STARKVILLE, Miss. Barry Sanders Jersey . -- Zach Mettenberger surveyed the field with plenty of time to throw and then delivered a perfect spiral to Odell Beckham Jr., who stopped short of the sideline, spun inside and galloped 33 yards untouched for the touchdown. It was the ninth and final time the two hooked up for a completion Saturday night. And it proved to be the knockout blow. Mettenberger threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns, Beckham had 179 yards receiving and two TDs and No. 10 LSU blew past Mississippi State for a 59-26 victory. It was obvious from the outset that Mississippi States defence was loading the line of scrimmage to stop the run, daring LSU to throw. The Tigers obliged, grabbing big chunks of yards on the Bulldogs defence. "They were playing the run game a little bit hard," Beckham said. "I give all credit to Zach. Hes been making all the right plays and all the right reads since the season began." It was a tight game for three quarters, but Mettenbergers touchdown to Beckham gave LSU a 38-26 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter and Mississippi State couldnt respond. LSU closed the game on a 31-0 run, including four touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Mettenberger completed 25 of 29 passes in another impressive performance during the seniors breakout season. Beckham was his favourite target -- but Jarvis Landry also caught eight passes for 96 yards. It was a nearly flawless performance, and helped erase some of the sting of last weeks 44-41 loss to Georgia. But Mettenberger said theres still room for improvement. "There was about two series that Id like to have back where we took our foot off the gas," Mettenberger said. "We just have to keep playing. We know the potential our receivers have in practice and we just have to keep striving for excellence." LSUs Jeremy Hill added 157 yards rushing and two touchdowns while Kenny Hilliard added 39 yards rushing and three touchdowns. The Tigers (5-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) have won 14 straight over Mississippi State (2-3, 0-2) dating back to 1999. "Any time youve got a balanced offence, and theyre concerned youre going to throw the football, theyre not completely confident in the play they call on defence and you can take advantage of that," LSU coach Les Miles said. LSU has a 21-1 record under Miles following a loss. Mississippi States Dak Prescott threw for 106 yards and rushed for 103 more. Jameon Lewis caught seven passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. The Bulldogs offence was good, especially early, but LSUs was even better. The Tigers receiver duo of Landry and Beckham was unstoppable, even when Mississippi State appeared to have good coverage, and Mettenberger found them early and often. "They won just about every one-on-one battle on the edge," Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said. The Tigers finished with 563 total yards. LSU needed all those yards, because the defence was gashed for a second straight week. The Tigers gave up nearly 500 yards last week in a loss to Georgia and Mississippi State had some early success on Saturday with a two-quarterback system. Prescott started after two weeks of mystery. Mullen said senior Tyler Russell -- who returned after missing three games due to a concussion -- would be the starter after the teams win against Troy on Sept. 21, but waffled on that statement as the LSU game drew closer. The 6-foot-2, 230-pound Prescott has been terrific in Russells place, providing much more of a running threat. On the teams first offensive drive, he rewarded Mullens confidence with a 28-yard touchdown run to pull the Bulldogs to 7-6. Russell entered the game early in the second quarter and also had immediate success, throwing a 20-yard touchdown to Lewis to pull Mississippi State to 21-16 in the second quarter. The Bulldogs took a 23-21 lead on Russells 59-yard touchdown pass to DeRunnya Wilson, but LSU responded with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Mettenberger to Beckham to take a 28-23 lead into halftime. Russells second touchdown pass was the 39th of his career, which set a Mississippi State record. He finished 7 of 11 for 146 yards passing. The teams combined for 608 total yards in the first half -- 334 for LSU and 274 for Mississippi State. LSUs defence tightened in the second half, giving up just three points. "I thought we did a good job of battling for three quarters," Mullen said. "We just didnt finish." Tahir Whitehead Jersey . Play hard, play tough and play rough. The philosophy has been a lesson in frustration for opponents. Reggie Bush Blue Jersey .C. -- Gary Players upcoming ceremonial drive is the latest Masters honour in a career filled with them.As the Toronto Maple Leafs return from their Olympic break, Jonathan Bernier appears firmly entrenched as their starter while James Reimer is filling the back-up role. Reimer told TSNs Mark Masters on Tuesday that he doesnt know if he will be moved leading up to the March 5 trade deadline but added he wasnt interested in discussing it. "Who knows whats going to happen on the horizon here and right now I dont know if I want to talk about it too much." Reimer said he is at a juxtaposition, between being happy in Toronto yet yearning to start games. "I love playing here and obviously I want to be a starter, so its been an interesting year." The 25-year-old added that would be hard on him to leave the Maple Leafs organization. "This is the team I was drafted by and this is definitely a place I dreamed of playing my whole career." Reimer has played in 24 of the Leafs 60 games this season and started 33 of 48 games in the Leafs lockout-shortened 2013 campaign. He also started all seeven 2013 playoff games. Barry Sanders Blue Jersey. Reimer admitted that seeing a large reduction in playing time has not been easy on him. "Anytime you go from playing a lot of games to not its a hard pill to swallow. You want to play, you want to be the guy & you want to give your team the best chance to win. Theres no feeling like that other then when youre in there," Reimer told Masters. When he asked if he has proven himself as a starter in the NHL, Reimer said he didnt believe there was any question. "As far as Im concerned, I dont think its up for debate. I feel like Ive had a couple of solid years where Ive played really well. And obviously, last year went to the playoffs and led a team to the playoffs when probably a lot of people didnt expect us to go. Yeah, I feel like Ive played well and I dont think theres much debate for it. Maybe other people think so. I dont know." Reimer has a 10-6-1 record with 3.25 goals against average and a .911 save percentage with the Leafs this season. ' ' '
