DALLAS (FWAA) The LSU Tigers rallied with a 95-yard drive midway through the fourth quarter, then snagged a last-second interception to knock off another of the unbeatens, holding off No. 3 Ole Miss 10-7 in a Homecoming thriller in front of 102,321 at Tiger Stadium. The win earned the Big Game National Team of the Week honor for games of the weekend of Oct. 25.
The announcement came exclusively on SiriusXM Radio's "College Sports Today," hosted by Mark Packer and Houston Nutt.
LSU ran the ball 55 times for 264 yards against the nations fifth-best rushing defense that gave up only 97 per game entering the night. Leonard Fournette rushed 23 times for 113 yards and averaged almost five yards per carry. But trailing 7-3 in the fourth quarter, it was a 3-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Jennigns to tight end Logan Stokes with 5:07 left that provided the game-winner. The Tigers also scored on a 90-yard drive in the first half.
It was the Tigers' 24th fourth-quarter comeback win under head coach Les Miles and their third this season.
"You might have thought it was a middle-1970s game (with the rushing success)," LSU head coach Les Miles said after the game. "One thing about these Tigers: If you put them in Tiger Stadium, and give us a little time to fix things, we are going to be very special. This team wanted to make this night special, and they did."
LSU has won 10 of the last 13 meetings with Ole Miss, and has now defeated at least one top-10 opponent in Tiger Stadium in each of the past five seasons.
Other Big Game National Team of the Week nominees for the weekend of Oct. 25 included:
TCU (6-1): Trevone Boykin threw a school-record seven touchdown passes and helped set a school scoring record with an 82-27 rout of Texas Tech. The 82 points also set a Big 12 record for a conference game under the guidance of co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie, a former Texas Tech quarterback and a member of Tech·s coaching staff the last four seasons.
Utah (6-1): The Utes· defense forced a fourth-down stop at its own 28 with 2:08 left, preserving a 24-21 win over No. 20 USC. The school-record crowd of 47,619 at Rice-Eccles Stadium saw Utah beat USC for the first time since 2001. Utah is off to its best start since winning its first eight games in 2010, and its 3-1 conference start is its best since joining the Pac-12 in 2011.
The Football Writers Association of America has named a national team of the week since the 2002 season. This is the first season The Big Game Football Factory has presented the award. Members of the FWAA All-America Committee decide the weekly honor. Each remaining Monday during the 2014 college football regular season, the FWAA will name a National Team of the Week.
Big Game USA is the largest American-owned football factory. Nearly half of all Football Bowl Subdivision programs play with a ball made by Big Game USA. This season, Big Game has introduced gametag, the latest development in football technology. It allows fans an opportunity to own a piece of football memorabilia, but more than that, gametag· offers complete authentication. Currently, four Division I schools (Mississippi State, Navy, Nebraska and Texas A&M) use balls equipped with gametag·. For more information about Big Game USA, visit biggameusa.com or contact Josh Eells at 972-292-0700 or jeells@biggameusa.com.
The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization
founded in 1941, consists of more than 1,400 men and women who cover college football.
The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key
executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas
that include gameday operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For
more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson
at tiger@fwaa.com or 214-870-6516.