ARLINGTON, Texas — Jarrett Lee admirably directed LSU’s offense in place of suspended quarterback Jordan Jefferson and missing cornerback-punt returner Cliff Harris was too much for Oregon to overcome in a rare season-opening matchup of top-five teams on a neutral field.
Lee threw for a touchdown, on a pass against the freshman defensive back filling in for Harris, and fourth-ranked LSU defeated the No. 3 Ducks 40-27 on Saturday night while converting three of Oregon’s four turnovers into 20 points.
Michael Ford and Spencer Ware had touchdown runs in a span of 3:20 late in the third quarter after third-string Oregon running back De’Anthony Thomas fumbled on consecutive touches, one on a rushing attempt and then on the ensuing kickoff.
Oregon, which lost to Auburn in the BCS national championship game last season, has consecutive losses for the first time since losing its last three regular-season games in 2007.
LSU took a 16-13 lead just before halftime, going ahead to stay, on Rueben Randle’s 10-yard TD catch from Lee.
Randle caught the ball in the front corner of the end zone over freshman cornerback Terrance Mitchell — in the spot Harris would have been playing on defense.
The other LSU touchdown before halftime came when fill-in punt returner Kenjon Barner fielded a punt inside the 5 and took a couple of steps back. That’s when Tyrann Mathieu stripped the ball away, scooped it up after it bounced on the turf and took a couple of steps into the end zone.
LSU has won 34 consecutive nonconference games, the longest such streak in the nation, including all 23 in the regular season under seventh- year coach Les Miles.
“Our football team is united. They play together,” Miles said. “You put a ball on the line and they’ll scrap you for it. This is a great group of guys.”
