BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Joe Burrow passed for 292 yards and three touchdowns, rushed for 96 yards and another score, and No. 5 LSU routed Mississippi 45-16 on Saturday night.
Burrow had his best game by far for LSU (5-0, 2-0 SEC) since arriving this year as a graduate transfer from Ohio State, completing 18 of 25 passes to nine different receivers. His 388 yards of total offense were fourth-most in a single game in LSU history.
Two of his touchdown passes went to Justin Jefferson, the first for 65 yards on a crossing route.
Freshman Ja’Marr Chase scored LSU’s first touchdown with a difficult leaping grab of a 21-yard timing pass along the sideline.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Nick Brossette each had short TDs rushing and LSU finished with 281 yards on the ground for 573 yards of total offense.
LSU dominated much of the game, but two turnovers let the Rebels (3-2, 0-2) hang around until late in the third quarter.
The Tigers led 28-3 and were on the verge of another score when Burrow lost a fumble on the Ole Miss 9. Early in the third quarter, Brossette lost a fumble inside the Mississippi 15 with the Tigers looking to build on a 28-6 lead.
The Rebels then drove for their only TD of the game on Scottie Phillips’ 1-yard run, which trimmed LSU’s lead to 28-13 late in the third quarter. Phillips finished with 96 yards rushing.
The Tigers responded decisively, however, driving 67 yards on just five plays to begin pulling away again on Burrow’s 5-yard fade to Jefferson. Terrace Marshall Jr. had a 52-yard reception to the Rebels 10 during the series.
THE TAKEAWAY
Mississippi: After an early 3-0 lead, the Rebels defense got increasingly exposed. The Rebels’ offense, which has been explosive in victories over nonconference teams, again struggled against an elite SEC defense as it did in a 62-7 loss to Alabama. The Rebels also were undisciplined, committing 17 penalties for 167 yards, including two penalties on fourth down that extended LSU drives.
LSU: The Tigers looked as potent offensively as they have all season and might have eclipsed 50 points if not for two lost fumbles deep in Rebels territory. LSU safety Grant Delpit’s second interception of the season increased Tiger takeaways to 10 on seven interceptions and three fumble recoveries.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
LSU will at least hold steady in the AP Top 25 Poll . Whether the Tigers move up depends on how voters view their rout of Ole Miss vs. narrow victories by No. 3 Clemson and No. 4 Ohio State.
IN MEMORIAM
LSU honored slain basketball player Wayde Sims with a moment of silence before the marching band’s playing of the university’s alma mater and the national anthem. Hardly a sound could be heard in 102,000-seat Tiger Stadium for about 15 seconds as images of the 20-year-old Sims were shown on the video board. Meanwhile, public address announcer Dan Borne altered his usual pre-kickoff refrain of: ”It’s Saturday night in Death Valley,” replacing the last two words with ”Tiger Stadium.” Sims, a Baton Rouge native whose father also played basketball for LSU, was killed by gunfire early Friday. An arrest was made Saturday.
UP NEXT
Mississippi hosts Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday.
LSU travels to play the Florida Gators on Saturday.
—
Follow Brett Martel at www.Twitter.com/brettmartel
—
More AP college football: https://apnews.com/tag/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25