GLENDALE, Ariz. — Nick Brossette waited patiently for three years to get his LSU career off the ground, but it came to a storybook ending.
The running back carried the ball 29 times for 117 yards in LSU’s 40-32 win over UCF in the Fiesta Bowl on Tuesday. With that effort, Brossette finished his senior season with 1,039 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns.
Brossette reached the 1,000-yard plateau with a 11-yard carry in the third quarter, making him the 13th runner in LSU history to do so.
It’s a milestone that Brossette set his sights on way back in fall camp. He freely admits tracking his own progress on a weekly basis, and he knew it would take 78 yards in the bowl game to reach the goal.
“It means a lot,” Brossette said. “It was one of my goals coming into this season. I finally accomplished it, and I’m just proud of myself right now.”
LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette kept count as the Fiesta Bowl went on, Brossette said. He let him know how close he was at halftime, and Brossette knew he was closing in after he broke a 24-yard run during LSU’s opening possession of the second half.
After years of sitting behind the likes of Leonard Fournette, Derrius Guice and Darrel Williams, Brossette ceased his opportunity this season and ran with it. Now his name will be logged forever in the program’s history books with those of the prolific runners who came before him.
“Getting 1,000 yards is huge for me, and I’m just proud of myself,” Brossette said. “Nobody thought I could do it. My family just believed in me.”
HISTORY MADE
LSU coach Ed Orgeron probably would’ve preferred LSU scored more touchdowns and taken the suspense out of the fourth quarter, but the Tigers’ continued red zone struggled resulted in a bit of history.
Kicker Cole Tracy connected on three chip shot field goals in the Fiesta Bowl, setting a pair of records in the process.
With those three successful kicks, Tracy finished his season with an LSU-record 29 field goals. That broke Josh Jasper’s previous record of 28, which was set in 2010. Tracy now also owns the NCAA’s all-time record for career field goals made across all levels with 97.
“To be honest with you, I won’t lie to you, I was aware of it,” Tracy told reporters of being close to the records. “Just being a kicker, that’s one thing that you follow, but to be honest, I didn’t think it would happen. I was fortunate and happy that it did.”
Orgeron has heaped praise on Tracy since his arrival on campus this summer. When asked how LSU will move on without him, Orgeron responded that he plans to LSU’s future kickers study film on Tracy and what made him great.
“We signed a good kicker,” Orgeron said, referring to 2019 signee Cade York. “We like him. I think we’ll continue to go on, but this guy’s special. He has some special intangibles about himself. He’s a winner. He’s going to be a good NFL kicker for a long time.”
STATEMENT MADE
Freshman cornerback Kelvin Joseph had to watch the Fiesta Bowl on television after being suspended for a violation of team rules.
Joseph took to twitter shortly after LSU secured the 40-32 victory and promised to not let it happen again. It is unclear what led to Joseph’s suspension as LSU tends to keep such details in house.
“I want to apologize to the whole tigers family that I let down in this critical situation,” Joseph wrote. “I want to let y’all know it won’t happen again(.) 2019 all gas no breaks(.) Tough times don’t last forever tough people do.”
With Joseph suspended, LSU began the Fiesta Bowl missing three of its top four cornerbacks. Terrence Alexander, who got the start at cornerback, got ejected for throwing a punch in the first quarter.
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