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LSU opens season with rout of Appalachian State

Aug 30, 2008 - 8:30 PM BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Ticker) -- One year after a pulling off a stunner in the "Big House," Appalachian State got burned in Death Valley.

Charles Scott rushed for a career-high 160 yards and two touchdowns Saturday, leading sixth-ranked Louisiana State to an early 41-13 rout of the Mountaineers.

With Hurricane Gustav moving into the Gulf of Mexico, kickoff was moved up from 4 p.m. to 10 a.m. local time so the game would end well before authorities planned to initiate one-way traffic along major evacuation routes away from Louisiana's coast.

"Overall, I like the way we started," LSU coach Les Miles said. "The first-game jitters starting at (10 a.m.), certainly, the feel of Tiger Stadium was different to our guys. It was a packed house at the start."

Appalachian State, the three-time defending Football Championship Subdivision national champions, opened last season by shocking then-No. 5 Michigan, 34-32, in Ann Arbor.

But any upset hopes at Tiger Stadium this year were dashed quickly, as LSU scored on its first three possessions.

"We came in here to win the football game," Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore said. "It wasn't like we came here to look good and hope we play good. That is one reason we are disappointed.

"They didn't play like Michigan. They played like LSU. I don't mean that in a bad way, I mean it in a good one. They were very well prepared and played well. If we are smart as coaches and if our players buy into it, we can take as much out of a loss to these guys as we can from a win from Michigan."

Scott needed just two carries to put the Tigers (1-0) ahead on the opening drive, rambling 56 yards on the first play from scrimmage and capping it with an 8-yard touchdown run.

The junior also scored from 29 yards out with 17 seconds left in the first half to give the reigning national champions a commanding 31-0 lead at the break.

"The offensive line opened up big holes for me and I just found them," Scott said.

Andrew Hatch, a transfer from Harvard making his first career start at quarterback for LSU, hooked up with Demetrius Byrd for a 17-yard score to make it 14-0 midway through the first quarter.

Josh Jasper kicked a 21-yard field goal early in the second quarter to continue the Tigers' fast start.

Freshman Jarrett Lee replaced Hatch under center for LSU's fifth drive. Hatch finished 7-of-14 for 77 yards and ran for 43 yards. Lee was 6-of-10 for 116 yards with scoring passes of 31 and 39 yards to Brandon LaFell. Lee also threw an interception that set up a Mountaineers' field goal.

"It was awesome to get out there with the team today," Hatch said. "I think we came out very strong and got things rolling. Offense put points on the board and defense did a great job too. Charles Scott had a great day with the ball as well."

LaFell caught a team-high four passes for 87 yards. Tight end Richard Dickson added three for 35 yards, while Byrd also caught three passes for 34 yards.

As a team, LSU gained 266 yards on the ground - more than Appalachian State's 239 total yards.

"The offensive line played well," Miles said. "I really thought that the leadership that came from those big guys up front was something we needed to have. (Center) Brett Helms played almost the whole first half. Ryan Miller played significantly, but I thought the leadership the line gave really helped us start strong and take control of the game."

The Mountaineers (0-1) finally scored with just over six minutes left in the third quarter when quarterback Armanti Edwards connected with running back Robert Welton for a 44-yard score.

Edwards played into the fourth quarter, finishing 13-of-31 for 155 yards and one touchdown. He was sacked only twice, but was repeatedly pressured and hit hard on runs or as he released hurried throws.

"I think we just kept making minor mistakes every drive missing throws dropping balls, missed blocks, any of those seemed to always happen on third down," Edwards said. "Speed was the difference. They're so much faster than Michigan was."