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LSU's Joe Burrow Continues His Hunt for the Heisman Trophy vs. Vanderbilt
LSU senior quarterback Joe Burrow wasn't messing around on Saturday, putting his early-season Heisman Trophy push on full display against Vanderbilt with a monster first half. Through two quarters, Burrow completed 18-of-24 attempts for 357 passing yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions and continued to dominate after halftime.
Burrow's impressive passing yards were the most in a first half by any player against an SEC defense in at least the last 15 years, according to the SEC Network broadcast. His performance, which comes under the Tigers' new lethal spread offense, came days after his Heisman odds in Vegas surged.
Sophomore wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase was Burrow's top target, tallying three touchdowns and 199 yards on seven catches in the first half. Among Chase's first-half feats were a 64-yard catch-and-run score and a 51-yarder.
Burrow tossed for his fifth and sixth touchdowns of the game in the third quarter, extending the Tigers lead over the Commodores and connecting with Chase once again to give the star receiver his fourth score of the game. With his sixth TD, Burrow set an LSU record for passing scores. The Heisman hopeful was then taken out of the game and replaced by Myles Brennan.
Burrow finished with 398 yards on 73.5% completion without a single interception, averaging 11.7 yards per carry.
Going into Saturday's SEC clash, Burrow was the only quarterback over the past 20 seasons to have an 83% completion percentage and more than 1,100 passing yards in his first three games.
The final score, 66–38, marked the most points LSU has scored in regulation since a 70–14 win over Arkansas State in 1991.
