LSU finishes regular season with crucial win over Aggies

BATON ROUGE -- Leonard Fournette broke the program's 38-year-old single-season rushing record as the LSU football team snapped a three-game skid by beating Texas A&M for the fifth-straight time, 19-7, on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.

Fournette ran 32 times for 159 yards and a touchdown that put the game out of reach against the Aggies, passing Charles Alexander's 1977 rushing total of 1,686. Both played 11 games in the regular season.

With a bowl game to be included in his season tally - unlike Alexander, whose bowl stats did not count toward NCAA totals at that time - Fournette has rushed for 1,741 yards on 271 carries in his sophomore season. The SEC record for single-season rushing yards was set in 1981 by Herschel Walker of Georgia (1,891).

Fournette added a team-high four catches for 43 yards.

Trent Domingue hit field goals of 32 and 38 yards to put LSU ahead before the Aggies scored its only touchdown to lead 7-6 in the first quarter.

Freshman running back Derrius Guice put LSU ahead for good, 13-7, with a 50-yard end-around for a touchdown midway through the third quarter. Fournette's 4-yard touchdown run with 2:50 remaining gave LSU it's final margin.

Guice finished with 73 yards on 10 carries.

The Tigers defense carried its offense throughout the game, holding Texas A&M to 250 total yards with four sacks, an interception and two fumble recoveries.

As the clock expired and firework were fired from the south endzone, LSU head coach Les Miles was carried from midfield by Christian LaCouture and Vadal Alexander to the northwest corner of the stadium where the Golden Band from Tigerland played the LSU Alma Mater.

"I want to make it clear that Les Miles is our football coach and will continue to be our football coach," LSU Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Joe Alleva said in a postseason press conference prior to Miles' media briefing.

LSU (8-3, 5-3 SEC) awaits its postseason bowl destination, which will be announced on Sunday, Dec. 6.

Texas A&M (8-4, 4-4 SEC) was led by quarterback Kyle Allen, who was 15-of-28 passing for 161 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Running back Tra Carson had 69 net yards on 19 carries, as the Aggies finished with 89 rushing yards as a team on 33 attempts.