LSU and Leonard Fournette run right over Auburn, 45-21

The jarring impact of Louisiana State running back Leonard Fournette’s shoulder with crumpling Auburn defensive back Blake Countess blew the top off of sold-out Tiger Stadium — and may have resonated with Heisman Trophy voters.

And if that 40-yard touchdown run wasn’t eye-catching enough, Fournette added a 29-yard score in which safety Tray Matthews tried to tackle the running back high, only to be sent tumbling, heels-over-head, toward the sideline.

The 6-foot-1, 230-pound Fournette finished that play with a finesse move that buckled the knees of safety Nick Ruffin, and No. 13 LSU was well on its way to a 45-21 victory over 18th-ranked Auburn on Saturday.

Fournette finished with a career-high 228 yards and three touchdowns in 19 carries — an average of 12 yards per carry. LSU finished with 411 yards rushing.

“It was fun,” he said of bowling over tacklers. “I did it in high school, now it’s in college. The crowd reacted wonderful.”

Fournette was rested for much of the second half — perhaps the only thing preventing him from breaking Alley Broussard’s single-game LSU rushing record of 250 yards, set against Mississippi in 2004.

“The bottom line is we got our rear kicked,” Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn said. “They did a good job blocking and the kid [Fournette] broke some tackles, too, and made a few big runs. But at the same time, in the first half the [Auburn] offense was awful. They really didn’t give our defense any kind of a spark or any kind of hope.”

Fournette has 387 yards and six touchdowns through the first two games for LSU (2-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference), which likely will go as far as its stellar sophomore running back can take it.

How far Auburn (2-1, 0-1) will fall in the national rankings will be apparent by Sunday. With its lopsided loss in Death Valley coming one week after it needed overtime to avoid an upset by lower-division Jacksonville State, odds are the Tigers will l be the latest SEC squad to tumble out of the AP Top 25.