RICE: No. 7 LSU overpowers Owls.
BATON ROUGE, La. — When Joe Burrow found freshman receiver Ja'Marr Chase deep down the left sideline to the Rice 2, it marked the LSU's quarterback's 11th completion of 15 or more yards.
And that was before five minutes had elapsed in the third quarter.
Burrow passed for a career-high 307 yards and two touchdowns in less than three quarters, and No. 7 LSU rolled to a 42-10 victory over Rice on Saturday night.
“For the confidence of this offense, it was important for us to click tonight,” Burrow said. “We wanted to move the ball without any hesitation or road blocks. For the most part, I think we did that.”
The Tigers (9-2) led Rice (1-11) 35-3 midway through the third quarter en route to a victory in which the only drama involved whether LSU would cover a point spread hovering around 44 points before kickoff.
The question now is whether the kind of passing proficiency Burrow and Co. achieved against a team on an 11-game skid translates in a meaningful way in a relatively high-stakes Southeastern Conference finale at Texas A&M next weekend. With a victory in that game, LSU can clinch its first 10-win season under coach Ed Orgeron — and virtually ensure a New Year's Day bowl bid
“No question, we've got to put the ball in athletes' hands in space and we did a better job of that tonight,” Orgeron said.