COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) – Derrius Guice ran for a school-record 285 yards with four touchdowns and Danny Etling threw for 324 yards and two scores to give short-handed No. 25 LSU a 54-39 victory over No. 22 Texas A&M on Thursday night.
The Tigers were playing without star running back Leonard Fournette and leading tackler Kendell Beckwith because of injuries. But Guice and Etling did plenty to allow LSU (7-4, 5-3 SEC) to handle Texas A&M, and gave the Tigers a 300-yard passer and a 200-yard rusher in the same game for the first time in school history.
It certainly wasn’t the first time Guice has had a big game this year, with Fournette struggling with an ankle injury for a big chunk of the season. His performance pushed his career-high rushing total to 1,249 and his four TDs were a career high. The game gave him one more yard than Fournette gained to set the school’s single-game rushing record last month.
The Tigers spoke this week about wanting a win to help boost interim coach Ed Orgeron’s chances of keeping the job. But on Thursday reports surfaced that LSU was zeroing in on Houston’s Tom Herman. The reports prompted LSU’s vice chancellor and athletic director Joe Alleva and university administration to issue a statement denying they had chosen a new coach and praising Orgeron’s work since taking over in September when Les Miles was fired.
While LSU wasn’t at full strength, the Aggies (8-4, 4-4) were the healthiest they’ve been in weeks, with defensive end Myles Garrett over an ankle injury and quarterback Trevor Knight back from a shoulder injury. Knight made an unexpected return after missing the last two games with the injury. Coach Kevin Sumlin said days after he was injured that he would miss the remainder of the regular season but would return for A&M’s bowl game. Instead he returned to throw for 211 yards and three touchdowns before leaving the game late in the fourth quarter with what looked to be a knee injury.