Tigers down Kentucky 35-7, ‘repay a debt’

The LSU and Kentucky series has been a wild one since the turn of the millennium. Unless you put the game in Tiger Stadium.

While the Tigers' recent trips to Lexington, Ky., have been complete with Bluegrass Miracles and triple-overtime heartbreak, the Wildcats again couldn't mount a serious threat between the Tiger Stadium lines, even with a sluggish LSU team and sleepy crowd playing to their advantage.

LSU's 35-7 victory Saturday kept LSU at No. 1 in the AP poll and marked the third consecutive victory for LSU against Kentucky at home dating to 2000. The Tigers outscored the Wildcats, 118-7, in those three meetings, and Kentucky's fourth-quarter touchdown Saturday was the first in its last 12 quarters of play in Baton Rouge.

While LSU seemed to spend much of the game exhaling from a rugged four-game opening stretch, coach Les Miles said his team had plenty of motivation despite Kentucky's slow start to the season.

"I told this team to repay a debt to the 2007 team," Miles said in reference to that team's 43-37 loss in triple-overtime in Lexington. "We were ranked No. 1, then we went to Kentucky and finished second in the ballgame. I think that they took that to heart."

While today's Tigers remain the nation's top team, Southeastern Conference rival Alabama continued to creep closer to LSU after it moved to No. 2 following a pair of dominant conference wins against Arkansas and at Florida. It's the first time since 2000 that the top two teams in the poll are from the same division.

LSU opened the scoring with a familiar face back under center. Embattled senior quarterback Jordan Jefferson, making his first appearance since a suspension from his involvement in August's infamous Shady's bar fight, scored a touchdown on a quarterback sneak midway through the first quarter to put LSU ahead, 7-0.

But his entrance was met with a chorus of boos from a previously subdued Tiger crowd.

While LSU lost sophomore running back Spencer Ware to an early hamstring injury and struggled on offense most of the game, the Tigers may have found some new firepower at the skill positions.

Heralded freshman running back Terrence Magee's redshirt was removed, and he scored a touchdown in his first career appearance as a Tiger. Overall, six Tigers received carries in the game, and sophomore Alfred Blue led the way with 16 rushes for 72 yards — both career highs — and a touchdown.

Freshman receiver Odell Beckham Jr. wowed with three catches for 75 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown reception where he dashed across the length of the field while eluding several Kentucky defenders en route to the end zone.

Miles said he was "pleasantly surprised" with the youngster's contributions, but indicated that Ware might have returned if the game had been tight.

"He could've played," Miles said. "The good news is he'll have time to rehab it and quiet it down. It's a muscle issue."

Kentucky managed only two first downs in the first half, as LSU's defense harassed Kentucky's two quarterbacks to a horrendous passing day while sacking them five times. Kentucky had just 155 yards of total offense in the game.

Sophomore defensive back Tyrann Mathieu continued his fringe Heisman candidacy with another virtuosic performance. Mathieu forced two more fumbles, giving him nine in 18 games and setting the LSU career record. He essentially sealed the victory with a sack and strip of Kentucky freshman quarterback Maxwell Smith that he picked up and returned 23 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter for a 28-0 LSU advantage.

The Tigers' bruising defensive performance forced Wildcat coach Joker Phillips to rotate between weary quarterbacks and open his post-game press conference with an injury report.

With LSU preparing for its annual showdown with Florida, whose starting quarterback John Brantley was knocked out of Saturday's game against Alabama, the Tiger defense will likely have another chance to tee off on an unsteady quarterback core next week.

"It's Florida," said junior corner back Morris Claiborne. "We've all been around for these match-ups and watched some of those great games. Our defense has to prove itself again against them. The team knows what kind of history is there. We paid back UK, now we're ready for the next challenge."

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Contact Chris Abshire at cabshire@lsureveille.com