Steve Jones

Louisville Courier Journal

ORLANDO, Fla. - LSU's defense shut down Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson en route to a dominant performance, and Tigers running back Derrius Guice scored two touchdowns as No. 20 LSU handled No. 15 Louisville 29-9 on Saturday in the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl.

Jackson was sacked eight times and limited to 153 yards passing (10-for-27) and 33 yards rushing as the Cards finished the season with three straight losses. He fumbled the ball away on his last carry.

The Cards had season lows with 220 total yards and 11 first downs and failed to score a touchdown for the first time this season. They converted 2 of 17 third-down tries.

"We got beat by a good football team," U of L coach Bobby Petrino said. "We knew coming in that they were very good on defense and in the front seven (have) guys that are big and strong and physical, and they've got really good cover guys. I think we hurt ourselves early in the game with negative plays, either assignment errors or good pass rushes and not being able to get the ball out throw it away.

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"When you're going backwards and you get behind the sticks, it's really hard to make first downs against them."

Guice ran for 139 yards, including a 70-yard TD in the third quarter, as LSU (8-4) didn't appear to miss its other superstar running back, Leonard Fournette, who skipped the bowl to start prepping for the NFL draft. He also caught a 1-yard TD pass and powerfully knocked over U of L kicker Blanton Creque on a 50-yard kickoff return.

James Quick was a top performer for Louisville on a day it had few, making three catches for 81 yards.

The first half was a rough one for Louisville, which got two field goals by Creque but little else in trailing 16-6 at halftime.

The Cardinals punted on five of their eight series, and Jackson was sacked for a safety on another one. U of L managed just 57 total yards - 53 of them coming on a single completion from Jackson to James Quick that set up a field goal. Jackson was sacked five times in the half.

He completed only two passes in the first half, and (with sacks included) ran for negative-24 yards.

Creque's 24-yard kick at the 7:14 mark of the first quarter gave U of L a 3-0 lead, but LSU went ahead on the first play of the second quarter when Danny Etling found tight end Colin Jeter for a 1-yard touchdown.

Etling threw another 1-yard TD pass to running back Derrius Guice.

Etling passed for 187 yards in the half, most of it going to top wide receiver Malachi Dupre, who had six catches for 136 yards before halftime. He 139 yards for the game.

The Cards were playing short-handed on defense.

Starting safety Josh Harvey-Clemons and starting cornerback Trumaine Washington both missed the games with injury, while backup corners Shaq Wiggins and Alphonso Carter also sat out. U of L was also without outside linebackers James Hearns, who's a starter, and Henry Famurewa, who were injured in a shooting at an off-campus party this month.

LSU finished with a 35:38 advantage in time of possession, and Petrino said he believes the defense was forced to stay on the field too long because of the offense's struggles.

"I thought our defense competed hard, but we got worn down and worn out," the coach said. "They had a big run there (from Guice) that really hurt us."