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Bad day on the bayou
LSU roars to big lead early, downs ASU 41-13
AP Photo
Charles Scott (32) of LSU breaks into the clear on this first-quarter run. He scored on the next play.
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Published: August 31, 2008
BATON ROUGE, La.
No Michigan miracle this time.
In fact, Appalachian State's performance in yesterday's season-opening battle of national champions turned out to be a Louisiana letdown.
LSU blew things open extremely early in a game moved to a morning start as result of looming Hurricane Gustav, and went on to a 41-13 romp over the Mountaineers.
The Tigers, the defending BCS champions, rolled to a 31-0 first-half lead in a game that was a far cry from the Mountaineers' season-opening stunner over Michigan last year.
Charles Scott, a 5-11, 233-pound junior, ran for 160 yards on 16 carries and scored two first-half touchdowns to lead the No. 7 Tigers on a sweltering day during which the temperature soared into the 90s.
The game kicked off at 10 a.m. (central time), six hours earlier than originally scheduled, in anticipation of evacuation in southern Louisiana with Gustav's approach.
The early-morning start didn't bother the Tigers, who dominated with a big and experienced offensive line and scored on five of six possessions in the first half.
"They are so athletic," Coach Jerry Moore of Appalachian said. "It just wore on us."
The Mountaineers, who won last year's NCAA championship-subdivision title, were outgained 459-239 and converted on just 2 of 14 third-down tries.
"Speed was the difference," said Armanti Edwards, who managed less than 200 yards of total offense for only the third time in 25 games as the Mountaineers' starting quarterback. "They're so much faster than Michigan was."
Edwards, pressured often and contained consistently, completed 13 of 31 passes for 155 yards and ran for just 23 yards on 12 carries.
"I didn't even complete half my passes," Edwards said. "I missed some easy ones, and we had some dropped balls. We missed some blocks. We didn't execute on third down. It was an all-around bad game for the whole team."
The Mountaineers moved the ball decently at times -- and did get a 44-yard touchdown from Edwards to Robert Welton in the second half along with two Jason Vitaris field goals -- but bogged down consistently against the speedy Tigers after a 22-yard pass to CoCo Hillary on the opening play, which turned out to be the high-water mark for the Mountaineers in the first half.
"We would make a good play, then have a down play," Moore said. "We hit CoCo on that first play and everybody got excited, and then the next thing you know, you get slammed."
Scott found a hole and then cut back for a 56-yard gain on LSU's first offensive play. He then burst up the middle for an 8-yard touchdown run that gave the Tigers the lead for good 3:07 into the game.
Andrew Hatch, making his first start for LSU, capped the second drive with a 17-yard touchdown strike to Demetrius Byrd.
But two LSU touchdowns in the final six minutes of the first half proved most costly for the Mountaineers, as a 17-0 deficit mushroomed to 31-0.
Trailing 17-0, the Tigers took advantage of a missed coverage assignment and Brandon LaFell, all alone near the end zone, hauled in a 39-yard pass from backup quarterback Jarrett Lee.
"One player in the wrong spot equals big play," said linebacker Jacque Roman, who had 12 tackles for the Mountaineers.
The Mountaineers then drove to midfield but, facing fourth-and-1, chose not to punt. Edwards rolled left, was pressured and his hurried pitch to Devon Moore resulted in a fumble and loss of 2 yards.
The Tigers took over with 2:49 left in the half, advanced to the Mountaineers' 28-yard line and faced a short fourth-down situation of their own. Scott took a handoff, burst through a front-loaded defense and made an easy 28-yard sprint to the end zone with 17 seconds in the half.
"That really hurt morale," said Hillary, who was on the receiving end of nine of Edwards' 13 completions. "That made it so much tougher."
The Mountaineers saved face somewhat in the second half -- outscoring the Tigers 13-10 -- but the early damage was irreversible.
"We executed last year against Michigan, we just couldn't do it this time," Edwards said. "We just weren't as sharp.… We really had problems executing when they blitzed."
Les Miles, LSU's coach, complimented his team's intensity level from the start.
"We came off the football and did things on offense and defense that we need to do." Miles said. "I liked our first 30 minutes, certainly."
The Tigers finished up with 266 rushing yards.
"The offensive line open up big holes and I just found them," said Scott, whose 160 yards were a career high.
Defensive tackle Anthony Williams said that it was a long day.
"We were all running to the ball and playing hard, but we just did not execute our calls," Williams said. "And (LSU) came out ready to play. It showed."
■ Tommy Bowman can be reached at 727-7320 or at tbowman@wsjournal.com.
App. State 0 0 7 6 -- 13
LSU 14 17 3 7 -- 41
First Quarter
LSU--Scott 8 run (Jasper kick), 11:53.
LSU--Byrd 17 pass from Hatch (Jasper kick), 5:40.
Second Quarter
LSU--FG Jasper 21, 14:56.
LSU--LaFell 31 pass from Lee (Jasper kick), 5:35.
LSU--Scott 29 run (Jasper kick), :17.
Third Quarter
ASU--Welton 44 pass from Edwards (Vitaris kick), 6:06.
LSU--FG Jasper 33, 3:18.
Fourth Quarter
ASU--FG Vitaris 24, 14:56.
LSU--LaFell 39 pass from Lee (Jasper kick), 10:03.
ASU--FG Vitaris 44, :21.
A--91,922.
TEAM STATISTICS
ASU LSU
First downs 11 20
Rushes-yards 28-52 40-266
Passing 187 193
Comp-Att-Int 14-33-0 13-24-1
Return Yards 27 40
Punts-Avg. 8-39.5 5-29.4
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 4-30 8-59
Time of Possession 28:12 31:48
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Appalachian State, Moore 8-23, Edwards 12-23, Presley 1-17, Radford 2-7, Welton 1-3, Hillary 2-(minus 2), Stewart 1-(minus 7), Team 1-(minus 12). LSU, Scott 16-160, Hatch 7-43, K.Williams 6-24, Murphy 4-21, S.Ridley 2-17, Q.Johnson 1-4, LaFell 1-2, Holliday 1-0, Team 1-(minus 1), J.Mitchell 1-(minus 4).
PASSING--Appalachian State, Edwards 13-31-0-155, Presley 1-1-0-32, Stewart 0-1-0-0. LSU, Hatch 7-14-0-77, Lee 6-10-1-116.
RECEIVING--Appalachian State, Hillary 9-80, Welton 1-44, Radford 1-32, Moore 1-19, Quick 1-8, Elder 1-4. LSU, LaFell 4-87, Dickson 3-35, Byrd 3-34, J.Mitchell 1-19, Scott 1-14, K.Williams 1-4.
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