Third Quarter Key As Lsu Triumphs
Independence Bowl
Gabe Northern won’t be around for the future of LSU football. But the senior linebacker made a big impact in his last game Friday.
Northern’s 37-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown in the third quarter helped break open a close game as LSU beat Michigan State 45-26 in the Independence Bowl.
“I just had a determination that I was going to do something that was going to put the team over the top,” said Northern, who joined Greg Hill on a sack that forced the fumble with 9:20 left in the third quarter.
Less than a minute later, Allen Stansberry’s interception set up another score for the Tigers (7-4-1), in their first bowl since 1988. LSU tied a bowl record with 21 third-quarter points after trailing 24-21 at halftime.
In all, 15 records were broken.
“At halftime, we said, ‘Let’s forget the result of the game and just play well,”’ said LSU coach Gerry DiNardo. “Sometimes we were just short of a sack, just short of a big play.”
Freshman Kevin Faulk rushed for an Independence Bowl-record 234 yards on 25 carries. He scored twice. His 5-yard score on the second play of the third quarter gave LSU the lead for good at 28-24.
MSU (6-5-1) had six turnovers. The two in the third quarter beat them.
Eddie Kennison also set a record with a 92-yard kickoff return in the second quarter. He held the record only 13 seconds before Derrick Mason broke it with a 100-yard return as the teams traded touchdowns twice in 93 seconds in the second quarter.
xxxx LSU 45, Michigan St. 26 Michigan St. 7 17 0 2 - 26 LSU 7 14 21 3 - 45 MSUMuhammad 78 pass from Banks (Gardner kick) LSUCleveland 6 run (A.Lafleur kick) MSUGreene 3 run (kick blocked) LSUKennison 92 kickoff return (A.Lafleur kick) MSUMason 100 kickoff return (Greene run) LSUFaulk 51 run (A.Lafleur kick) MSUFG Gardner 37 LSUFaulk 5 run (A.Lafleur kick) LSUNorthern 37 fumble recovery (A.Lafleur kick) LSUKennison 27 pass from Hill (A.Lafleur kick) LSU-FG Richey 48 MSUSafety Kessler steps out of end zone A-48,835. MSU LSU. First downs 23 17 Rushes-yards 35-100 48-272 Passing 348 164 Return Yards 43 26 Comp-Att-Int 22-44-3 10-20-1 Punts 6-38 4-45 Fumbles-Lost 4-3 2-1 Penalties-Yards 9-80 5-42 Time of Possession 30:10 29:50 Individual statistics RUSHINGMichigan St., Renaud 16-79, Greene 8-48, Crenshaw 1-1, Banks 10-(minus 28). LSU, Faulk 25-234, Cleveland 13-23, Toomer 4-13, Kennison 1-6, Tyler 4-(minus 1), Kessler 1-(minus 3). PASSINGMichigan St., Banks 22-44-3-348. LSU, Tyler 10-20-1-164. RECEIVINGMichigan St., Muhammed 9-171, Mason 6-74, Renaud 2-47, Carter 2-16, Outlaw 2-24, Keur 1-16. LSU, Kennison 5-124, D.LaFleur 2-31, Toomer 1-9, Faulk 1-4, Cleveland 1-(minus 4).