For the second straight week LSU came out flat and had to fight against a team it was expected to steamroll.

The final margin, 44-22 in favor of the Tigers, looks comfortable enough, but LSU was leading by just eight points against Eastern Michigan in the fourth quarter on Saturday.

Despite the sloppiness, LSU sits 4-0 as it prepares for a return to conference play this week.

5 TAKEAWAYS

  • Leonard Fournette is making history: The Tigers sophomore tailback continues his assault on opposing defenses. It appears his next target will be the record books. After toting 26 times for 233 yards and another three touchdowns against Eastern Michigan, Fournette is now the only player in SEC history to top 200 yards in three straight games. Through four games, he’s run for 864 yards and 11 touchdowns.
  • Fournette needs some help: While the Tigers nearly hit 400 rushing yards, the passing game took a step back Saturday. Brandon Harris finished 4 of 15 for 80 yards and was plagued by multiple drops from the LSU receiving corps. Harris completed just one pass after the first quarter.
  • Defense remains a bit of a mystery: It’s safe to say 22 points is more than LSU had planned to surrender to a 45-point underdog, but it’s not clear-cut case of under-performance — though there was some of that, as well. The Tigers substituted liberally, especially after jumping out to a 17-0 lead in the first half, and the reserves were on the field as Eastern Michigan gained much of its 255 yards. The Tigers intercepted three passes and allowed just 94 rushing yards on 33 carries, but it seemed that when Eastern Michigan needed to move the ball during the game’s middle portions, it was able to do so.
  • Kickoff coverage must improve: Big returns yielded by LSU special teams have been an issue throughout the season and cropped up again Saturday night. A big return on a second-quarter kickoff gave Eastern Michigan favorable field position and helped set up the Eagles’ first touchdown. It wasn’t egregious, and if it wasn’t an ongoing issue for LSU, it would almost certainly go unnoticed. But the Tigers have struggled to contain kickoff and punt returns in all four games thus far, and the margin for error in all realms is about to shrink significantly as LSU moves through the remainder of its SEC slate. South Carolina will enter this week’s game winless in conference play, but the Gamecocks have some bona fide threats — especially wide receiver/punt returner Pharoh Cooper.
  • Derrius Guice is going to do some good things before his time in Baton Rouge is done: Because it took more than three full quarters for LSU to gain ample separation, we didn’t get to see as much of the true freshman running back as might have been expected against Eastern Michigan, but what we saw was enough to whet the appetite. Tigers coaches have raved about Guice since he showed up on campus, and the 220-pounder flashed big-time speed and power in a small sample (three carries, 34 yards)

REPORT CARD

Offense: C — That’s an A for the running game and an F for all facets of the passing game.

Defense: C — The LSU defense looked excellent at times and appeared lethargic at others. The raw stats — 255 yards allowed, three turnovers forced — look good, but Eastern Michigan reached paydirt on all three of its red-zone opportunities and controlled the ball for more than half of the game.

Special Teams: B — Trent Domingue keeps drilling field goals, and that shouldn’t be overlooked. After making all three attempts — including a season long of 45 yards — on Saturday, he’s 6 of 6 on the season. Punter Jamie Keehn also was solid, but the Tigers lose points for lackluster kickoff coverage.

Coaching: C — The Tigers clearly hoped to get their reserves some extra work this week; maybe in the future they should consider waiting until the game is in hand before substituting so freely. But the bigger issue here is the fact that for the second straight week, LSU did not appear ready to play to the peak of its abilities. It’s on the coaches to correct that, and after a subpar effort against Syracuse, the staff isn’t getting another pass.

Overall: C+ — Three-touchdown victories shouldn’t be sneered at, but other than Fournette’s highlights, this is a game most Tigers fan would be fine forgetting.

GAME PLAN

Give the coaches some credit for taking some shots in the passing game. They’ve slowly been bringing Brandon Harris along and seemed ready to unleash him against Eastern Michigan. It just didn’t work out like they planned. LSU’s receivers got little separation, dropped too many passes, and Harris misfired multiple times. In short, it was sloppy. It would’ve been nice to see the Tigers set the passing game up for easier success with some short, high-percentage throws, but the repeated shots downfield did have the benefit of drawing repeated pass interference calls on Eastern Michigan.

GAME BALLS

  • RB Leonard Fournette: The Tigers needed him much more than most thought they would Saturday; it wasn’t until his final carry and third touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter that the threat of the unthinkable finally subsided.
  • DE Lewis Neal:  A week after leading the team with seven tackles, the junior defensive end notched a pair of sacks. He’s now tied with the team lead with three, and a big reason why the Tigers are already more than halfway to last year’s sack total for the entire season.
  • Offensive line: Fournette (deservingly) gets the glory, but every running back had room to run on Saturday. In addition to Guice’s 34 yards, Darrel Williams finished with 89 yards on 11 carries as the Tigers carried 49 times for 399 yards.
  • Kevin Toliver : The true freshman continues to impress, coming up with his first career interception in the fourth quarter.

INJURY UPDATE

  • LB Lamar Louis left the game with an undisclosed injury and did not return.
  • DE Tashawn Bower (leg) did not dress out.
  • S Jalen Mills remained sidelined by a fractured fibula and did not dress out.
  • TE Dillon Gordon (Achilles) did not dress out
  • OL Adrian Magee (foot) remains out indefinitely after surgery in August.