Texas Tech entered the Texas Bowl with one of the worst run defenses in the nation.
LSU arrived with running back Leonard Fournette.
What happened next was pretty predictable.
Fournette rushed for 212 yards and scored a bowl-record five touchdowns, leading the Tigers to a 56-27 win over the Red Raiders on Tuesday at NRG Stadium in Houston.
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Fournette pummeled Texas Tech defenders and went over 200 yards for the fourth time this season. The sophomore, who is not eligible for this spring's NFL Draft, scored on runs of 43 yards, 4 yards, and 2 yards (twice). He also caught a touchdown pass in the first half, helping the Tigers overcome a big performance from Texas Tech quarterback Pat Mahomes.
Mahomes completed 28 of 56 passes for 370 yards and four touchdowns, three to receiver Jakeem Grant, but couldn't keep up with Fournette and the Tigers in the second half. Mahomes was intercepted once. Grant finished with 125 yards on 10 catches.
LSU (9-3) rushed for 384 yards. Texas Tech (7-6) finished with 29 yards on the ground. Tigers quarterback Brandon Harris, running back Darrel Williams and receiver D.J. Chark each had rushing touchdowns.
The Red Raiders were very much in the game until midway through the third quarter. Trailing 28-20, Texas Tech was threatening at the LSU 16-yard line when Tigers defensive back Rickey Jefferson picked off a deflected pass near the goal line to end the Red Raiders' drive.
LSU quickly turned the turnover into points, with Fournette scoring from 4 yards out to put the Tigers up 35-20 with four minutes left in the period. Texas Tech never recovered.
LSU racked up 638 total yards on Texas Tech's beleaguered defense and averaged 9.6 yards per rush. Harris completed 13 of 22 passes for 254 yards with a passing and a rushing touchdown. He was picked off once.
The win caps an up-and-down season for the Tigers, who were ranked as high as No. 2 at one point, only to endure a three-game losing streak in November that almost cost Les Miles his job.
After a 38-17 defeat to Ole Miss, reports surfaced that Miles would be relieved. However, the Tigers rallied around their coach and carried him off the field after a 19-7 win over Texas A&M to end the regular season.
"When you start the offseason with victory, you recruit well," Miles told reporters, according to the Baton Rouge Advocate. "In spring ball, it will start by pointing toward the College Playoff. It's where we want to be."
LSU led 21-13 at halftime. Fournette rushed for a score and caught a 44-yard touchdown on a screen pass in the first half. Grant caught two touchdown passes from Mahomes in the first half to keep Texas Tech close.
Fournette finished the year with 1,953 yards, joining Alabama's Derrick Henry as the only two backs in Southeastern Conference history to rush for more than 1,900 yards in a season.
"We'd expect him to have nights like this," Miles said of Fournette, according to the Advocate. "He's fast and strong and capable."
LSU sacked Mahomes six times and impressed Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury.
"That was a different level of pass rush than we've seen this year," Kingsbury said, via the Advocate.
The 36-year-old coach believes it was a year of improvement and is excited for what he has coming back next season, including Mahomes.
"It was a big improvement from the year before," Kinsburgy said, according to RedRaiders.com. "Offensively, we set a school record for most points, so we're heading in the right direction there. Defensively, we've got to get a lot better."
NOTES: RB Leonard Fournette broke the LSU record for rushing touchdowns in a season with 22. ... Texas Tech QB Pat Mahomes went over 5,000 total yards on the season. He is the 12th quarterback in NCAA history to reach the milestone. ... LSU opens the 2016 season against the Wisconsin Badgers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. ... Tuesday's game was an announced sellout. It was the second time since the bowl's inception that single-game tickets sold out.
