• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Harris shines as No. 17 LSU routs New Mexico State

Sep 28, 2014 - 4:04 AM Baton Rouge, LA (SportsNetwork.com) - Freshman quarterback Brandon Harris took over for Anthony Jennings in the second quarter and scored five total touchdowns as the No. 17 LSU Tigers routed the New Mexico State Aggies, 63-7, on Saturday.

Harris completed 11 of his 14 passes for 178 yards and three passing touchdowns. He also added 36 yards and two scores on the ground for the Tigers (4-1), who extended their non-conference regular season winning streak to 49 games.

Malachi Dupree, Travin Dural and Melvin Jones each caught a touchdown and Leonard Fournette finished with a game-high 122 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries in the best game of his young career.

Tyler Rogers threw for 86 yards on 14-of-31 passing with two touchdowns for the Aggies (2-3), who had Andrew Allen run for 113 yards and a touchdown on five carries.

The story of the first half was turnovers. LSU committed four and New Mexico State had three.

Both teams turned the ball over on their opening drive. Rogers' pass was intercepted by Tre'Davious White at the LSU 26 and two plays later Kawe Johnson laid down a hard hit on Jennings, whose fumble was recovered by Dalton Herrington at midfield.

Jennings was picked off on the first play from scrimmage by Johnson at 6:40. The Aggies moved the ball down to the Tigers' 23, but Maxwell Johnson missed a 40-yard field goal.

LSU took over and Terrance Magee ripped off two straight rushes for eight yards apiece, but Jennings was again intercepted, this time by Cassius Corley after he lofted a deep pass over the middle.

The Tigers started with great field position on their next drive after Steven Witkowski's punt veered out of bounds. Fournette rushed three straight times for a total of 22 yards, Trey Quinn hauled in a 7-yard pass and Magee found the end zone on an 11-yard scamper for a 7-0 lead with two minutes to play in the first quarter.

The turnover-fest continued. After the Aggies punted, Kenny Hilliard fumbled on a 4-yard rush and Johnson jumped on top of the loose ball. Two plays later, Rogers' pass was intercepted by Kendell Beckwith, who returned it 29 yards for a 14-0 lead late in the first.

Harris took over at quarterback and led the Tigers on an 11-play, 80-yard drive that Fournette capped with a 17-yard dash into the end zone.

LSU needed just three plays to score again. Harris connected with Dural on a 22-yard completion, Darrel Williams rushed 13 yards and Harris found Dupree in the left corner of the end zone from 27 yards out.

Allen got the Aggies on the board with 3:14 to play in the first half on a 79- yard sprint up the middle of the field for a touchdown.

But LSU answered right back with two straight scoring drives. Fournette powered his way from five yards out to score and Jalen Mills returned Marquette Washington's fumble 36 yards to set up Jones' 3-yard touchdown catch for a 42-7 lead heading into halftime.

Dural caught a 10-yard TD pass on the Tigers' opening drive of the second half. Harris scored the next two LSU touchdowns on the ground with a 1-yard rush with 1:48 to play in the third and a 2-yard scamper early in the fourth for a 63-7 score.

Game Notes

Both teams finished with four turnovers apiece ... Jennings finished 2-for-5 with 11 yards and two interceptions ... LSU also won the only other meeting between the two schools, 63-7, on Sept. 16, 1996 ... The Tigers outgained the Aggies, 563-274 ... LSU is 39-0 in non-conference regular season games under head coach Les Miles.