky placekicker Austin MacGinnis shortened his approach and kicked to Magee at the LSU 7. Magee returned a career-best 49 yards to the Kentucky 44 and added 15 more yards when he was tackled by the face mask.
Starting from the Kentucky 29, Jennings and the Tigers used six runs – and another personal foul by the Wildcats – to get on the scoreboard first. Fournette’s 1-yard touchdown run and Delahoussaye’s PAT gave LSU a 7-0 lead with 12:09 left in the opening quarter.
Kentucky alternated 6-foot-5 sophomore quarterback Towles and running back Braylon Heard under center for the first two plays but gained only three yards. Cornerback Rashard Robinson chased down Heard for a 6-yard loss on third-down reception and the Wildcats punted to White for the first time.
White’s 17-yard return to the LSU 48 setup another scoring drive, as Jennings found tight end Travis Dickson behind the defense on third-and-6 for 27 yards to the Wildcats 21. Though Magee ran around the left end for 11 yards to setup first-and-goal at the 10, a third-down pass from Jennings to fullback Connor Neighbors was off the mark and Delahoussaye entered for a 21-yard field goal with 7:30 left in the quarter.
LSU led 10-0.
Another quick three-and-out forced by the LSU defense brought the Wildcats punter to the field again. White fielded Landon Foster’s 49-yard punt at the LSU 33 and turned to find room around the right end. A perfect block by Adams gave White the corner where he used blocks by Deion Jones and D.J. Welter to complete a 67-yard punt return for a touchdown.
In his first season returning punts for LSU, White’s 15th try became his first touchdown.
The PAT put LSU ahead 17-0 with 5:47 remaining in the first quarter.
Kentucky managed its only points of the game with a 33-yard field goal by MacGinnis with 1:15 left in the quarter. A third-down direct snap to running back Jojo Kemp kept the drive alive at the Kentucky 46, and Towles added a 14-yard pass on third-and-9 from the Kentucky 46 to Garrett Johnson. A 15-yard pass from Towles to Robinson setup the field goal try.
Kentucky trailed 17-3.
After three-consecutive drives ended with punts, Kentucky used a 16-yard run by Towles to gain a first down to the LSU 48. Three more runs gained 11 yards, two more runs by Williams setup fourth-and-2 at the LSU 29. After taking a timeout, the Wildcats again snapped the ball directly to Kemp who was stuffed behind the line by Hunter and Adams.
A dropped pass on third-and-4 forced LSU to punt once again, while Kentucky returned the favor after gaining one first down to their 23.
White added 21 yards to his punt return total and put the Tigers at their 47 with 1:33 left in the half. LSU twice looked deep to Dural, who was interfered with once before hauling in the second for a 32-yard touchdown that put LSU ahead 24-3 with 44 seconds left in the half.
A week after special-teams miscues put LSU in a pickle at Florida, the unit continued to shine in the final seconds of the half. Facing a kickoff from its 20 after a personal foul on the Dural touchdown, LSU placekicker Trent Domingue popped up his kickoff just behind the Wildcat front line. Lewis Neal jumped on the loose ball at the Kentucky 37 to setup yet another score by the Tigers in the final 44 seconds.
An 18-yard catch and run by Magee setup a third-and-2 with 12 seconds to play. Rather than take any chances with no timeouts remaining, Miles put his trusty placekicker, Delahoussaye, out for a 35-yard attempt. The sophomore from New Iberia banked the kick off the left upright and through the posts to give LSU a 27-3 halftime advantage.
In the third quarter, Kentucky took the opening kick and quietly went three-and-out. A 34-yard punt was aimed away from White and out-of-bounds.
Two runs by Fournette netted only three yards, but Jennings again found Magee out of the back field for 14 yards to the Kentucky 47. The shifty senior then ran around the left sideline 38 yards to the Wildcats 9 before running up the middle for a touchdown on the next play.
LSU pushed its advantage to 34-3 with 10:37 left in the third quarter.
Magee was the star of the Tigers next scoring drive, gaining 35-yards to the Kentucky 23 on second-and-15 and scoring with a middle run on the following play.
LSU led 41-3 with 3:27 remaining in the third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, Kentucky put together a 12-play, 66-yard drive to the LSU 9, however, LSU safety Rickey Jefferson batted away a ball in the endzone on fourth down to keep the Wildcats from reaching paydirt.
Attendance was announced as 101,581.