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By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
@LonnPhillips
In my lifetime, LSU fans have experienced some of the greatest receiving / pass-catching talents of modern times...Ja'Marr Chase, Josh Reed, Justin Jefferson, Dwayne Bowe, Odell Beckham Jr, Jarvis Landry, Terrace Marshall, Demetrius Byrd, Michael Clayton, Brandon LaFell, Early Doucet...and yet Tigers fans may never see a performance like Kayshon Boutte's 308 yards, 14 catches & 3 TDs again...
I've only witnessed a night of Boutte's automatic brilliance on a few occasions in college football:
Of course LSU fans must begin with the SEC & LSU record which Boutte's outrageous night passed: Josh Reed's 19 catches and 293 yards vs Alabama in 2001 (Rohan Davey tossed for 538 yards, still an LSU record)...but there are far more...
Every time Texas QB Vince Young moved vs USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl title game, he couldn't be stopped; Joe Burrow and Justin Jefferson were untouchable vs Oklahoma last year; Clemson's Deshaun Watson vs Alabama (both times); Reggie Bush's 503 total yards vs Fresno State; former Texas Tech QB Patrick Mahomes' 734 yards and 5 TDs vs Baker Mayfield's Sooners, Clyde vs Bama, Arkansas & Ole Miss...
....although none of those cats were freshmen when they pulled off their chief athletic majesties...
...and certainly none of them dealt with a pandemic, meaning no spring practices, a constant disorganization due to fluid situations and far more than the average athlete usually deals with...and he did this as a freshman...
Kayshon Boutte was.....unfathomable...
What an unbelievable performance....it's hard to describe exactly how he weaved his way through defenders time and time again, absorbing massive shots to the head, chest and legs....and yet every time Kayshon took a huge hit, he continued to finish the play.
Boutte was hurt actually, smashing up his ankle on a few players earlier in the 4th quarter.
"On the touchdown... I was hurting," Boutte revealed after the game, yet he kept his pain inside and went back out on the field...yet this freshman did not hide....he only snagged his final reception: a 45 yard long bursting frenzy through missed tackles, bouncing off hits and spinning through the Ole Miss atmosphere, off into the boundless twilight of Tigers Stadium...undisputed in his omnipotence.
We geaux in depth through his illustrious, breathtaking, show-stopping performance:
Boutte started off making a sick 11 yard catch from Max, still, a penalty removed the gain from the board, forcing the Tigers to punt on their first drive. On the subsequent drive, it was a beautiful 8 yard catch on 3rd and 5 over the middle, his hands soft as feathers and as true as Howie Long's skull:
From there, Kayshon would grab 10 catches of 14+ yards, 6 receptions eclipsing 20 yards, 4 gains over 32 (hauling in 32, 45 and 47 twice), 2 TD catches on 4th down while averaging 22 yards per catch...however, we look deeper at just how he did this...how Boutte went off as the greatest Tigers WR in single game-history....
How can you stop him???
You can't.
The sudden athletic skill, possession of immaculate body control, turn of pace from 0-200 with effortless acceleration...Kayshon Boutte was the #2 ranked receiver nationally from the 2020 class for a reason, but it's quite obvious Geaux247 wishes they would've changed that ranking.
If LSU were playing a bowl game, he'd likely be at or near 1,000 yards on the year...
Boutte had a solid freshman campaign up to this point, catching 31 passes for 427 yards and 2 TDs as well as seeing 2 other scores go MIA, one for a bad refereeing call vs A&M after Kayshon made a high octane falling TD catch in-bounds vs the Aggies, and the other a horrific DeSean Jackson drop at the goal-line vs Bama....
In one night, the New Iberia-native nearly amassed his entire season's tally, catching 14 for 308 yards and 3 TDs from 20 targets....only three times were his targets broken up...
A night such as this reminds me of Boutte's raucous 5 TD, 303 yard showcase in high school at Westgate vs Teurlings, including a 97 yard kickoff return...sometimes you just know whether he's going to score from 45 yards away just by how his shoulders tighten as he turns the corner...that's what I felt on a few of those touchdowns....boom...he's got space, he's gone......if they're stern and motionless, he's flying at an altitude of "can't stop me now motha*&#&#\!"
Yes, we did see this coming from the Boutte juggernaut, however this cat just clocked 308 yards on an SEC defense for 3 TDs and 14 catches as a damn freshman....do I have to say that again?
I once said on various podcasts and articles "the only time defenders will even see Boutte is when they're down on the ground staring at his bootay shaking into the end zone..." but I cannot say I anticipated a 300+ yard game during his freshman season...that's insane....although once he became the #1 guy...I felt like why not?
We saw him catching 31 passes for 500 something yards and 5 TDs...Boutte blew this up now, his season total at 735 from 45 receptions for 16.3 yards per catch, an unbelievable freshman tally from 10 games during a pandemic campaign....it really geauxs beyond description at this point.
What the LSU freshmen have done isn't on par with the 2019 team's infinite glory, although it is in the same vein....from the purple & gold mine of talent, heart and drive.
This isn't anything new for Boutte:
During his 2019 senior campaign, Boutte racked up 15 receiving and 12 rushing TDs, 1,000+ receiving yards and 800+ rushing yards, arresting defenders at every turn...he was an unassailable human missile crisis.
Blessed with scary speed, "natural catcher's hands" according to WRs Coach Mickey Joseph, as well as owning a brutal physique which stretches the field, creates a disadvantage for every defender attempting to tackle the New Iberian destroyer, making this cat a true pinball wizard...bouncing off one would-be tackler to the next with full rock and roll destiny.
Boutte may be the Clyde Edwards-Helaire of receivers: slight of frame while stout in establishment...a grinder of remarkable strength....a nuclear powerball, an undisputed titan of LSU wide receiving greatness....and he's only 17.
In our era of everything all the time, what have you done for me lately, dog eat dog madness, what young teenager Kayshon Boutte produced during a renegade display cannot be forgotten or lost among the shuffle...it must be celebrated for everything it's worth...
The full promise of playing for LSU... in all its purple and gold beauty.
BLACK LIVES MATTER
by LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
@LonnPhillips
SHOUTOUTS: Kayshon Boutte....who else could it be? 308 receiving yards from 14 catches...you are a sultan of symmetrical resurrection, melting DBs, safeties and linebackers into grilled cheese residue.