Scott scores twice as ninth-ranked LSU shuts out Tulane, 42-0

No. 9 LSU cruises past Tulane, 42-0

BATON ROUGE, La. — Brandon LaFell caught two touchdown passes, moving him into second on LSU’s career list, and the ninth-ranked Tigers shut out Tulane for the first time since 1969, 42-0 on Saturday night.

Charles Scott rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns and freshman Russell Shepard scored his second career TD — and second in as many games — with a 19-yard run. Jordan Jefferson threw for 163 yards and two scores, both to LaFell, who has 22 career TDs, four behind Dwayne Bowe.

On the 50th anniversary of Billy Cannon’s Halloween night, 89-yard punt return to beat Ole Miss, LSU’s Trindon Holliday was unable to take a punt all the way back. He did, however, have a pair of 50-yard returns, the second setting up Scott’s second touchdown.

LSU (7-1) now can set its sights on next weekend’s trip to Alabama, with the lead in the Southeastern Conference’s Western Division riding on the outcome.

Tulane (2-6) has lost four consecutive games this season and 18 straight to the Tigers since the Green Wave’s last victory in the series in 1982. That also was Tulane’s last win against a Top-25 team. The Wave has lost 38 straight against ranked teams, including BYU and Houston this season.

Tulane had only two decent scoring chances, both on second-quarter drives inside the LSU 20. The first ended when Tulane lost yards on two plays before Ross Thevenot hooked a 43-yard field-goal attempt wide left. The next stalled when Ryan Griffin’s tipped pass was intercepted by Patrick Peterson.

Griffin, a redshirt freshman, didn’t do too badly considering he was making only his second career start against one of the toughest defenses in the country. He completed 21 of 29 passes for 163 yards. He was sacked twice and intercepted once.

Jefferson was an efficient 11 for 17 passing, with one interception. LSU finished with a 455-216 advantage in total yards.

While Tulane’s defense forced a punt on LSU’s first possession, the Tigers quickly seized momentum when Daniel Graff blocked Thevenot’s punt and Stefoin Francois recovered, advancing the ball to the 23-yard line. It was the second time this season Tulane had a punt blocked and the first time LSU had blocked one since LaRon Landry did it at Florida in 2006.

Two plays later, Shepard scored on an elusive run in which he changed direction and cut back across the field.

Late in the first quarter, Jefferson rolled away from pressure and spotted LaFell open near the goal line for a 39-yard score. LaFell’s second touchdown reception early in the fourth made it 35-0 and put LaFell one TD reception ahead of Michael Clayton on LSU’s list.

Scott scored on 4- and 8-yard runs in the second and third quarters. His second touchdown gave him 32 rushing TDs for his career, moving him into fourth on LSU’s career list, one ahead of Terry Robiskie. Scott, a senior, will be hard pressed to catch leader Kevin Faulk, who had 46.