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With the national championship game in the books and all SEC season statistics finalized, LSU sophomore tailback Derrius Guice finished as the league’s leader in both rushing and all-purpose yards.
Despite starting only six games, Guice’s 1,387 rushing yards led the conference. It was also the fourth-highest season total in LSU history. His 1,716 all-purpose yards and per-game average of 143.0 also led the league, while his 16 combined touchdowns tied with Mississippi State’s Nick Fitzgerald for the lead (his 15 rushing scores finished one behind Fitzgerald’s total).
Guice becomes the first LSU player to lead the SEC in rushing yards in 20 years joining Kevin Faulk, who was the last Tiger to do it in 1996 with 1,282 yards. Faulk was also a sophomore that season and went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Tigers, finishing as the leading rusher in school history with 4,557 yards.
In 2016, Guice averaged a staggering 7.58 yards per carry, which also lead the SEC and ranked No. 5 in the nation. Guice’s 7.58 yards per carry fell just short of being both an SEC and LSU record as he failed to meet the established minimum of 200 carries to qualify. Guice totaled 183 carries in 12 contests for the Tigers in 2016.
Guice’s classmate Arden Key also led the league with 1.09 sacks per game — just beating out Derek Barnett’s 1.0 average. Key had a school record 12 sacks in 11 games, while Barnett had 13 in 13.