Veteran sportswriter Tony Barnhart does not idly toss around compliments. But during LSU’s demolition of Auburn Saturday, he felt compelled to comment on the Bayou Bengals running back Leonard Fournette.

“I never compare any running back to Herschel Walker, but … Leonard Fournette, wow.”

That is not a stretch to compare the two.

Fournette made several plays against Auburn to warrant such a compliment.

On the first play from scrimmage, the New Orleans native ripped off a 71-yard run through the heart of the Auburn defense. Although he had a tad of help with a screen from an official, it would not have mattered if safety Rudy Ford had been in position. Fournette was not going to be stopped.

It is interesting Ford was one of the players from Auburn that would miss tackles all day. The defensive back said during the week that tackling Fournette “shouldn’t be that tough.”

Ford, and the rest of the Tiger defense, had plenty of time looking at the back of Fournette’s jersey to re-evaluate that statement.

For the game, Fournette gained 228 yards on 19 carries and three touchdowns. He averaged a Herschel-like 12 yards per attempt.

But the comparison to Walker is not in the numbers, it is how he got the numbers.

In the third quarter, Fournette took the ball around the left side, cut upfield and was met by a host of defenders. A few seconds later, seven Auburn players had made contact with Fournette, but he rambled for 10 more yards. By the way, the never did go to the ground — he went out of bounds.

Approaching the 200-yard mark, Fournette got there in mythological fashion. He broke a 29-yard scoring run that was far from a stroll in the park. Again, tacklers fell off him like the skin off the boiled shrimp in the Tiger Stadium tailgate area.

Finally, he put the exclamation point of his game by perfectly performing a Herschel “over-the-top” plunge to score his third touchdown.

On the play, he did tweak his body a little bit (perhaps due to a helmet to the leg) and was relegated to the sideline and spent the rest of the game on the bench or on a stationary bike.

I am not sure, but I think he gained another 75 yards on the bike as the Auburn defense could not knock him off that either.

As a freshman a year ago, Fournette struck a Heisman pose after scoring a touchdown and was quickly reprimanded by the LSU coaches. Maybe he should get a little latitude this season. He could be in line for the trophy as an underclassman, just like Walker.

Barnhart took to the internet once more after the game and summed up Fournette’s effort perfectly.

“A man among boys.”